The "Rap" .......

About Baseball & More......


by Tom Cole
© 2005


October 24, 2005


Notes from the 101st World Series.....
Game 2-

Scott Podsednik mobbed by his teammates after hitting a walk off home rug to end game 2 of the World Series

For no reason at all, for reasons I cannot explain for the life of me, I am 'rooting' for the Astros to win the World Series. I am baffled as to why, but I pumped my fist in the air when Jose Vizcaino promptly slapped the indomitable, unbeatable Bobby Jenks fastball into left field to tie the game in the top of the ninth inning, but groaned when Paul Konerko hit a grand slam home run to put the White Sox in the lead. I should be rooting for Chicago as, after all, the Texas team is the favorite of the first family, who are definitely not MY favorite people. The Texas twang is not my preference at all, yet many of t

he Astros players are native Texans, including future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens as well as Andy Pettite and others. But the names Pierzynski, Podsednik and Konerko are not exactly types that I warm up to either. For no reason at all. Pierzynski rubs me the wrong way and has done so ever since he joined the SF Giants. His reputation is what it is and undoubtedly he made a great effort to 'change' his persona around his new teammates but then perhaps he is just more comfortable in the Midwest, as a lot of people are. SF is not for everyone, thankfully, though too many have found it appealing as the crowded freeways and stratospheric housing costs indicate.

Paul Konerko raising his fist, celebrating his grand slam home run against the Astros

Few realize that Paul Konerko has been a good player for a long time, once a Dodger prospect (at 3b) and named Minor League Player of the Year at one point in his past. It is nice to see him hit his stride as well as home runs on the big stage in October, as his path to this point in time has been a long, winding road with many ups and downs. Posednik's journey to Chicago has been steeped in anonymity, and his “arrival” in the major leagues, while not unexpected by those who have followed his short career, is distinguished by a considerable ABSENCE of power, 22 home runs in three years

in the major leagues, one with Seattle and two years in Milwaukee, hitting one every 55 at bats! As everyone now knows, he hit NO home runs this year in Chicago in 507 at bats, but has hit two in the playoffs including the walk off last night against the Astros closer Brad Lidge. With approximately an 80% success rate in stealing bases over his career, he is truly an improbable candidate to take Lidge deep. But he did, and that is what the World Series is about….a big stage with improbable heros and drama that even Hollywood would hesitate to put on their big screens.

Podsenik, realizing he has ended the game with a home run, pumps is fist and roars in celebration of the winning home run.

Lidge must be reeling, having yielded a game winner to Albert Pujols in a crucial playoff game. Having Pujols light you up is not like giving it up to a 170 lb. speedster lead off hitter, a throw back to an era in which baseball was played without steroids and the behemoths that dominate much of the game today were few and far between. Lidge had given up just one home run to 159 batters in the regular season, had struck out 103 hitters in 70 innings and his 'stuff' is hailed as the nastiest of any closer in

either league, unrivaled since Rob Nen was throwing 92 mph sliders with a 98 mph fastball. Clearly Podsednik did not think the ball was going out, did not expect to hit a homerun nor was he trying to do so. His sprint to first base only slowed to a grand home run trot after he rounded first base; he was under the impression he was going to use his speed to put himself in scoring position rather than his brawn.

A crushed Brad Lidge contemplates the unthinkable as the White Sox celebrate at home plate.

Down 2-0, the Astros find themselves in a hole which, though not impossible from which to emerge, they will find it an uphill battle, but battling the umpires and their blatantly bad calls is not what any team could expect of face nor overcome (referring to the gift of 1st base to Jermaine Dye on what was clearly a foul tip) No, the umpire did not deliver the pitch to Paul Konerko nor the game winner to Podsednik, but taking advantage of inexplicably

bad calls is becoming a habit, the norm rather than an anomaly. Perhaps these Sox are destined to reverse their own curse as did their Red counterparts did last year. Fate, the inevitable, destiny. These are words for the evangelical minded, but the baseball gods are both merciless and compassionate, and maybe this is Chicago's year, with the present chaos of the Cubs notwithstanding.