[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 134 (Thursday, October 20, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S11656]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             CHICAGO WHITE SOX ADVANCE TO THE WORLD SERIES

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise to speak about a matter of great 
importance to the people of the State of Illinois. For the first time 
since 1959, the era of the ``Go-Go Sox,'' the Chicago White Sox are 
headed to the World Series. The White Sox will face the Houston Astros, 
who last night beat the St. Louis Cardinals and clinched the National 
League pennant. We are disappointed; an I-55 World Series would have 
been great. But the Cards are a great team, Tony La Russa is a great 
manager, and they will be back.
  I didn't grow up in Chicago, I grew up in east St. Louis, but one of 
the first things I learned about Chicago is that the people of that 
city are absolutely passionate about baseball. I have also learned that 
Chicagoans don't ask you which team you love. They want to know which 
team you hate--except this time. Today, we are all White Sox fans. As 
long-time Sox fans are painfully aware, the White Sox have not won a 
World Series since 1917. Their three-game sweep in the playoffs against 
the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox was the first step 
in exorcising the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson and that controversial 
1919 White Sox team that was branded the ``Black Sox.''
  It was clutch hitting and pitching that helped this year's White Sox 
beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, four games to one, to advance 
to the World Series. In four consecutive playoff games this year, White 
Sox pitchers threw complete games, a record not matched since the 1956 
Yankees.
  Speaking of outstanding pitchers, I congratulate my colleague, 
Senator Barack Obama. He threw out the opening pitch in game 2 of the 
playoffs. Before that pitch, the White Sox were trailing the Angels one 
game to nothing. But after Senator Obama's blazing pitch, the Sox came 
back to win four games in a row and clinch the American League pennant. 
Rumor has it that if the going gets rough in the World Series, the Sox 
are going to turn to Barack Obama if they need a strong southpaw.
  White Sox players will be among the first to tell you: The upcoming 
World Series is not just a tribute to their outstanding performance. 
This historic event is a tribute to great White Sox players of the past 
who came so close only to fall short. They include Ozzie Guillen, who 
is now the White Sox manager, and, of course, Frank Thomas, their 
injured star--both White Sox stalwarts in the 1980s and 1990s.
  Most of all, this historic World Series is a reward to the millions 
of White Sox fans who have stood by their team year after year, decade 
after decade, during seasons of 90-plus wins and 90-plus losses.
  I applaud especially general manager Kenny Williams for helping to 
put this great team together; my personal friends, the owners of the 
White Sox, Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn, for their undying 
commitment to building a championship team on the South Side of 
Chicago. They orchestrated strategic moves to bring improved speed, 
defense, and pitching to the daily lineup in the form of players such 
as Scott Podsednik and Jose Contreras whose outstanding performance 
complemented veteran Sox such as American League playoff MVP Paul 
Konerko and All-Star Game starting pitcher Mark Buehrle.
  When spring training opens next spring, Illinoisans will once again 
be divided between Cubs fans, White Sox fans, and Cardinal fans, too. 
But today, we are all pulling for the White Sox as they fight to bring 
to Chicago the city's first baseball World Series championship in 88 
years. For Cardinal red and Cubby blue, the choice is black and white. 
Go Sox.

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