White Sox Nation?
Well, give it time. After all, when you let 88 years pass between winning a postseason series, your national profile is going to need an upgrade.
The 2005 White Sox are working on it, and the way they swept the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox out of the American League Division Series at increasingly quiet Fenway Park on Friday said a lot about who they are.
Paul Konerko, the heart of the order and in many ways the ball team, broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run homer in the sixth inning.
Then Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, the ageless Cuban emigre, high-wired his way through a bases-loaded, no-outs predicament in the bottom of the inning. The White Sox held on for a tense 5-3 victory, a 3-0 sweep of the best-of-five series and their first taste of postseason success since the 1917 World Series win over the New York Giants.
“We’re not trying to change or undo anything that happened in the past,” Konerko said as happy teammates staged an “Animal House” re-enactment in their cramped clubhouse, oblivious to many years of star-crossed history. “We’re trying to be the 2005 White Sox and let’s see what happens.”
So far, so good. They have won 102 games this year.
Hernandez’s second-half struggles made him a risky pick for the postseason roster, but he justified manager Ozzie Guillen’s faith by facing down three straight Boston hitters–two on 3-2 counts–after inheriting a daunting mess from Damaso Marte.
“This kid . . . I don’t know that I should call him a kid . . . I knew he would bring cold blood,” Guillen said.
The White Sox will have three days to rest before beginning American League Championship Series play Tuesday against the Yankees-Angels winner at U.S. Cellular Field.
“I think the people in Chicago should be proud of these players,” Guillen said. “It’s time to feel good about the White Sox again.”
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