Congratulations to the 2005 World Champions

Check out South Side Sox for the celebration...its been a long time coming for White Sox fans, and they deserve it.

The White Sox won by having a pitching staff that could compete with the Astros dominating pitching over a short series, and complemented it with a defense superior to Houston's as well as a lineup that was capable of scoring more runs than the 'Stros. This was too much for Houston in a series that I felt would go six or seven games (and with Houston on top; I'll admit to that openly). Ozzie Guillen outmanaged Garner in some key situations, such as pulling closer Bobby Jenks (replacing him with Neal Cotts) after he gave up a 2-run single to Jose Vizcaino of all people, while Phil Garner stuck with his relievers in defined roles, rather than adding to my praise of him putting his players in positions where they had the best chance of winning.

Thanks to a White Sox lineup that seemed to have hits fall as they needed them, the Astros starting pitching advantage was null and void. With Garner not pulling the strings correctly in the bullpen (and with the lack of depth when compared to the White Sox pen) the Astros really stood no chance unless their lineup continued to hit like it was not supposed to. Part of the reason the Astros beat the Cardinals is because players like Brad Ausmus and Mike Lamb rose above their expected level of performance to contribute offensively. Ausmus has his uses, but his bat is not one of them, and when the 'Stros reverted to their regular season run scoring ways against a very good White Sox pitching staff the wheels fell off.

As far as early 2006 World Series predictions go, I'm going to have to give the advantage to the Red Sox. Why? Well because they won in 1916, and we're obviously counting backwards here. No worries Brave fans, even without Leo Mazzone you have a championship coming in 2008 if this trend continues. Congratulations to the White Sox and their fans. Now don't overpay for Paul Konerko.