Less than 24 hours after a 14-inning, six-hour affair mercifully ended in a White Sox victory, the 2005 team took the field for Game 4 just one win away from a World Series championship. A commanding 3-0 lead in the series certainly instilled the club with confidence, but the Red Sox 3-0 comeback over the Yankees just a year earlier showed that this series wasn’t over yet.
The White Sox turned to Freddy Garcia to provide some length in Game 4 after a long game exhausted their bullpen the night before. For the Astros, 27-year-old right-hander Brandon Backe took the hill.
White Sox-Astros Game 4 was a classic pitcher’s duel
In a game where both teams needed their starter to step up, both pitchers delivered. The story of the game early was stranded baserunners. Jermaine Dye’s two-out double in the first inning went for naught as Backe escaped. The Astros got a leadoff single from Craig Biggio in the first and bunted him over to second, but he never made it any further, as Garcia was able to retire the next two hitters. Mike Lamb led off the Astros' second with a double, but never advanced past second base. Garcia struck out Jason Lane and Brad Ausmus, then got Adam Everett to ground out to end the inning. The White Sox got a two-out triple from Scott Podsednik in the third, but Tadahito Iguchi grounded out to end the inning, and Podsednik was left stranded.
The Astros' best opportunity yet came in the sixth, when Willy Tavares singled with one out against Freddy Garcia. Lance Berkman drew a walk, and the Astros executed a double steal. After a Morgan Ensberg strikeout, the White Sox elected to intentionally walk Mike Lamb and face Jason Lane with the bases loaded and two outs. An eight-pitch battle was ultimately won by Garcia, who got Lane swinging to end the threat.
Astros starter Brandon Backe had cruised through 6.2 innings before a two-out single by Aaron Rowand and a double by Joe Crede gave the White Sox their best scoring opportunity of the night. With two on and two out, Astros manager Phil Garner elected to let Backe face Juan Uribe. Uribe chased a 1-2 offering to end the frame, and a scoreless bottom half of the inning got both starters through seven scoreless innings.
Small Ball gets the White Sox on the board
The Astros turned to closer Brad Lidge in a non-save situation in the eighth, and pinch hitter Willie Harris delivered a leadoff single to put the go-ahead run on base for the White Sox. A sacrifice bunt and a groundout put Harris on third base with two outs and Jermaine Dye at the plate. Dye took a 1-1 offering back up the middle into center, scoring Harris and giving the White Sox a 1-0 lead in Game 4. The game was officially in the hands of the White Sox bullpen, and Neal Cotts came on for the bottom half of the eighth. A hit batsmen and an intentional walk gave the Astros runners at the corners with two away. The White Sox went to the righty Politte and the Astros countered with a pinch hit appearance from Jose Vizcaino. With the season on the line, Politte got Vizcaino to ground out to end the frame, and the White Sox were just three outs away.
Ozzie Guillen made another pitching change before the top of the ninth, bringing in Bobby Jenks to try to wrap it up. Jason Lane led off the ninth with a single. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Brad Ausmus. Chris Burke, who had a huge home run in the NLDS against the Braves, then came in to pinch hit. Burke popped a pitch foul that seemed destined for the seats, but White Sox shortstop Juan Uribe never gave up on the play, sprinting full speed and flipping into the stands, and somehow coming up with the ball. Just one out away, the Astros sent Orlando Palmeiro to the dish to hit for the pitcher. Palmeiro’s slow chopper got over the head of Jenks, but Juan Uribe flashed the leather once again, charging in and releasing the ball quickly, getting it to first just in time to retire Palmeiro. Then the celebration began. The White Sox mobbed each other at the mound of Minute Maid Park in Houston after winning their first World Series in 88 years. Jermaine Dye’s go-ahead RBI in Game 4 earned him the World Series MVP honors.
The 2005 season was a ride that myself and other White Sox fans will never forget. In the 20 years since, the team has only appeared in the playoffs three times and has never won a playoff series. Even though the future seems bright, the White Sox have a long way to go to bring new joys at the level of 2005, so we chose to honor the 20-year anniversary of the greatest White Sox season ever this postseason.
If you missed anything, you can go back and read recaps I’ve written for any of the 2005 postseason games. For those of you who have been along for the ride, thank you for joining me on this trip down memory lane. Here’s hoping we can again use the phrase “World Series Champion White Sox” sooner rather than later.