By Michael Ventre
NBCSports.com contributor
updated 8:07 p.m. ET Oct. 20, 2005
 | Michael Ventre |
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It’s difficult to image the people of Chicago celebrating a World Series championship. They went bonkers while winning six NBA titles, but the Bulls had Michael Jordan and a star-studded cast, so they didn’t sneak up on anybody. The Bears won the Super Bowl after the 1985 season, but again, no news bulletin there, since it was evident from training camp that that team would be monstrously good. And the Black Hawks really don’t play in Chicago; ask anyone who lives there, and they will disavow any knowledge whatsoever that such a hockey club exists.
But if a Chicago baseball franchise captures a World Series, it will be as if VJ Day happened on New Year’s Eve. The city will pulsate like one big rave party. Police officers, assigned to keep the peace, will use their batons as imaginary microphones while singing “Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin’ town ....”
Get ready, Chicago. Mass euphoria is only days away.
The Chicago White Sox will win the World Series over the Houston Astros. And no, I can’t say I ever thought it was possible. Like NBA players wearing collared shirts, I just didn’t believe it would occur in my lifetime. But I’m happy to admit I was wrong.
The primary reason the White Sox will prevail is pitching, which is another declaration previously reserved for the domain of Ripley’s. Chicago’s pitching is superior to Houston’s? Can this be?
It’s hard to say it’s better, but it may be hotter.
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Granted, it’s difficult to fathom any hurler as overpowering as Astros right-hander Roy Oswalt was Wednesday night in St. Louis. And his two more nationally recognized teammates, Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte, were sharp in their last turns.
But the White Sox have that “team of destiny” feel, especially when it comes to their pitching staff. In the American League Championship Series against the Angels, they got an unheard-of four straight complete games from Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Freddy Garcia and Jose Contreras. When four starting pitchers all achieve such a high standard together in consecutive starts, it means something is going on. It means the dispensing of filthy stuff and winning are contagious.
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These hurlers are relatively unknown to the general populace. Ask somebody in the street who Roger Clemens is, and they’re likely to reply, “The Rocket,” even if they’ve just arrived in this country. But ask that same person who Mark Buehrle is, and you’ll receive the blank stare of a lost soul.
These White Sox pitchers have something to prove. They’re hungrier than Clemens and Pettitte, for sure, both of whom have experienced World Series victory as teammates with the Yankees. And while experience certainly is valuable when the knob on the pressure cooker is turned to “high,” the Chicago starters appear to be oblivious.
Contreras has a particularly large chip on his shoulder. He struggled with the Yankees, but he’s a new man now, doing a much better job of locating his fastball, and he’ll be at least on equal footing when the two duel in Game 1 Saturday.
The White Sox have a lineup of scrappers adept at figuring out a way to win. A.J. Pierzynski’s swipe of first on the controversial Doug Eddings call against the Angels in Game 2 of the ALCS was just one example of the tenacious way the Pale Hose approach the game under manager Ozzie Guillen. They’re not sitting back waiting for runs to happen, they’re out cobbling them. As a result, they haven’t gotten as much air time on “SportsCenter” as teams that have more famous pop in their lineups, like the Red Sox and Yankees and Cardinals.
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