Major League Ball
World Series champs look forward to next year
Byron Peyster
Issue date: 11/2/05 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
I'm not going to lie, that was a pretty boring World Series. It is hard to get a whole lot of excitement when one team wins every game, but the White Sox kind of made all their series boring by winning every game but one in the entire playoffs.
That run has people calling them one of the best teams ever, a title that I am having trouble hearing. While it is hard to argue with their numbers, in which they became the third team ever to be in first place from day one of the season all the way through to their championship win.
Furthermore, they became only the second team to go 11-1 in the playoffs, joining the '99 Yankees. Simply put, the 2005 White Sox knew how to win baseball games.
So what's next for the White Sox, a repeat? They really only need to re-sign Paul Konerko, their team MVP and heart of the lineup. Without him, they lose that key ability to hit homeruns that carried them in a few games.
They should also look to improve, because you know the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, and other squads will be beefing up this off-season, even if there are few marquee free agents.
The next question is who will they have to compete with next year for that second championship in a row? As always, there will be the Yankees and Angels in the American League (look for the Red Sox to drop off into a rebuilding year), and the Cardinals and Braves in the NL.
There will also be some sleeper teams next year that we don't expect to be as good (exactly as the White Sox were this year). First, Chicago will have to look out for divisional rival Minnesota, who is always in contention and should be even better next year, and the Indians who came on very strong this year and whose youth will have had another year to grow up. Outside of the division, watch out for the Baltimore Orioles. The acquisition of Leo Mazzone as pitching coach could make all the difference, as he could be the key to the development of their talented young pitchers.
In the NL, the Giants could be back up there with the return of Bonds and some of their other players who were hurt all year. The Phillies are another dangerous team who can really threaten if they can add an arm to that rotation and figure out what to do with Jim Thome.
That run has people calling them one of the best teams ever, a title that I am having trouble hearing. While it is hard to argue with their numbers, in which they became the third team ever to be in first place from day one of the season all the way through to their championship win.
Furthermore, they became only the second team to go 11-1 in the playoffs, joining the '99 Yankees. Simply put, the 2005 White Sox knew how to win baseball games.
So what's next for the White Sox, a repeat? They really only need to re-sign Paul Konerko, their team MVP and heart of the lineup. Without him, they lose that key ability to hit homeruns that carried them in a few games.
They should also look to improve, because you know the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, and other squads will be beefing up this off-season, even if there are few marquee free agents.
The next question is who will they have to compete with next year for that second championship in a row? As always, there will be the Yankees and Angels in the American League (look for the Red Sox to drop off into a rebuilding year), and the Cardinals and Braves in the NL.
There will also be some sleeper teams next year that we don't expect to be as good (exactly as the White Sox were this year). First, Chicago will have to look out for divisional rival Minnesota, who is always in contention and should be even better next year, and the Indians who came on very strong this year and whose youth will have had another year to grow up. Outside of the division, watch out for the Baltimore Orioles. The acquisition of Leo Mazzone as pitching coach could make all the difference, as he could be the key to the development of their talented young pitchers.
In the NL, the Giants could be back up there with the return of Bonds and some of their other players who were hurt all year. The Phillies are another dangerous team who can really threaten if they can add an arm to that rotation and figure out what to do with Jim Thome.