CHW - HOU World Series Thread

and poly, you are the jinxbait.

Well, I picked the Cardinals, so...

DAMN YOU POLY! ;)

THIRD and FOURTH biggest US cities?

if they're pissed about *that* then yeah, guess I'd hate to see their reaction if it was .. I dunno, Baltimore and Florida or something. Seems like they made out ok.

I think.

What are the stats as far as metropolitan areas are concerned? Also, do any stats exist that compare how many people WORK in a given city / metro area as opposed to living there?

1. New York
2. L.A.
3. Chicago
4. Philadelphia
5. Dallas
6. Miami
7. Washington, DC
8. Houston
9. Detroit
10. Boston

Don't take this the wrong way, but: Get your head out of your ass.

I believe it has even been as high as third at some point in the last decade or two.

Seriously, if any of you guys ever make it down to Houston, give me a shout. I'll show you around. I'm a good host, just ask gygax!.

Oh man, you've completely opened a new world for me. To think that I thought Houston was more like the 7th or 8th most populous American city. I am truly naive, and have learned my lesson.

See this makes much more sense.

I think these teams are pretty evenly matched and similarly constructed.

Any lineup without Albert Pujols will feel like a breath of fresh air for the Astros pitchers.

I'm gonna pull a Morbius and say that this is such a circumstantial & coincidental fact that it's not even worth bringing up unless you're auditioning for Chris Myers' job.

One TRUE thing in the Astros' favor: they have the better Top 3 in their rotation.

Or if yr Sam Ryan standing in the CHicago dugout...

OTM. The ChiSox might have a slightly deeper bullpen, but Wheeler and Lidge are probably better than anyone in Chicago's pen.

Chicago has a slightly better offense, but Houston's hitters have faced much better pitching thus far in the postseason. Chicago can hit the long ball, but Houston pitching gave up only 155 homers this season -- 78 at home, 77 on the road -- amazing numbers considering where they play.

I have a feeling that this series won't be as close as many people think. Astros in 6, if not 5. (I pick 6 for the purposes of the playoff prediction pool)

PALE HOSE IN SIX. "THIS ONE'S FOR IVAN!"

I think both teams are really even.

"CANCEL IT
-- Jams Murphy (SCOTT_BORA...), October 17th, 2005."

I don't know if this post was inspired by this article in The Onion, but I thought it was pretty funny.

Fox Cancels ALCS After Just Two Episodes
October 13, 2005 | Onion Sports

LOS ANGELES—Fox Entertainment president Peter Liguori announced Thursday that the network is pulling the plug on ALCS, the new three-hour drama/comedy about two rival clubs competing for the coveted "pennant," just two shows into its run. "This uninspired series featured a cast of uninteresting characters, a hackneyed plot, and more boring narration than actual meaningful dialogue," Liguori said. "We tried to find an audience on Tuesdays, then on Wednesdays, and we were prepared to move its time slot to Friday nights or Saturday afternoons before ultimately realizing that the series had zero potential." Television experts cited several other possible reasons for the early cancellation, such as the overly expensive sets and costumes, the show's subject matter, and the fact that the series' projected breakout character—a brash, outspoken black man named Carl Everett—tested very poorly with audiences. Fox remains optimistic about its other fledgling program, NLCS, but critics say the series has "very little chance" of making it past seven episodes

yeah whatever Red Cubs boy.

I was actually thinking about how beautiful this Sox win was in so many ways: dispatched the useless payroll fucknuts from New England in 3 games. the REAL Sox won with what, half the payroll of the Red Cubs?

We just kind of came along, with a young, well-crafted-team, and just fuckin ERASED all of that Red Cubs Nation nonsense with one of the most dominant post-seasons EVER. the REAL actual good SOX showed how teamwork can be accomplished without BUYING a championship. so fucking beautiful. FUCK the Red Cubs. SO SO SO great to see you dorks and your bloody-sock replican exit in three quick ones. i think all baseball fans pretty much got behind that one.

a Cohiba never ever tasted sweeter. I'm toasting to Low-Payroll DOMINANCE and great great great pitching. With more and more to come.

It's truly a beautiful thing.

but hey Dave, how does Theo's cock taste anyway? i would never suck another man's cock, when he's got that payroll at his disposal. now, Kenny Williams?? I'm almost tempted to suck his cock, but I don't need to because the world series is over and WE WENT ELEVEN AND ONE.

ELEVEN AND ONE.

SOUTH SIIIIIIDE!!!

SLAPHEAD BOSTON made no mention of the Red Cubs from last year, Dave. It's too bad when you look back on your one championship, you'll have to always consider just how bought and artificial it all was. Moron.

can't fuckin WAIT for next year with this staff. all locked up.

all ready to rock.

I cried in joy for the Big Hurt.

HR reflecting on White Sox season: (paraphrased) "You catch the ball, you hit it, you pitch it -- you do those three things *holds up three fingers*, you win ballgames.

HAROLD!
http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/photo/2005-10/20177802.jpg

2005 World Champs -- woo!

HR also sez "CHARACTER"

Yeah, even Gammons knows how to play the bullshit hype game.

>that old saw about pitching and defense might have a grain of truth

AND HOME RUNS!

And you wonder why I called you a slaphead. Pull down yr pants before you take a shit, dude.

PS, Spanky:

I'm toasting to Low-Payroll DOMINANCE and great great great pitching.

White Sox payroll = $75 M. You got 17 teams behind you, and you're only $20 M behind the 4th place team. But, hey, dreams are cool, too.

This is just crazy bullshit.

I hope we get crazy banquet quotes from Ozzie all winter.

For fans of guys that are champeens of the baseball world, some of you sure are pissy.

http://www.epsilones.com/imagenes/retratos/pythagoras.jpg

BILLY BEANE 4EVAH

Anyway, I've got no beef with Raposa. I apologize for calling him a moron. I was feeling feisty. (just like Darren Jackson!) I don't take back the Red Payroll belittling comments though. I don't appreciate being called a slaphead when I've been a die-hard for 15 years and am the first to admit when the team is crappy, *whenever-they-are-in-fact-crappy*, which, this post-season they weren't in the slightest. So yes, I am a happy, beaming Sox fan.

In any case, what I had wanted to post last night was how happy I was for Big Frank Thomas (Andy K. OTM!!), Joey Cora, and Ozzie Guillen -- all members of the team I was first captivated by -- , John Rooney who will be missed, Dave Wills who IS missed (so crazy that he left this year), Nancy Faust, my friend Kenny who is a factory worker and 20-year season ticket owner and the guy who sits in the first row above the Sox bullpen and waves the "Let's Go White Sox" sign every game, my friends Tony and Doreen who are beer vendors at Comiskey and die-hard Sox fans, Gino the bartender at Jimbo's who is a real swell guy and loves to take his daughter to Sox games, that cute girl who works at Hackney's and is a big Sox fan, and last but certainly not least Alex Snelius, in loving memory of Ursula.

God bless all.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/oracle/

Is Studs Terkel finally losing it in his 90s? cuz aside from the well-worn 'Wrigley is for tourists' lament, I'm not sure what he's trying to say here exactly.

Nine Men In
By STUDS TERKEL

Chicago

EVEN with the Chicago White Sox's remarkable World Series sweep of the Houston Astros, ending the Black Sox curse of 1919, we cannot say that a chapter of infamy is over. This is because the players of that infamous team of 86 years ago remain on the outside. I'm only sorry that they (and Bill Veeck, the team's eccentric former owner) aren't alive to see it.

If there had been real justice after the scandal of 1919, Charlie Comiskey, the Sox owner, would have been the one kicked out of the game. That year, the star pitcher Eddie Ciccote had been promised a $10,000 bonus if he won 30 games; as he neared the mark Comiskey had him benched for the remainder of the season rather than open his wallet.

But there was nothing the players could do. Most weren't very worldly - Shoeless Joe Jackson couldn't sign his own name - and they couldn't change teams. They were serfs of the owners.

The sportscaster Red Barber once said that the three most important men in the history of the game were Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and Marvin Miller, the players' union boss who negotiated the Major League free-agency system. In that sense, Miller is the real difference between 1919 and now.

That's why I was also happy that the St. Louis Cardinals didn't make the Series this year. In 1971, Joe Torre of the Cards was the league's most valuable player. But he was also very involved with Miller and the players' association, which made him unpopular with the fans. So when he came to bat on opening day in 1972, he was booed by his hometown crowd - the reigning M.V.P.!

Of course, the big question is whether this championship will help the White Sox become more than afterthoughts in Chicago compared with the Cubs. Actually, I think all Chicago is thrilled about this. The Sox-Cubs rivalry is mostly press hype. There used to be a real difference when the South Side was stockyards and steel mills, but not any more.

Besides, many Cubs fans today are from the suburbs, brought in by buses. It's like going to an air show or "Cats" - something tourists do. After the game, you ask them: "Who did the Cubs play? What was the score?" They shake their heads. It's not about baseball, it's about having been to a place to be.

Still, while everybody loves a winner, the Cubs are a phenomenon, and eventually they'll be the only thing anybody here talks about again. And it's true that compared with the Cubs, with their hallowed Wrigley Field, the White Sox have always played in a dump. The old Comiskey Park was terrible, and the new one, U.S. Cellular Field, isn't much better. The only thing good about it is the toilets - the cleanest I've ever seen in a public place. Still, that's not quite enough; next year I'm going to stick with watching on TV.

Studs Terkel is the author, most recently, of "And They All Sang: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey."

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

The Sox won the series, it's their achievement and it's unfortunate that their fans can't enjoy it without hearing references or comparisons to the Cubs and their fans.

Disclaimer: I'm a Cubs fan, not from Chicago, and have no ill will toward the Sox apart from Hawk & DJ. I visited Wrigley as a tourist and booed Lenny Harris as a fan.

http://towleroad.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/guillenkiss_1.jpg

http://towleroad.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/whitesox3.jpg

Should've had the fuckin thing on Monday and then I would've taken it off...