2005 POST-SEASON
OCTOBER 22-26: WORLD SERIES
Houston vs Chicago
WARNING: THIS IS GOING TO BREAK YOUR HEART!
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2005 (Game 1) – Houston @ Chicago
Chicago 5, Houston 3
It’s unbelievable: The Astros are in the World Series. I should be a nervous wreck, but I’m not nearly as tense as I was during the playoffs – not yet, at least. I’m just so happy that they got here; I haven’t really focused in yet on the idea of their winning it. Or maybe I just feel like it’s inevitable, so I should just relax and enjoy the game – even though they didn’t win this one.
I got teary-eyed before the game even started – I started sniffling when they called Jeff Bagwell’s name during the introduction of the Astros lineup. After all this team has been through this season, and especially all that he has personally been through, to see him take the field at the World Series was pretty overwhelming.
This game should have been a pitchers’ duel: Clemens vs. Contreras. But the starters didn’t play their roles. Clemens got off to a rough start – he threw 54 pitches and gave up 3 runs on 4 hits in the first 2 innings. He limped back to the dugout at the end of the 2nd inning, looking injured. It turned out to be the achy hamstring again. Garner pulled him out after 2 innings. He’s day-to-day and his status for Game 5 is unknown.
Contreras also got off to a rocky start and gave up three runs to match Clemens’ in the first 3 innings. But he managed to stay in the game until the 8th, without any further damage. Meanwhile, Clemens’ reliever Wandy Rodriguez gave up a solo homer, to put the Astros behind 4-3. Close game: I was hoping that the Astros would have their chance to come back when the first Chicago reliever came in, since the White Sox bullpen hadn’t any work in 11 days. (Sign over the bullpen: “White Sox Bullpen: The Maytag Men.”). But between Cotts and Jenks (the Hulk-like closer), they struck out 5 of the last 6 Houston batters and ruined the Astros’ chance at a come-back. Guess they weren’t rusty after all.
The Astros wore road greys with WS 05 patches. A number of them now have that lumberjack look, with their full beards.
The musical entertainment wasn’t great. Josh Groban’s musical interpretation of the Star Spangled Banner wasn’t too bad, as these things go, just a little too slow and too decorative. A good high school choir would have been less hokey, but at least he sang on key. Liz Phair, a Chicago singer, did a dreadful guitar-accompanied God Bless America at the 7th inning stretch.
High points:
- Garner went with Bagwell as the DH. I had thought with a RHP, he might have picked a lefty like Lamb or Palmeiro. Bagwell was clearly the sentimental favorite, and Richard Justice made a good case in a column this week that he’d earned the honor. But Garner’s going to go with the best choice for the team (as he should), and he chose Bagwell. Before the game, Bagwell said, "I told Phil I don't want this to be a charity case or sentimental pick. That's not what Phil is about. He's a standup guy and he's going to be honest with me. This is what he wanted. He wanted me to be here and he wanted me to get an opportunity to play, because he thinks I can do something." Garner’s response: "We're not talking about chopped liver here. Yeah, he had surgery and he's not swung the bat like we know Bagwell has in the past, which is with power. But he's still a guy that's going to give you a great at-bat, and he can get you a great at-bat when the game's on the line." So how did Bagwell do? Well, he did get on base twice: He was hit by a pitch in his first at bat, flied out in his second, was hit by a pitch in his third time up, and struck out the fourth time.
- Garner did play Lamb also, to get that extra lefty bat in the lineup. Lamb came through in his first at-bat, hitting a solo home run to tie up the game in the 2nd inning.
- The Astros best hitting came from Berkman and from Willie T. Berkman was 2 for 4, with a 2-RBI double in the 3rd inning, and a single in the 8th. Taveras got lead-off doubles in the 6th and 8th innings. Unfortunately, the Astros hitters who followed – the meat of the lineup – failed to get him home.
- Astros relievers had a mixed night: Wandy came in to relieve Clemens in the 3rd – pretty exciting stuff for a kid who just came up from the minors. He was in and out of trouble in all of the 3 1/3 innings he pitched, giving up 4 hits and 5 walks. But he was helped out by double plays to end two innings. Miraculously, he only gave up 1 run, on a solo homer by Crede. But it put the Sox ahead, and that was enough for him to earn the loss. Qualls came in to relieve Wandy with one out and one on in the 6th, and finished off the inning. He also pitched the 7th, and did not give up a hit; the only runner to reach base on him did so on a throwing error by Everett. Qualls continues to the Astros’ most lights-out reliever in the post-season. Springer pitched the 8th. After a lead-off single, he got the next two batters on fly balls. But then he gave up a triple, allowing an insurance run to score for the Sox, making the score 5-3.
Disappointments:
- The Astros lost. It was the same score, 5-3, as the Astros’ loss to the Cards in Game 1 of the NLCS. But look how well that series turned out! They just need to go out and win the next few games.
- The Astros had several opportunities to score runs after the 3rd inning, but just could not capitalize on any of them. The most heart-breaking was in the 8th: Taveras got a lead-off double and moved to third on Berkman’s single. Burke came in to pinch-run for Berkman. Fast runners on 1st and 3rd with no outs, and the Astros trailing by one run, 4-3. With their long-ball hitters coming up – Ensberg, Lamb, and Bagwell – how could they not tie it up? Any hit, or just a sac fly, would do it. Even a double play could score the tying run. But the next three batters struck out and the opportunity was wasted. Ironically, had the batters been lower in the lineup, rather than the big boys, Garner might have tried for a squeeze bunt and tied the score.
- Ensberg is really beating himself up tonight: He went 0 for 4, and left runners in scoring position in the 3rd, 6th, and 8th innings. But the 8th was the worst: "It's the eighth inning that's going to haunt me in this game. I don't think Lamb or Baggy should share the same amount of weight that I do because I was the one who was up with that man on third and nobody out, and you absolutely can't strike out in that situation. It's kind of an unwritten rule. I felt like I let the team down. In fact, I know I let the team down." But as Scarlett says, “Tomorrow is another day.” Maybe he’ll be the hero in Game 2.
- Contreras hit batters 3 times: Bagwell twice and Ausmus once. He even hit Bagwell and Ausmus in the same inning. But the hits were light and no one was hurt.
Final 123456789RHEHouston 012000000371Chi. White Sox 12010001x5100W: J. Contreras (3-1) L: W. Rodriguez (0-1) S: B. Jenks (3)
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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2005 (Game 2) – Houston @ Chicago
Chicago 7, Houston 6
I hated this game. Even though the Astros were ahead as much – or more – than they were behind, I had a bad feeling about it before it even started. And the feeling just got worse as the game went on. I just kept watching, hoping that it would end soon, preferably before the Astros lost the lead again.
It was the rain. Granted, I’m biased from having grown up in an indoor stadium. But there’s something fundamentally wrong with playing baseball when it’s pouring rain and 40-something degrees outside. And, since it was Chicago, windy too. It reminded me of the rainy game in the 2004 playoffs in St. Louis.
Considering how terrible the weather was, Pettitte pitched a very nice game: Six innings, 2 runs, on 8 hits, no walks, and 4 strikeouts. The only Sox runs that scored on his watch came on a trio of singles and a fielders choice in the 2nd inning; other than that, he was very sharp. Pettitte also made a great fielding play in the 5th inning, when he ran down a base runner off second base on a fielders choice. And then he picked off the runner at first on the next pitch, to end the inning.
The score see-sawed back and forth, with the Astros ahead most of the time. The Astros scored first on Ensberg’s 2nd inning homer. Pettitte gave up his 2 runs in the bottom of the inning. But the Astros came right back in the 3rd to tie it up: Taveras tripled (really a double that he stretched by running fast), and then scored on Berkman’s sac fly. The Astros took the lead in the 5th: Ausmus led off with a double, but Everett and Biggio made outs. Taveras’ infield single moved Ausmus to 3rd, then Berkman’s double scored them both, putting the Astros ahead, 4-2. I kept hoping that if the game were called for weather-related reasons, it would happen while the Astros were ahead. But they sloshed through until it was over.
Despite the rain and cold, the Astros managed to stay ahead while Pettitte was pitching. But Wheeler and Qualls combined for disaster in the 7th. It didn’t look like much trouble to start out: The first batter, Crede, fouled out. Uribe doubled, but Posednik struck out. With 2 down, things didn’t seem so hard. But Wheeler could not get the 3rd out. He walked Iguchi, and hit Dye with a pitch on a 3-2 count. (Well, the ump said he hit Dye with a pitch – see Disappointments.) Two outs, bases loaded. The guy on the mound isn’t showing much control, and Konerko (the Sox’s leading RBI guy during the season) is at the plate. Garner pulled him and brought in a pitcher who is likely to induce a nice ground out: Qualls. At this point, Qualls has been about the most dependable pitcher in the Astros playoff bullpen.
Konerko hit a grand salami on the first pitch.
And it was raining harder than ever.
The game brightened up momentarily in the 9th inning. With the Astros down, 6-4, and monster Bobby Jenks on the mound, Bagwell (DHing again) got his first hit of the Series, a single to center. Lane struck out. Burke walked, moving Bagwell to scoring position. Ausmus grounded out, bumping Bagwell and Burke up a base. With 2 outs, Garner brought in Vizcaino to pinch hit for Everett. Viz bopped the first pitch out to left field, scoring both runners. Lamb flied out for the third out with the score tied, 6-6.
In came Lidge to close, his first appearance since his Pujols fiasco. Uribe hit a fly ball to Taveras for the first out. Lead off batter Scott Posednik came up to the plate. On a 2-1 count, he hit the ball over the right field wall. Walk-off homer. TILT. Game Over.
The Astros wore road reds with WS 05 patches.
I watched this game at the Pinta’s house. There was a running stream of guests dropping in and out, many of them coming to see the Pintas’ new puppy, and blocking the TV while they were standing around yakking. Some of them actually stopped to watch a few minutes of the game; they were blocking the TV too. Next year I’ll figure out a way to get our TV to work, and I’ll invite people to come over to watch the game – but only people who really like baseball and don’t talk too much.
High points:
- Ensberg’s home run in the 2nd inning was his first long ball in the post-season.
- Taveras was 2 for 4, with a single and a triple, and scored 2 runs. He still looks like a Rookie of the Year to me.
- Berkman was 1 for 3 with 3 RBIs.
- Ausmus was 2 for 4, and scored a run.
- Bagwell’s single (and run scored) in the 9th was his first hit since the first game of the playoffs. Given how little he’s been able to play since his return from the DL, it’s nice that he got to make a contribution. He must be really frustrated to have finally made it to the World Series, after all these years of hoping, and to be so limited in his opportunities to contribute.
Disappointments:
- A bad umpiring call in the 7th inning, just before the grand slam, went against the Astros. The umpire said that Wheeler had hit Dye with a pitch on a 3-2 count. But the replays showed that the ball had actually hit the bat, making it a foul ball. Dye admitted afterwards that the ball had not hit him: "I'm not going to tell him I fouled it off. Just go to first and, hopefully, we get a big hit and we did." He should have gone back to bat, with the count still 3-2. Instead, he took first, loading the bases. The next pitch was the grand slam.
- Lidge said that his last pitch wasn’t a mistake, just a lucky hit by Posednik. He didn’t expect Posednik to hit a home run, since he hadn’t done it even once during the regular season. (But he had hit one other in the playoffs. One can never be too careful, Brad.) This was Lidge’s second loss in the post-season. His last loss was the game that Pujols homered in, blowing the save of another nice Pettitte start. But this wasn’t only his second less-than-lights-out performance. He pulled off a couple of saves after coming close to blowing them. He has not been his usual Lidgeful self in the playoffs this year.
Final 123456789RHEHouston 011020002690Chi. White Sox 0200004017 120W: N. Cotts (1-0) L: B. Lidge (0-2)
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2005 (Game 3) – Houston @ Chicago
Chicago 7, Houston 5
IGame 3 was played on Simchat Torah eve, so I couldn’t watch it live. By dawn Wednesday morning I was up, waiting for the newspaper to arrive. I tore it open, flipped to the Sports section, saw a big picture of Jason Lane hitting an RBI double, and thought for one blissful moment: They won!
That turned out to be premature: The fine print indicated that the game ended too late for this edition. There was no partial box score, no other hint at the outcome, except for a picture of Oswalt with an ominous caption: “The Astros starter lasted 6 innings, giving up five earned runs on eight hits.” Not a good sign.
But since the game had ended after the paper went to press, it had obviously gone into extra innings. So there was still hope. At synagogue, my friend Marlene told me: Sorry your team lost.
It did go into extra innings. It was the longest World Series game in history: Fourteen innings, 5 hours, 41 minutes. In some ways it was a lot like the 18-inning game against Atlanta in the playoffs: The Bad Guys had a big inning to take the lead, the Astros tied it up in the 8th, no one could score a run for inning after inning, as both teams ran through their bullpens. But it had a different outcome: In the top of the 14th, Astacio came in to pitch. After giving up a lead-off single, he induced a double play to get the first 2 outs. But then he gave up a homerun to ex-Astro Geoff Blum. Two singles and two walks later, a second run scored. The Astros put runners on 1st and 3rd in the bottom of the inning, but couldn’t score them. Final: 7-5, to put the Sox ahead 3-1 in the Series.
The Astros got off to a great start in front of the home crowd, scoring in the first inning when Biggio led off with a double, then scored on Berkman’s single. They put two more runs on the board in the 3rd inning: Everett reached on an infield single, moved up on a sac bunt, then scored on Biggio’s RBI single. Biggio moved up on Berkman’s single, and scored on Ensberg’s RBI single. They added a 4th run in the 4th inning on Lane’s home run (an occasion for some happy smooching among the Bush family fans in the first row).
I had been hoping that Oswalt’s run of great post-season pitching would continue in this game. I even kind of fantasized about a complete game, a no-hitter… Oswald did pitch great – for 5 of his 6 innings. In those 5 scoreless innings, he gave up only 2 hits and (surprisingly) 3 walks. But in the top of the 5th inning, with the Astros ahead 4-0, he was a mess: After a leadoff home run, he gave up singles to 4 of the next 5 batters, allowing 2 more runs to score. Konerko flied out for the 2nd out. But then Pierzynski doubled in two more runs, putting the Sox ahead 5-4. The trouble wasn’t over yet: Oswalt hit the next batter, then walked the following one to load the bases. Luckily, Uribe flied out to end the inning. I’m surprised that Garner didn’t pull Oswalt somewhere during this meltdown, and even more surprised that he brought him back out to pitch the 6th inning. But he pitched fine in the 6th. Garner left him in until he gave up a leadoff walk in the 7th, and then brought in Springer -- the first of seven Houston relievers.
For the most part, until Astacio in the 14th, the Houston relievers did great, holding the Sox scoreless for the next 8 innings. The Astros managed to tie up the game in the 8th: With 2 outs, Ensberg and Lamb walked, then Lane hit a double, scoring Ensberg. Bruntlett, running for Lamb, got to 3rd base, but Ausmus struck out looking to end the inning with the score tied, 5-5. He had a few words with the ump, but to no avail. That’s where it sat until the 14th inning.
For the first time ever, the World Series came to Texas! The game was played in an open-roof Minute Maid Park, making most of the Astros players very unhappy. That decision, courtesy of MLB’s Bud Selig (a very unpopular man in Houston), countered what the Astros had considered to be a significant element of their home field advantage. After playing in the dreadful Chicago weather (the White Sox’s home field advantage), the Astros were due better treatment. MLB, MYOB!
High points:
- The Astros bullpen, with the exception of Astacio, pitched some very nice baseball. Springer went 3 up, 3 down to end the 7th for Oswalt. Wheeler pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings in the 8th and 9th, before he put runner on with a HBP. Gallo got out the next batter, and Lidge finished the 9th with a K. Lidge went on to pitch a perfect 10th. (At least this loss wasn’t Lidge’s fault!) Qualls pitched 3 scoreless innings in the 11-13th, giving up only one hit and 2 BBs (one intentional). Except for the grand slam he gave up in Game 2 (ouch!), he’s been the most reliable of the Astros relievers during the playoffs. Good omen for next year. But Astacio was terrible in the 14th, earning the loss. Wandy came in to finish off the last White Sox batter of the 14th, striking him out.
Disappointments:
- That RISP Demon: So many missed chances to take the lead! The Astros left a runner on 3rd in the 8th, when Ausmus struck out to end the inning. The bases were loaded in the 9th, when Ensberg struck out to end the inning. Runners left on 1st and 2nd in the 10th and 11th. And runners on 1st and 3rd, when Everett popped out to end the game in the 13th. This will be the theme of this World Series for the Astros. So close, so close…
Final 14th 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14RHE
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14RHEChi. White Sox « 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27143
7143Houston 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 582
1 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 582W: D. Marte (1-0) L: E. Astacio (0-1) S: M. Buehrle (1)
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2005 (Game 4) – Houston @ Chicago
Chicago 1, Houston 0
It all ended very much like it started: A one-run game, a shut-out, great pitching but no ability for runners to find home plate. The last game of the World Series was almost a carbon copy of so many other games this season. All that was missing was Clemens on the mound to make it a remake of Groundhog Day, Astros-style.
The good news first, since there’s not that much of it: Brandon Backe was on the mound, and (as Alyson is wont to say) he pitched a gem: Seven innings, no runs, only 5 hits and no walks, and 7 strikeouts. He struck out 5 consecutive batters, all swinging, in the 4th and 5th innings. The Sox appeared mystified over what to do with his slider, which barely nicked the outside edge of the plate time after time. His slider was so on-target and he was so energetic that it was a shame to take him out of the game. Garner pulled him for a pinch-hitter (Bagwell) with the score tied, 0-0, 2 outs and nobody on base in the bottom of the 7th inning, hoping for any possible way to get a run in. The move didn’t end up scoring a run, leaving us only to second-guess Garner, who is probably second guessing himself as well.
The bad news next: Garner brought in Lidge to pitch the last 2 innings, and he was Classic Lidge – classic for the 2005 post-season, at least. He gave up a run in the 8th, and lost the game. Nothing big and flashy like his homeruns to Pujols and Posednik. Just plain ol’ small-ball: A hit, a sac bunt, a ground out moving up the runner, another little hit. A runner scores, and that turned out to be the ballgame – and the Series.
The Astros wore home stripes with WS 05 patches. Many of them were still sporting the goatees that they had carved out of their post-season beards, after the loss in Game 2. Maybe in next year’s post-season they should just stick with clean-shaven?
I watched this game on the 50” HD TV at Miry’s house in College Park, surrounded by beer-guzzling college boys, including a couple of actual Sox fans.
High points:
- The Astros played in the World Series. And every one of the games was close; the Sox only scored a total of 6 more runs than the Astros. Any one of those games could have gone the other way with a single timely swing of the bat.
Disappointments:
- The Astros were swept in the World Series; that probably says it all. But while this was disappointing to fans -- and probably a bit devastating to the players – in the big scheme of things, it’s impossible to end this season on a note of failure. The Astros won the NL pennant – how cool is that?
- But that scoring problem bit them again: The Astros did not have much trouble getting runners on base – especially leadoff batters. The leadoff batter got on base in the 1st (Biggio’s single), 2nd (Lamb’s double), 4th (Berkman’s walk), 5th (Ausmus’ single), and 9th (Lane’s single) innings. They only failed to get runners on base in 2 innings – the 3rd and the 7th. They even got runners to third base in the 6th and 8th innings. But, so typical of so many games this season, they never managed to get a run across the plate. The RISP percentage was so terrible that I’m not even going to write it here.
- Of all the players who are beating themselves up after the Series, Morgan Ensberg is probably suffering the most. In this game he was 0 for 4, with 2 Ks, leaving several guys on base; for the series he was 2 for 18 with 2 RBIs. His assessment: "I did really poor in this series, and that really eats at me. It's difficult to handle." Ensberg has routinely taken the blame upon himself whenever the Astros have lost a game in which he didn’t come through. After you watch enough baseball, you come to appreciate that stats like BA, OBP, and so on hide the rough edges. In reality, most players are streaky. Over the course of a season, they go through hitting binges and they go through slumps. Ensberg’s bad luck: Slumping during the playoffs. He didn’t seem to be able to find his feet, changing his stance from at-bat to at-bat, open, closed, open again. Sad, considering what an outstanding year he’s had – and what he’ll probably have again next year.
- Lidge didn’t really pitch badly; he just wasn’t perfect. He threw 26 pitches in 2 innings, 21 of them strikes; he struck out 3. But he gave up a run in a game in which the pitchers needed to be nearly perfect. It was Lidge’s third loss in the playoffs, after a 4-4 year in which he converted 42 of 46 save opportunities. "Getting this far almost leaves a bitter taste in your mouth," Lidge said afterwards. “Almost”? That’s probably a bit of an understatement for most of the team. But I don’t think Lidge is likely to shoot himself over his post-season woes. He seems to have the perfect personality for a closer: Take the loss; eat it. Tomorrow is another day. Well, maybe not another day for baseball… But next year is another season.
Quotes of the Day:
- Backe on pitching in the World Series: "With the high I had going out there, I could have stayed out there forever. I probably could have thrown ... I don't know, there's no telling how long I could have gone. I told myself earlier in the day that I should go out and pitch like it was my last time this year, I didn't know if I'd pitch again in this Series. I was going to go out with everything I had, and that's where it got me."
- Biggio, on getting there: "I waited a long time to get into a World Series. It was worth the wait. I know what it feels like. It's disappointing to lose, but this has been a special feeling."
- Bagwell, on the experience: "I'm very disappointed we lost. I said before the series, 'Someone's going to be unhappy at the end.' And I'm unhappy. I wanted to win for these guys, probably more than I did for me. These are the guys that did it. It wasn't me. I feel bad for Brad [Ausmus], I feel bad for Bidge. And I feel bad for Willy Taveras. I feel bad for everybody. It was such a great team effort. "But I will look back on this and I will be happy that I had an opportunity to get here."
- Ensberg, on playing to win: When you're playing baseball, you hope that your family enjoys it and that they understand it's something special. I hope I, too, understand how special it is. Unfortunately I become so focused on the game that true enjoyment really isn't there for me. I enjoy winning, playing hard and leaving everything on the field. But I can't enjoy the great accomplishment of getting to the World Series. That's not how I'm built.
- Drayton McLane: "It's been a marvelous season. Our desire is to go to the World Series. We've done that, but it was also to win. We have those two objectives then to make a positive difference in Houston. But the one missing piece is to win the World Series. So we're going to start working on that early in the morning."
Final 123456789RHEChi. White Sox 000000010180Houston 000000000050W: F. Garcia (3-0) L: B. Lidge (0-3) S: B. Jenks (4)
