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Authors: Stephanie Peters
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Series game tucked neatly in their back pockets.
Three nights and two victories later, the Red Sox were one win away from sweeping the Cardinals out of the Series and capturing
their first championship ring in eighty-six years.
Game four was played in Busch Stadium before a sellout crowd. The night air had a hint of magic in it, for a full lunar eclipse
was predicted to occur during the game. As the moon slowly began to disappear behind the shadow of the Earth, Red Sox leadoff
batter Johnny Damon came to the plate. He took a called strike and two balls and then, on the fourth pitch, did what only
sixteen other leadoff battershave done in the World Series: he hit a home run! One at bat and Boston was already on the board!
The Sox sweetened the lead by two in the top of the third, thanks to a two-run double by Trot Nixon. Meanwhile, pitcher Derek
Lowe was busy blanking the Cardinals inning after inning. When he finally came out of the game after the seventh inning, he
had given up only three hits!
All Boston needed was to hold St. Louis for two more innings. They did just that — and when Edgar Renteria grounded out to
end the bottom of the ninth, the Red Sox had finally put the eighty-six-year-old Curse behind them!
Players and fans went wild. Corks popped in the locker room, and champagne sprayed everyone around. Johnny Damon spoke for
the whole team by saying, “We're going to enjoy it a bit … and do what champions do — celebrate!”
The following year, it was the other Sox team that was celebrating, however. Like their East Coast cousins, the Chicago White
Sox hadn't won a World Series in more than eight decades. They, too, had a curse to overcome: the Black Sox Scandal of 1919.In 2005, they did just what the Red Sox had done —they put that curse to bed by sweeping their opponents, the Houston Astros,
in four straight games to win their first World Series in eighty-eight years.
The final nail in the Astros' coffin came in classic style. It was the eighth inning of game four. The White Sox were up at
bat. The score was tied 0-0. There were two outs. Willie Harris stood at third, ready to run for home.
Jermaine Dye came up to the plate. He swung at pitcher Brad Lidge's first offering. Strike one. The second pitch was in the
dirt for ball one, but the third pitch was on the money. Dye swung.
Pow!
Ground ball to center field! Dye rushed for first, and Harris sprinted for home — and made it!
That single run was the only one of the game. With it, the White Sox erased their past mistakes and, like the 102 World Series
winners before them, were welcomed home as heroes.
The World Series is now more than a century old. Professional baseball is even older. The sport has had its share of low points,
from the 1919 Black Soxscandal to the present-day issue of illegal steroid use in the major leagues.
Yet despite these setbacks, people the world over continue to look forward to the start of baseball season with eager anticipation.
Fans talk about the players as if they were old friends — or bitter enemies. They compare statistics on their favorite players,
past and current. And they relive their favorite plays, including classic World Series moments.
Babe Ruth's legendary Called Shot. Jackie Robinson stealing home. Carlton Fisk waving the ball fair. Kirk Gibson hobbling
around the bases. Mention errors like Fred Snodgrass's dropped shot and Billy Buckner's failure to field an easy grounder
to a true baseball fan, and you're certain to get a heated response.
There's just something about the sport — the crack of the bat that signals a home run, the suspense of the no-hitter, the
split second before the umpire calls the runner safe or out — that keeps people coming back for more. As Hall-of-Famer Rogers
Hornsby once said, “People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window
and wait for spring.”
World Series
Three nights and two victories later, the Red Sox were one win away from sweeping the Cardinals out of the Series and capturing
their first championship ring in eighty-six years.
Game four was played in Busch Stadium before a sellout crowd. The night air had a hint of magic in it, for a full lunar eclipse
was predicted to occur during the game. As the moon slowly began to disappear behind the shadow of the Earth, Red Sox leadoff
batter Johnny Damon came to the plate. He took a called strike and two balls and then, on the fourth pitch, did what only
sixteen other leadoff battershave done in the World Series: he hit a home run! One at bat and Boston was already on the board!
The Sox sweetened the lead by two in the top of the third, thanks to a two-run double by Trot Nixon. Meanwhile, pitcher Derek
Lowe was busy blanking the Cardinals inning after inning. When he finally came out of the game after the seventh inning, he
had given up only three hits!
All Boston needed was to hold St. Louis for two more innings. They did just that — and when Edgar Renteria grounded out to
end the bottom of the ninth, the Red Sox had finally put the eighty-six-year-old Curse behind them!
Players and fans went wild. Corks popped in the locker room, and champagne sprayed everyone around. Johnny Damon spoke for
the whole team by saying, “We're going to enjoy it a bit … and do what champions do — celebrate!”
The following year, it was the other Sox team that was celebrating, however. Like their East Coast cousins, the Chicago White
Sox hadn't won a World Series in more than eight decades. They, too, had a curse to overcome: the Black Sox Scandal of 1919.In 2005, they did just what the Red Sox had done —they put that curse to bed by sweeping their opponents, the Houston Astros,
in four straight games to win their first World Series in eighty-eight years.
The final nail in the Astros' coffin came in classic style. It was the eighth inning of game four. The White Sox were up at
bat. The score was tied 0-0. There were two outs. Willie Harris stood at third, ready to run for home.
Jermaine Dye came up to the plate. He swung at pitcher Brad Lidge's first offering. Strike one. The second pitch was in the
dirt for ball one, but the third pitch was on the money. Dye swung.
Pow!
Ground ball to center field! Dye rushed for first, and Harris sprinted for home — and made it!
That single run was the only one of the game. With it, the White Sox erased their past mistakes and, like the 102 World Series
winners before them, were welcomed home as heroes.
The World Series is now more than a century old. Professional baseball is even older. The sport has had its share of low points,
from the 1919 Black Soxscandal to the present-day issue of illegal steroid use in the major leagues.
Yet despite these setbacks, people the world over continue to look forward to the start of baseball season with eager anticipation.
Fans talk about the players as if they were old friends — or bitter enemies. They compare statistics on their favorite players,
past and current. And they relive their favorite plays, including classic World Series moments.
Babe Ruth's legendary Called Shot. Jackie Robinson stealing home. Carlton Fisk waving the ball fair. Kirk Gibson hobbling
around the bases. Mention errors like Fred Snodgrass's dropped shot and Billy Buckner's failure to field an easy grounder
to a true baseball fan, and you're certain to get a heated response.
There's just something about the sport — the crack of the bat that signals a home run, the suspense of the no-hitter, the
split second before the umpire calls the runner safe or out — that keeps people coming back for more. As Hall-of-Famer Rogers
Hornsby once said, “People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window
and wait for spring.”
World Series
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