Sat, Oct 29, 2005 page20

• Guillen gets Sox through tough times

  CHICAGO WHITE SOX When the team was struggling, manager Ozzie Guillen told fans they would strive to play good baseball. In the end, they outdid themselves

  • NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE
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  Ozzie Guillen was talking fast and furious, naturally, on a windy May afternoon at US Cellular Field in Chicago. The White Sox had the best record in the major leagues at that point, but there was still a curiosity surrounding this surprisingly successful team.

  Would the White Sox' pitchers continue to be so formidable? Did their modest lineup have enough firepower? Would Guillen, the manager who had become the Mouth of the Midwest, keep the White Sox churning, or would they implode?

  Guillen seemingly echoed the doubters. "We didn't prove anything yet," he said. Guillen added that the White Sox did not deserve to be compared with a perennial winner like the Yankees.

  

  PHOTO: REUTERS

  "Are we playing good baseball? Yes," Guillen said. "How long are we going to play like this? We'll do it as long as we can. I guarantee one thing: We're going to show up every day and play the same kind of baseball."

  Then Guillen said fans should expect the White Sox to play solid defense, to be selfless hitters, to be smart pitchers and to run the bases efficiently.

  "They should expect the White Sox to play baseball," he said.

  That is what the White Sox did. They played baseball better than anyone else, and when all was said and done they had swept the Houston Astros to win their first World Series championship since 1917.

  The White Sox proved themselves to be a savvy team with impeccable timing. They were even more dominant in October than they had been in May.

  By winning 11 of 12 games in the postseason, the White Sox showed that their starting pitchers were superb, that their versatile bullpen was reliable with and without rest, that they did not need a lineup stacked with superstars, and that they could pull someone out of the corner of the dugout to help, too.

  "We're built on pitching and defense and hitting here and there," said A.J. Pierzynski, the catcher, as he, like Guillen, kept it simple.

  Carl Everett, an ornery sort whose eyes were moist after Wednesday night's decisive victory, said: "We played as a team. I'm so proud of all 25 guys. We never died."

  The White Sox tamed the Astros, 1-0, in Game 4 at Minute Maid Park to end 88 years of misery. Freddy Garcia and Brandon Backe traded zeros across the left-field scoreboard before Brad Lidge, Houston's cursed closer, ruined the 0-0 gem by surrendering a run in the eighth inning.

  The final two innings of the clincher epitomized how the White Sox had played baseball the way Guillen wanted.

  Willie Harris, who had one at-bat in the postseason, slapped a pinch-hit single off Lidge in the eighth. Scott Podsednik sacrificed Harris to second. Everett's groundout advanced him to third and Jermaine Dye's ground single produced the only run of the game.

  In the ninth, the Astros had a runner on second with one out and dreamed of scoring their first run in 15 innings. That is when White Sox shortstop Juan Uribe turned into a pocket-sized Derek Jeter. Uribe sprinted into foul territory in shallow left field and tumbled into the stands to catch Chris Burke's pop fly. The play kept the Astros' Willy Taveras anchored to second.

  Orlando Palmeiro followed by chopping a ball over pitcher Bobby Jenks' head. Uribe swooped in behind the mound, scooped the ball with his glove, transferred it to his throwing hand and barely nailed Palmeiro.

  The out made the Astros 0 for their last 17 with runners in scoring position. The also out meant the White Sox had won it all, emphatically and stylishly.

  "I was hungry to catch the ball," Uribe said. "I caught it twice."

  Podsednik, who could not hit a ball over the fence in the regular season, hit a homer to win Game 2. Geoff Blum, who had one homer since being traded to the White Sox in August, hammered one to win Game 3. Damaso Marte, who was a pariah last month, got five outs for the victory in Game 3. And that is not to mention the resurrections of Jose Contreras as the No. 1 starter and Jenks as the closer.

  In the end, the White Sox played baseball like the new, and long overdue, world champions.
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