The White Sox completed their incredible conquest Wednesday night, eliminating the final demons that haunted the franchise since its last World Series title in 1917.
The Sox completed their stunning run in a manner that mirrored their amazingly successful season, as they rode the pitching of Freddy Garcia and the bullpen to pull out a 1-0 victory over the Astros and complete a four-game sweep of the 2005 World Series.
The Sox snapped the second-longest drought in World Series history. It was the second consecutive year that one of the three longest Series title droughts was ended. The Boston Red Sox ended theirs last season.
The longest dry spell belongs to the Cubs (97 years), followed by Cleveland (57).
The Sox finished the season with an eight-game winning streak and 16 wins in their final 17 games dating back to the regular season. They also won their final 11 road games.
Their 11-1 postseason mark is the second best. Only the 1976 Cincinnati Reds team that manager Ozzie Guillen idolized as a kid in his native Venezuela won all seven postseason games.
This also marked the 19th time a team swept a Series opponent.
Along the way to the world championship, the Sox posted the best record in the American League (99-63), swept defending 2004 world champion Boston in the AL Division Series and beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-1 for their first league championship since 1959.
The Sox mounted their winning rally in the eighth in their typical resourceful manner.
Willie Harris, pinch-hitting for winning pitcher Freddy Garcia in his first Series plate appearance, led off with a single off closer Brad Lidge and moved to second on Scott Podsednik’s bunt.
With two out, Jermaine Dye hit a 1-1 slider up the middle for a single for the game-winning hit.
In the bottom of the eighth, Houston got the tying run to third base. But left-hander Neal Cotts broke the bat of pinch-hitter Jose Vizcaino, and shortstop Juan Uribe fielded and threw to first to barely nail Vizcaino for the final out.
In the ninth, the Astros got the tying run to second base with one out off rookie closer Bobby Jenks, who pitched in all four Series games. But Uribe dove into the seats to make a catch in foul territory, and then Uribe fired to first on a slow roller to barely nail pinch-hitter Orlando Palmeiro and set off a wild celebration around the pitcher’s mound.
The Sox didn’t show any signs of playing conservatively with a 3-0 Series lead. Podsednik hit a ball to the gap in right-center and didn’t let up in beating a weak relay throw for a two-out triple in the third.
Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi showed no fear in firing to second for a close force play in the fourth.
And in the fifth, the Astros called for a hit-and-run play. But third baseman Joe Crede threw to second to nail Brad Ausmus, with Iguchi surviving Ausmus’ late slide and firing to first to complete a double play.
But after succeeding against the likes of Roger Clemens and Roy Oswalt, the Sox had difficulty mounting a rally against Backe, who entered the game with a 4.91 postseason ERA.
Dye, named the Series MVP, had two the Sox’s first three hits, but Backe found his groove after surrendering a single to Dye to start the fourth. Backe struck out the next five batters, including the last four on sliders.
Garcia, who played some third base in his native Venezuela, broke up the strikeout streak by grounding to third. But Backe kept his poise by retiring the next 11 batters until Aaron Rowand ripped a single up the middle with two outs in the seventh.
Despite Minute Maid’s reputation as a hitter-friendly ballpark, Backe had a 10-3 record and 3.12 ERA in 14 career starts here.
He also pitched with respectable efficiency, which was extremely important after the Astros’ bullpen accounted for eight innings in Tuesday’s loss, including three innings by Chad Qualls.
Since scoring five runs in the fifth inning of Game 2 against Oswalt, the Sox scored only one run in their next 16 innings.
The Sox wasted a major scoring chance, albeit with two outs, in the seventh when Rowand hit his single and advanced to third on a double by Crede off the left-field wall.
Houston pitching coach Jim Hickey visited the mound, but the Astros elected to pitch to Uribe with switch-hitting pinch-hitter Carl Everett in the on-deck circle.
The strategy paid off when Uribe struck out on an 84-m.p.h. slider to end the rally, and Backe skipped off the mound.
As a small consolation, Uribe’s strikeout allowed Garcia to stay in the game. Garcia was pitching on 10 days’ rest after pitching a complete-game victory over the Los Angeles Angels in Game 4 of the ALCS.
Garcia looked sharp but ran into serious trouble in the sixth. Rookie Willy Taveras hit a one-out single and moved to second on a walk to Lance Berkman.
The Astros pulled off a double steal as the struggling Ensberg struck out for the second out of the inning. Garcia struck out Jason Lane to end the rally.
———-
mgonzales@tribune.com
