Between now and Friday, you’ll read it in newspapers, hear it on the radio, see it on TV. You’ll even say it yourself a few times. But you won’t believe it until you see it happen. The World Series starts Saturday in Chicago.
Say it again, because no one has said anything close to it in 46 years, and who knows how much longer it will be until it happens again. The World Series starts Saturday in Chicago.
This is big for White Sox fans, but here’s the dirty little secret: It’s big for Major League Baseball. Bigger than the Boston Red Sox.
The Red Sox fed the beast that was New England’s suffering, but all they showed the baseball world is that with a little elbow grease, a little luck and a $125 million payroll, you, too, can win the World Series.
The White Sox didn’t get the big names. They didn’t play what amounts to fantasy baseball. They built themselves to last.
They traded a home-run hitter built like a Sherman tank (Carlos Lee) for a fleet-footed third-year player who wasn’t a rookie until he was 27 years old (Scott Podsednik).
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The Red Sox shelled out big bucks for Manny Ramirez and trade talks swirled around him this year. Rather than pouring money into “proven” free-agent pitchers, the White Sox spent a little cash here and there on overlooked relievers, traded for Ozzie Guillen’s nephew-in-law (Freddy Garcia) and relied on the experience of home-grown talent (Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland).
The Red Sox threw money at aging superstar Curt Schilling, who was spectacular in 2004 and injured in 2005.
To fill a void at catcher, the White Sox found a man they knew from arch-rival Minnesota but whose free-agent stock had dropped because of some smack talk coming out of San Francisco (A.J. Pierzynski).
But the White Sox’s two biggest moves did not involve players. Searching for a manager after the 2003 season, the White Sox decided to call on White Sox pride by bringing in fan favorite Ozzie Guillen. Inexperienced at leading a team and armed with a vocabulary of four-letter words, Guillen took the job and stocked his coaching staff with more ex-White Sox.
It’s a lot easier to root for a team when you can point to the third-base coach and say, “I saw him play!”
The Red Sox picked up Terry Francona, who had no connection to the Red Sox, and surprise, surprise, his job is in jeopardy not eight months after Boston won the World Series. The other big move the White Sox made was not making a move. At the midseason trading deadline, sports pundits were telling the White Sox they needed to trade for Cincinnati slugger Ken Griffey Jr. Trade pitching prospect Brandon McCarthy, if need be. Spend the money. Guarantee your team a winner.
But the Sox didn’t budge, and McCarthy had a couple of dazzling performances in September, without which the Sox might not have made the playoffs.
Why is this a big deal for baseball?
Maybe now other teams will see the value in sticking with home-grown talent like Game 5 hero Joe Crede and hiring team legends as managers. George Brett managing the Kansas City Royals? Mark Grace managing the Cubs with Andre Dawson as hitting coach?
The White Sox have conjured up the past, getting their fans to remember the players they watched when they were kids while promising icons for the next generation. As a result, the butts have found the seats at U.S. Cellular Field.
If five teams follow suit next season and enjoy the increase in attendance that the White Sox have had this season, and five more teams the season after that, that means dollar signs in the eyeballs of Major League Baseball execs.
Meanwhile, the White Sox’s fan base will only get stronger. Why?
Because the World Series starts Saturday in Chicago.