Game Three

By Marshall Adesman

From their inaugural season in 1962 until the miracle of 1969, the New York Mets were a losing ballclub, and for most of those first seven years, they were positively horrendous.  As a kid growing up in Brooklyn, I have quite a few memories of their terribleness (is there really such a word?), including one time when they battled for 18 or 20 innings or more before losing, and a headline in one of the newspapers the next day read "You Don't Beat Our Guys Easy."

For fans of the Houston Astros, that saying is small consolation in this World Series.

After winning the longest post-season game on record, an 18-inning affair against Atlanta in the Division Series, the Astros dropped a 7-5 decision to the White Sox in 14 innings, falling into an 0-3 hole in the 2005 World Series.

This game had all the stat heads scrambling for the record books. Its 5-hour-41-minute running time made it the longest World Series game ever played. Seventeen pitchers were used by the two clubs, and they issued 21 walks. A total of 43 players were utilized by managers Ozzie Guillen and Phil Garner, but far too many were unable to deliver when it counted the most - a combined thirty runners were left stranded on the bases. And speedy Sox outfielder Scott Podsednik could certainly be excused if he had trouble getting out of bed this morning - he came to the plate eight times! All of these are new World Series marks.

Career utilityman Geoff Blum had his moment in the sun - or rather, under the moonlight - as he broke the tie with a homer in the 14th, but the real story of this game was Houston's missed opportunities. Though they managed just two hits over the last eleven innings (both by Jason Lane, by the way), the Astros had numerous opportunities to capture the very first World Series game ever played in the state of Texas. They had runners on second and third in the eighth inning and loaded the bases in the ninth but were unable to score. They also put two men on in both the 11th and 14th innings but again came away empty, sealing their fate.

It was a lack of hitting in the season's first few weeks that sent the Astros spiraling out of contention in the National League's Central Division, and it would seem, after they clawed their way back to reach the post-season, that a lack of hitting might prove to be their undoing in this Fall Classic. They have managed a combined total of 24 hits in the first three games for a team batting average of just .211; by contrast, the White Sox are batting an even .300 and have collected 36 hits. The tone was set in Saturday's series opener when they were unsuccessful on nine occasions with runners in scoring position.  It's hard to win a ballgame, let alone four in a week, when you don't hit with men on base.  While good pitching was expected on both sides, no one anticipated such futility in the clutch.

One more victory and the White Sox will become World Series champions for the first time since 1917. Last year the Red Sox took their first title since 1918. It would seem that Bud Selig's dream of parity in major league baseball is becoming a reality. If I were a fan of the Cleveland Indians or Chicago Cubs, I might start getting excited now about next October. Well, OK, maybe not the Cubs, would you believe the Devil Rays?