Series of facts to go with Series
CHICAGO -- A primer on the World Series no one with a conscience can claim to have predicted back in spring training, eight months ago.
The Astros are in their first World Series, even though they began playing baseball in Houston the same year Roger Clemens was born, 1962.
The White Sox haven't won the World Series since 1917, the year before Ted Williams was born.
The Astros got here after being 15 games under .500 on May 24, the first team since the 1914 Miracle Braves to make the postseason after dipping that low.
The White Sox got here after nearly blowing a 15-game lead, which would have been the biggest collapse ever.
The Astros' general manager, Tim Purpura, grew up in Oak Lawn, Ill., a suburb south of Chicago, a White Sox fan.
Carl Everett, the White Sox' designated hitter, starred for the Astros before he went to the Red Sox, who traded Houston's current shortstop, Adam Everett, to get him.
The White Sox' bullpen coach, the popular Art Kusnyer, was a roommate of Nolan Ryan, the most revered player in Astros history, and caught Ryan's second no-hitter, when he was still with the Angels. Kusnyer, known as ''The Caveman" when he played, didn't show quite the same reverence for Ryan that his fans did. Hearing that someone in the team's hotel was going around stealing wallets from rooms, Kusnyer cracked open the door to their room, placed his wallet within sight of anyone walking past, and hid behind the door all night in hopes of apprehending the thief. Ryan finally put an end to that notion when he told Kusnyer to go to bed.
The Astros' most prominent fan is former president George H.W. Bush, No. 41 on your scorecard.
The White Sox' most prominent fan is Chicago's mayor, Richard M. Daley, No. 2 on your scorecard. Richard J. Daley, the current mayor's father, was mayor in 1959, grew up in the Bridgeport neighborhood adjacent to the park, and authorized the fire commissioner to sound air-raid sirens when the White Sox last won the pennant.
The Astros' manager is Phil Garner. His nickname, originally given him as a player, was ''Scrap Iron." Ten years ago, while managing Milwaukee, Garner got in a fistfight with Terry Bevington, who was in his first year as manager of the White Sox. Two years earlier, a White Sox coach named Doug Mansolino charged Garner in the Brewers' dugout because he thought Garner was hurling insults at him. That was later determined to be a misunderstanding. That same year, Garner challenged White Sox broadcasters Hawk Harrelson and Tom Paciorek to a fight, because they were calling for White Sox pitchers to retaliate against Milwaukee for batters hit by pitches. There was no misunderstanding there.
The White Sox' manager is Ozzie Guillen. He is the first Venezuelan-born manager in major league history, and he is not shy. The Chicago Sun-Times dubbed him Mr. Oz-tober. Before the season, Guillen prophetically said, ''This is the team you win with -- pitching, defense, and speed. There are only two teams that can just beat the crap out of you every day -- the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Everybody else has to play baseball." Guillen once told Dan LeBatard of the Miami Herald that he practices santeria, which involves animal sacrifice. What kind of animals? ''Depends on what you need," he said.
Drayton McLane, the Astros' owner, is a native Texan who made his fortune in the grocery business, teaches Sunday School in his Baptist church, and lists his phone number in his town's local directory. McLane's master stroke was to persuade Clemens to join Andy Pettitte and pitch for his hometown team. NASA, how do you like that Rocket?
Jerry Reinsdorf, the White Sox' owner, grew up in Brooklyn, made his fortune as a lawyer, CPA, and specialist in real estate securities, won six NBA titles as owner of the Michael Jordan Bulls, and recently described himself as ''the luckiest Jew alive." Some people in town have never forgiven Reinsdorf for threatening to move the White Sox to Florida as a ploy to get a new ballpark, and also blame him for supporting the lockout that led to the cancellation of the '94 Series. White Sox win the World Series, all is likely to be forgiven.
The White Sox are trying to live down the Black Sox scandal of 1919, though there are people who believe Shoeless Joe Jackson and longtime Chicago resident Buck Weaver were innocent and should have their names cleared.
The Astros are trying to live down naming their new ballpark
Jeff Bagwell, the best player in Astros history and the team's all-time leader in home runs with 449, had just one at-bat in the National League Championship Series after undergoing shoulder surgery, though he is lobbying to serve as DH this weekend. Bagwell can't throw.
Frank Thomas, the White Sox' all-time leader in home runs with 448, and one of the greatest hitters in franchise history, played in just 34 games this season and is out of the postseason after a second fracture was discovered in his left ankle. Thomas can't run.
Bagwell and Thomas were born on the same day, May 27, 1968. Shall we leave it right there?
