Juan Uribe made a Jeteresque dive into the stands to PaleHos an out away, then picked up a slow roller to gun down Orlando Palmiero and finalize the White Sox's claim to baseball supremacy.
Some thoughts: (1) The White Sox have had talent for 3+ years, but it took some deft moves by GM Ken Williams (Contreras, Dye, Garcia, Posednik) and some swift kicks in the butt from manager Ozzie Guillen to vault the core (Buerhle, Garland, Crede, Konerko) into immortality. (2) I think all the criticisms and disdain that AJ Pierzynski suffered last year with the Giants are proven to be rubbish with the way he handled the Sox staff this year. (3) Guillen showed some of the moxy and gambler's guts that made Torre such a great manager in 1996-2000; Garner showed that he cannot handle the pressure -- his whining about MLB's demand to keep the roof open at Minute Maid Park before game 3 was just stupid because a good manager would have said "we don't care, we just need to concentrate on winning", his postgame outburst after game 3 that can and should earn him a pink slip. (4) Going 0-2 and wearing goathorns will have some effect on Brad Lidge -- we'll see what effect next year or so. (5) Don't let the scoreboard fool you: four close wins and a tie for the lowest combined margin of victory in a World Series sweep (outscoring the Astros by 6 runs in the four games; ties 1950 Yankees) does not mean this wasn't a beatdown. The Astros were a step behind this whole series except when they were six innings into game 2 and decided not to ride an ace starter. The Stros were outclassed, just like other teams that lost close games while getting swept out of a World Series ('98 Padres, '99 Braves, '66 Dodgers, '63 Yanks). Going out like suckers in game 4 just shows that the 'Stros were a beaten team. (6) I still cannot stand Jerry Reinsdorf; ditto Steve Lyons. (7) You need more than just good starters to win a World Series, a lesson the Braves well know -- the Astros Big Three were 0-0 and the relief lost all four games, including two by one-time ace reliever Brad Lidge.
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