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Asked why he would give up three of his
top minor-league prospects for pitcher Freddy Garcia, Ken
Williams answered with two numbers—nineteen-seventeen.
The White Sox general manager wasn’t referring to the
score of that day’s game against the Cubs, but rather
to the last year in which the White Sox had won the World
Series. Heck, this was an organization that had thrown one
since it last won one, making its stamp on baseball history
with the 1919 “Black Sox” gambling scandal. The
White Sox had been back to the World Series only once since
then, with the Go-Go Sox losing in 1959. This was the history
that Williams and his manager, Ozzie Guillen, a fan favorite
from his playing days, were trying to change. They rebuilt
their roster—looking for more pitching, speed, and better
fielding after years of trying to bully the opposition—and
caught fire, building a 15-game lead on August 1. They would
watch all but 1 1/2 games of the lead leak away, but rediscover
themselves in time to construct the greatest run through October
in history. The White Sox got breaks and took advantage of
every one of them. They won 16 of their last 17 games, including
11 of 12 in the playoffs, and outscored the Boston Red Sox,
Los Angeles Angels, and Houston Astros by 33 runs, the biggest
run differential in playoff history. This is the story of
25 players and a cynical city that couldn’t believe
its eyes while watching them.
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