Open World Series Thread, Game IV: A New Hope

Last night's third game of the World Series set up three true outcomes of misery:

1. The White Sox, having waited a century or two to win a championship, will lose four straight games, snatching the pity crown left up for grabs by the 2004 Red Sox.
2. The Astros claw back to force a sixth or seventh game, temporarily giving false hope to tens of thousands of fans who lived and died with the team, even during the Roger Metzger days.
3. The Astros wait a few decades to get to a World Series, come close enough to go home with the stink of championship on their uniforms, and get quickly dispatched in four or five games.

Perhaps it's a bit morbid to continually focus on how the fans of one team are going to walk around kicking puppies for an offseason. One team will get to a place they never thought they would ascend to, and at least one little girl is going to have to grow up with the name "Buehrlina" or "Lidgifer" as a result. Good for them. It's always nice as a Giants fan to see the Hall of Losers grow smaller. There will still be the Indians, Cubs, and probably Astros to keep us company, but watching one of our own rise out of the dank pit can only be comforting.

A.J. Pierzynski has made me pull ever so slightly for the Astros, but this isn't the `97 Marlins against the Indians here. Don't think of the fan who ignored the Sox for a lifetime, only to find his calling involved paying too much for scalped Series tickets and trying to get his lame sign on television. Think of the guy or gal who has watched the White Sox for years. They've seen some good times and bad times, but their season has always ended in disappointment in one fashion or another. They've never found the right occasion to fill their Ron Kittle commemorative Foster's Freeze cup with champagne. It's a good time to be that fan.