Baseball Wraps Up for 2005

88 Years Since Shoeless Joe


The Chicago White Sox beat their 88 year hoodoo and won the World Series in a 4 game sweep of the Houston Astros. It's been a longtime between drinks, going back to a team that had such notable 'Black Sox as Shoeless Joe Jackson, Eddie Ciccote, and Buck Weaver.

HOUSTON, Oct. 26 - The baseball gods were merciless once, inflicting decades of sorrow on a franchise for one fateful mistake. They would sit in that mystical corner of sports heaven, firing thunderbolts at teams like the Chicago White Sox, who threw the World Series in 1919 and have defined mediocrity ever since.

All these years later, it turns out the gods have a heart, after all. How else to explain what happened at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday night, when the White Sox beat the Houston Astros, 1-0, in Game 4 of the World Series to clinch their first championship since 1917?

"I felt all 88 of those years," said the White Sox' owner, Jerry Reinsdorf. "I think I even felt the years that the Cubs haven't won on my shoulders."

The crosstown Cubs are more lovable and more popular than the White Sox have ever been, and they have gone 97 years and counting since their last championship. Maybe now their time will come.

Last October, the Boston Red Sox exorcised their demons in strikingly similar fashion to the White Sox. With no titles since 1918 - two years before they sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees - the Red Sox finally captured the World Series by winning their last eight postseason games.

Likewise, the White Sox followed four consecutive victories in the American League Championship Series with a four-game sweep of the Astros, whose anemic offense could hardly touch the White Sox' pitching.

You can't fault that. The way these things go, it'll be the Cubs who are 97 years and counting, moaning about he curse of the goat and poor Steven Bartman.

Bobby Valentine And The Chiba Lotte Marine Sweep Tigers


Okay, so 31 is much smaller than 88 or 86, but it's long enough to be a hoodoo of sorts.
Bobby V, former manager of the NY Mets who saw the Mets to the 2000 World Series (and lost to the Yanks) has been helming the Chiba Lotte Marines this year and has led them to their first Japan Series win in 31years. The Marines swept the Hanshin Tigers of Osaka.

ボビーが甲子園で舞った—。プロ野球の日本一を決める日本シリーズは２６日、甲子園球場で第４戦を行い、ロッテが１９７４年以来、３１年ぶりの日本一に輝いた。４戦４勝での日本一は０２年の巨人以来、史上５度目。米国人として初めて日本一の栄冠を手にしたボビー・バレンタイン監督（５５）は目に涙をためて「素晴らしいですね。このチームは一番です！」と力強く叫んだ。最高殊勲選手には８打席連続安打のシリーズ記録をマークした今江敏晃内野手が選ばれた。日本シリーズを制したロッテは、１１月１０日から東京ドームで開催される「アジアシリーズ２００５」でアジアの王者を目指す。

　「あの感触は一生、忘れない」と話した歓喜の胴上げからわずか９日。一度経験を積んで心の準備ができていたボビー・バレンタイン監督（５５）は気持ちよさそうに３回、宙に舞った。プロ野球７１年の歴史で初めての米国人監督による日本一。静まりかえった甲子園に“チバ、ロッテ、マリーンズ”の大合唱が響いた。

　「スバラシイ、コノチームハ、イチバンデス」。たどたどしい日本語で、精いっぱいのメッセージを伝える。黄色一色で埋め尽くされた甲子園に「ここは世界の野球の聖地。阪神ファンが日本で一番多いことを実感させられた。でも、ロッテのファンが最高です」

　４試合での最多得点３３をはじめ、攻撃面で６個の新記録を樹立したシリーズ。毎日打線を組み替えた“ボビー・マジック”がさく裂した。その姿勢は日本一を目前にした第４戦でも変わらなかった。第３戦で５番に座らせたベニーを外して、李承ヨプ（イ・スンヨプ）を起用したことが当たった。

Indeed , the Marines simply thumped the Tigers in the first 3 games, scoring more than 10 runs in each (10-0; 10-1; 10-0) and then edged out a 3-2 win to close out the series.
They love the man over there, and as the MLB clubs looking for managers eye Bobby V once more, Lotte are trying to keep Bobby for the long term.

Cashman Stays
So after all that deliberation, Brian Cashman has decided he'll go another 3 years in the Yankee circus to a tune of 5.5million dollars. I'd do it too.

Cashman's current contract expires Monday, and the Yankees cannot announce the new deal until after the World Series, a high-ranking baseball official said yesterday in Houston, site of Game 4 of the World Series last night.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because baseball commissioner Bud Selig prohibits teams from making major announcements during the Series. The deal with Cashman still has not been finalized, the official added.
With the decisions of Cashman and manager Joe Torre to stay with the Yankees, New York can start on its offseason moves next week. It appears the Yankees' first priority will be to re-sign outfielder Hideki Matui, who is eligible for free agency.
New York also has a deal that is all-but-finalized with former San Diego and Philadelphia manager Larry Bowa, who would become third-base coach.

A lot has been said about Brian Cashman but one thing is clear, Yankee fans actually wanted him back and that says a great deal about the support he enjoys in the Big Apple.

The Northern Summer is well and truly done in deep October. I think it's time to seriously watch some Cricket now. :)