Crazy weekend of sports capped off by the World Series and Vikings victory
October 24, 2005
Milke Miller
After the long Hobo Day weekend, I find myself tired and exhausted. Throughout the weekend, I was trying to think of what to write about. It was another weekend filled with exciting finishes.
The NFL was full of amazing finishes, mostly dealing with special teams and field goals. The most important, to me, was the Vikings and Packers game. The Vikes were down 17-0 at the end of the first half. The game appeared to be the typical Vikings, not doing that good at all. The second half, however, was another story. The Vikes stormed back to beat the Packers 23-20 on a 56-yard game-winning field goal as time expired. With all the adversity and off-field controversy, Minnesota is still just one game out of first place in the division with a 2-4 record.
The Philadelphia Eagles and San Diego Chargers had an exciting finish, with the Eagles blocking a field goal and returning it for the game-winning touchdown.
The main event happening now though is the biggest series in October, the Major League Baseball World Series. It’s that time of year where the OC is put on hold for a couple weeks, the leaves are turning colors, the temperature is getting really cold and the two best teams in baseball battle for the World Series title.
This year’s Series is not a huge rivalry. It’s not the infamous Yankees or Braves in the series. The Red Sox didn’t return, and the Twins didn’t even come close. It is the Chicago White Sox and the Houston Astros. The Astros have never won, or even been to the World Series. The White Sox haven’t won the World Series in omore than 85 years, but I just don’t like the White Sox.
The Astros are currently struggling with the White Sox. As of Sunday night, the Astros are down two games to none. Losing the first two games is not a good way to start a series. In Game Two, the Astros tied the game at six in the top of the ninth inning, only to have Scott Podsednik of the White Sox hit a walkoff homerun. Podsednik, who did not hit a homerun in the regular season for the White Sox, made his first home run in a White Sox uniform count.
The series so far, through two games, is statistically close. Both teams are batting about the same, around .270, and the games have been decided by a total of three runs.
The White Sox have been involved in a couple of controversial plays to get to where they are now. In the American League Championship Series against the Angels, A.J. Pierzynski was involved in a controversial call. The umpire signaled that he had struck out. Pierzynski thought the ball hit the ground before the catcher caught it and ran toward first base. The catcher believed he caught the ball without it hitting the ground, so he did not bother to tag Pierzynski and rolled the ball towards the pitcher’s mound. The umpire ruled that the ball hit the ground and Pierzynski was safe at first. Pierzynski’s pinch runner eventually came around to score the winning run for the White Sox. The play evened the series at one game apiece.
In Game Two of the World Series, the White Sox had another controversial call go their way. On a 3-2 pitch, the ball appeared to bounce off Jermaine Dye’s bat, but the umpire ruled that it hit Dye on the arm. Dye took first base and loaded the bases. The next batter for the White Sox then hit a grand slam to give the White Sox the lead. After watching the replay, the ball clearly did not strike Dye. Umpires have played an important role Chicago’s road to the World Series.
With the White Sox up 2-0 in the series, it is not looking good for the Astros. Neither the Sox nor the Astros have struggled in the playoffs this year, and being down two games is something the Astros are not used to. The series has been very close, and hopefully the Astros pull off some sort of miracle and come back to defeat the Sox. The next three games are played in Houston, where the Astros should have an advantage because the games are played by National League rules. The White Sox pitchers will have to bat instead of the designated hitter. I’d rather see the Chicago Cubs win than the Chicago White Sox.