Fate no longer fickle; Sox look like a lock

Monday, October 24, 2005
Scott Podsednik stood in left field at the top of the eighth inning, staring at Paul Konerko, one thought inescapable.
"What does that man feel like right now?"
An inning and a half later, you stared at it, a fly ball off the bat of a banjo hitter, expecting it to come down harmlessly, oblivious to every sign from baseball heaven telling you it wouldn't.
As it kept going, and kept going, and — are you freaking kidding me? — kept going, and the Astros outfielders giving chase realized their fate, and the ball disappeared into the seats in right-center field, another thought was inescapable:
The Astros might want to concede.
Fate seems now to have so clearly aligned itself with these White Sox. There stands a very real chance we're going to find out if a juice box can hold champagne.
By game's end Sunday night at U.S. Cellular Field, Podsednik knew what it was like to feel like Konerko, and the Astros knew what it was like to be on the donating end of a heart transplant. Twice.
Come on. Podsednik hit a home run to beat maybe the best closer in baseball? Podsednik, the guy with a total of zero home runs during the regular season?
Yes. The guy with two now in the postseason.
"That's when stuff is going your way," Ozzie Guillen said.
Let's face it, folks. Stuff is stampeding the Sox's way.
In Sunday's 7-6 win, one Sox rally was keyed by a dropped pop fly by Houston second baseman Craig Biggio. Konerko's grand slam in the seventh was made possible by another in a series of questionable umpiring decisions in the Sox's favor. Then the Sox survived a game-tying base hit by an ex-Cub in the top of the ninth to win on Podsednik's one-out blast.
It sounds unusual only if you have been ignoring the sudden reversal of 88 years of bad luck. Let us count the ways:
The Sox won a game in Boston when Tony Graffanino let a ball go through his legs, Buckner style, and Tadahito Iguchi followed with a hit, Sadaharu Oh style.
They won one against Los Angeles when A.J. Pierzynski convinced the only guy that mattered, home-plate ump Doug Eddings, of a dropped third strike no one else saw.
They avoided Curt Schilling in Boston.
Probable Cy Young winner Bartolo Colon came up lame before the start of the AL Championship Series.
Seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens came up lame during the first game of the World Series.
And this time, the Sox snatched a win from Andy Pettitte that would have given the 33-year-old left-hander the most postseason victories in history, breaking a tie with John Smoltz.
Pettitte deserved it. In limiting the Sox to two runs over six innings, he was better than Mark Buehrle, who left after giving up four in seven.
But, in that seventh, with the Sox trailing 4-2 and two outs, Jermaine Dye loaded the bases for Konerko when plate ump Jeff Nelson ruled Dye was hit by a pitch that may well have hit his bat.
"I was behind him," Guillen said. "I couldn't see anything."
"I thought the ball hit the bat," Astros manager Phil Garner said. "I don't know what would have happened after that, but clearly I thought the ball hit the bat."
What did happen was Konerko crushed the first pitch from Chad Qualls into the stands in left for the first postseason grand slam in Sox history, and a 6-4 Sox lead.
"It's the second-best feeling I had all week," said Konerko, whose wife had the couple's first child Tuesday.
The feeling lasted roughly as long as the lead. Bobby Jenks, Saturday's hero, gave it back in a rally begun by his first victim a day earlier, Jeff Bagwell, and capped on a two-run single by ex-Cub Jose Vizcaino.
"No one was down," Konerko said. "I think the overall theme in the dugout was 'Everybody loves Bobby, we're not going to let him go home feeling bad about this ... We're going to get this win.'
"I don't think we thought it would be that quick or by a home run by him ... "
Konerko shot a look at Podsednik, seated next to him in a postgame press conference. Podsednik laughed.
"I agree with him," Podsednik said.
And here's something that might agree with Sox fans:
In 101 World Series, 50 teams have taken 2-0 leads. Of the first 49, only 11 failed to win the title.
Minute Maid Park, the Juice Box, awaits.

Source: http://www.dailysouthtown.com/