World Series, Game 2 - Another Great Game!!

[mermaid]

Damn, I'm loving this!

I'll admit to being a bit disappointed Houston didn't win this one, because, though I want to see the Sox win in the end, I still want to see this Series go seven games, so was hpoing for a Houston win tonight, just to keep the Series tied. Since I am a 20-year fan of the Astros...and a 34-year fan of the White Sox, this is, of course, a very tough Series for me.

But, damn, neither team gives in when they are down....they keep battling back, and the games have all been close so far, so I'm getting good show, here. I just want seven games because I want MORE good show!!

Hell, 'Stros up 4-2...ok, it was a shit call by the ump on the hit-batsman on Dye...it hit his bat, not him...but, again, you should not be getting yourself into situations where one bad call can screw you. At least, this time, it wasn't Pierszynski in the middle of the controversy!

Crap call that it was, without that, we wouldn't have the awesome Konerko grand slam to talk about...and he golfed the CRAP outta that ball, totally awesome...and so then it's 6-4 White Sox...still cool by me, because it's within 2 runs.

So then, Vizcaino comes up with the clutch hit for the 'Stros, and ties it up 6-6 in the ninth inning. The 'Stros did not just lay down and die, they battled back yet again!

Then, the moon shot off Lidge, once again...sheesh, that guy is having NO luck in the postseason...I kinda feel sorry for him, because he's a lot better than that. But, again, there go the White Sox...and Podsednik comes thru with that shot to win it in the bottom of the ninth, 7-6. Another close game, a lot of back and forth battling, both teams REFUSING to just give up...this is fucking GREAT baseball!!

So now we got the Konerko and Podsednik homers to talk about...the great effort of Houston to come back to tie it in the ninth, the great clutch hit by Vizcaino...this is fucking exciting baseball!!

Damn, I want seven games of this!!

Like I said, being a longer term fan of the Sox than of the Astros, I still wanna see the Sox win it all, but damn, can we please go seven games?? This is baseball at it's best!!

For anyone confused about my position, you need to understand that I was born on the South Side of Chicago, so native Chicagoan, and White Sox fan from birth, I practically grew up in the old Comiskey Park. I was there in 1977...1983...I remember the shower in the outfield...Disco Demolition...all of it, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I remember "Winning Ugly" back in 1983.

So, I have been a White Sox fan for all my 34 years.

BUT, when I was a teenager, my family up and moved to Texas. I needed a hometown team to root for, because the Internet wasn't really around then, and you couldn't get good media coverage on out-of-town teams...not like you can now. So, I retained my love of the White Sox, always wanted to see them do well...and the Astros became my hometown team...because I could NOT root for the Rangers (they were in direct competition with the White Sox at that time, both being in the Western Division, back in the days when there were only two divisions in each league.)

So, I became an Astro fan, and have been one for 20 years now.

By the time we left Texas, one was able, thru the Internet, to follow out-of town teams, and so, even with a move to Pennsylvania, I never gave a shit for the Phillies and never will. My two teams are the White Sox and the Astros.

I have waited ALL MY LIFE to see either of those two, my beloved teams...win a pennant. So they both go and do it in the same year, making me want to root for a tie! In the end, my longer term allegiance to the White Sox wins out, but I still want to see seven games...especially seven games as exciting as the first two have been!!

All the games close, no blowouts...niether team giving up and dying...always battling back...damn, this has been, for me, a postseason of dreams! I don't want this to EVER end!!

I still say the 'Stros are gonna win Tuesday. No way do the Sox beat Oswalt, and especially not in Minute Maid Park, either. After that, well, who can say for sure, but I feel reasonably sure the 'Stros win it on Tuesday to make the Series 2-1. I just hope Game 3 is every bit as exciting!

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

1. Even though 2-0, these games have been some seriously great baseball.

Nice to be introduced to newish players like the reliever "Baby Huey" Jenks with his insane 100mph fastballs.

[mermaid]

2. Indeed!

That's why I'm loving this.

and the fact that I love both teams, as a long-term fan of both...AND because they are playing great baseball...that makes me want to see this Series go to seven games. Hence, my dissapointment that Houston didn't pull this one out in the end.

Like I say, the shit ump call to DYE chaged the whole game, and maybe, without that call, Houston wins. But, again, if you put yourself in a position where one shit ump call can kill you, then you deserve what you get.

And without that call we don't get the moon shots of Konerko or Podsednik to talk about...we don't get to talk about or witness the great clutch hit by Vizcaino of the Astros to battle their way back to a tie in the ninth...damn, without that one shit call, the whole complexion of the game becomes less exciting.

Even though, without the call it was still a great game...both teams battling back and forth for the lead, both teams refusing to give up...always battling back...but this just ended up creating all that much more excitement.

I still am rooting for a seven-gamer. But, in the end, as I said, being a Sox fan for longer, I still gotta root for the Sox to win it all in the end, so the call does not bother me much. It changed the complexion of the game...and it may well be indirectly, the cause of a loss for the Astros, because who knows, maybe Springer strikes out Dye on the next pitch if the ball is correctly called foul instead of hit batsman.

But, Konerko still had to hit the home run. And that was no cheap shot.
Vizcaino still had to come up with the clutch hit.
Podsednik still had to get his own moon shot.

So the call, in and of itself, did not change the outcome of the game...except to make what followed all the more exciting.

As I said, I'm a bit dissapointed, only because I wanted the Series to be tied at 1 each...then at 2 each...then at 3 each...just because I love both teams. But, in the end, wanting a White Sox World Championship...hey, I'm not real dissappointed here. And the Astros got nothing to be ashamed of yet, they have given all of us great show...great heart, great guts...and have come out on the short end of close games twice in a row so far. That is nothing to be ashamed of.