The White Sox won’t be claiming all the sympathy votes Saturday night when they play in their first World Series in 46 years.
They will open Game 1 at U.S. Cellular Field against the Houston Astros, who are making the first Series appearance of their 44-year history.
After years of postseason frustration, the Astros finally reached baseball’s biggest stage Wednesday night by knocking off the St. Louis Cardinals four games to two in the National League Championship Series.
Sox-Astros might not be viewed as a marquee matchup in some circles, but it does involve two deserving teams.
“A lot of fans should embrace it and enjoy it,” Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle said. “Growing up as a baseball fan, I kind of got tired seeing the same teams in the World Series.”
The Astros are the fourth consecutive wild-card team to reach the Series. The previous three Series champions–the Angels, Marlins and Red Sox–were wild-card entrants.
There are several links between the Sox and Houston. First-year Astros general manager Tim Purpura is an Oak Lawn native who helped the franchise withstand the off-season free-agent losses of All-Star second baseman Jeff Kent and center fielder Carlos Beltran.
Houston, like the Sox, relies heavily on pitching despite playing in a ballpark better suited for offense. Roy Oswalt won 20 games in each of the last two seasons and was dominant in the Astros’ NLCS clincher, the final game at St. Louis’ Busch Stadium.
Seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, whom the Sox considered signing in 1997 before settling for the forgettable Jaime Navarro, will start Game 1 for the Astros.
Left-hander Andy Pettitte overcame season-ending surgery in 2004 to contribute to one of the top starting threesomes in baseball with Oswalt and Clemens. Pettitte, an accomplished postseason pitcher in his Yankee days, was 13-2 with a 1.62 earned-run average in the final three months of the regular season.
Fifteen has been a significant number to the Astros as well as the Sox. The Astros joined the 1914 Boston Braves as the only teams in major-league history to reach the playoffs after being as many as 15 games under .500 during the season. Houston was 15-30 after a loss to the Cubs on May 24.
The Sox led the AL Central by 15 games on Aug. 1 before watching their lead shrink to 1 1/2 games over the Cleveland Indians, but they held on for their first division title since 2000.
The Astros have hit their stride since clinching the NL wild-card berth on the final day of the regular season with a win over the Cubs. They beat Atlanta in the NL Division Series for the second consecutive year.
By beating St. Louis, they gained a measure of revenge for falling short in the final game of NLCS play last year. They squandered a 3-2 advantage in the 2004 NLCS by losing twice at St. Louis.
In the 1986 NLCS, the Astros fell four games to two to the New York Mets, dropping the wild Game 6 clincher in 16 innings.
And in 1980, they held a 2-1 series lead before losing to Philadelphia 3-2 in one of the most dramatic postseason series. Each of the last four games was decided in extra innings, including a 10-inning, Game 5 loss at the Astrodome in which the Astros couldn’t hold a 5-2 lead entering the eighth inning.
Both organizations have been at the forefront of player development in Venezuela. The Sox produced Chico Carrasquel, the first Latino named to an All-Star Game, as well as Luis Aparicio, Magglio Ordonez and manager Ozzie Guillen.
Led by special assistant Andres Reiner, Houston developed a fertile baseball academy in Venezuela, which discovered and helped develop Sox pitcher Freddy Garcia.
Houston and the Sox have speed at the top of the order and have survived injuries to the greatest sluggers in franchise history.
Willy Taveras is a strong candidate for NL Rookie of the Year with a .291 batting average, 82 runs and 34 stolen bases.
Scott Podsednik helped reform the Sox’s offense with 59 stolen bases despite a groin injury that nagged him for most of the second half.
Playing up to four games at U.S. Cellular Field will allow the Astros to employ Jeff Bagwell as a designated hitter. Bagwell, 37, was limited to 39 games because of a right shoulder injury. He is the Astros’ franchise home run leader with 449.
That’s one more homer than Frank Thomas, the Sox’s career leader who is sidelined for the rest of the season after suffering a fracture in his left ankle.
The Sox have two players who once wore Houston uniforms–backup infielder Geoff Blum (2002-03) and designated hitter Carl Everett (1998-99), who said his 1998 season with the Astros was his most enjoyable.
At least until this season with the Sox.
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mgonzales@tribune.com
