Ramírez, Adell Down Sox, Extend ALDS
You’ve probably heard this fun fact 500 times in the past 48 hours, but I’ll repeat it here: The White Sox haven’t clinched a postseason series at home since 1906. And while I’d take the under on another 120-year wait for a home clincher, White Sox fans are going to have to sit tight for at least another 24 hours.
Jo Adell cleared the bases with a third-inning triple to put the Guardians on top, and they stayed there thanks to some old-school grit-and-grind ball by José Ramírez. A cavalcade of six relievers just barely kept Chicago at arm’s length through the middle and later innings, and the Guardians stayed alive with a 9-3 win.
Back to that fun fact about the long wait since the last home clincher: If anything, it undersells how woeful the past 120 years of White Sox baseball have been. Game 3 of this year’s ALDS was actually only the fifth potential clincher for the White Sox — in any ballpark — in the past 100 years. The Blue Jays played five would-be clinchers last year alone.
Michael is a writer at FanGraphs. Previously, he was a staff writer at The Ringer and D1Baseball, and his work has appeared at Grantland, Baseball Prospectus, The Atlantic, ESPN.com, and various ill-remembered Phillies blogs. Follow him on Twitter, if you must, @MichaelBaumann.
Hope everyone enjoyed Adell’s triple because you won’t be seeing that any longer if they adopt the proposed OF position restrictions they are trialling in the minor leagues….
OK, so I’ve had my say on that now.
So apparently the pope’s influence, though mighty, has it’s limits.
OK, so I’ve had my say on that also.
Jokes aside, I’m loving this series. It’s fun and from what I remember from being a kid many decades ago, games are supposed to be fun.
David Sandlin. Not Nick.
I was worried as soon as they only got one in the first.
As a Guardian’s fan, never thought I’d utter the words “Thank God for Jo Adell”. Definitely wasn’t on my bingo card.
Also, can’t overstate how much I LOVE Jose Ramirez. I really have no idea how he made it home on the ground ball in the 5th. And it wasn’t even that close.
Finally, not sure if this is mentioned in the article but it looks like the 19 Ks by the Guardians’ ptichers is the most ever for a 9 inning playoff game.
Jose might be the most underrated/underappreciated player of the decade if not the century. At least from a national mainstream audience.
1906 Sox did have HoF George Davis and Ed Walsh, and did get a career year from Doc White, but were still not taken anywhere near as seriously as the Cubs or other NL teams.
Nobody on this team is even a squintable HoF but I’m definitely not going to say there anything they cannot do
But Smith for 2 innings up 4 and 6 runs??
Yeah that was weird. I get using him in the 8th with a 4 run lead in a must win game. But the 9th with a 6 run lead and no off-day? Baffling…
First home playoff game for the White Sox
After winning 4 out of 4 playoff games including a full series.
After the record losses.
After a magical season that captured national support.
With a chance to clinch the series.
(They haven’t clinched a playoff series in Chicago in 120 years.)
Last time they won playoff games in Chicago the literal Pope was in attendance.
This was a huge game for Chicago.
And the entire electric sold-out crowd was clad in black – last time they did that at night and won the scene was so epic and photogenic that MLB used the image in national marketing/promotion for a decade.
But they played the game at 3pm. On a Wednesday.
Just because the GODDAMN Yankees need to be on primetime.
That being said I think the Sox players were nervous and over-excited.
That note about the 4 players with their original organization had me interested in who they were. Unless I’m mistaken: José Ramírez, Mike Trout, Jose Altuve, and Salvador Perez.
Which, yeah, sounds about right.