Special Sox success, crazy Cardinals comeback preempts poor Picks

Rampant baseball fever has overtaken the Midwest as sports fans in Chicago and St. Louis are celebrating like maniacs over the incredible achievements of the White Sox and Cardinals.  Were there actually football games played on Sunday?

The White Sox used record-setting pitching performances to advance to their first World Series since 1959, while the Cardinals made one of the most unlikely ninth-inning comebacks in baseball history to keep their season alive against the Houston Astros.  It all happened the day of and the day after the Sunday Football Picks, which were bumped from the main stage.

After losing the first game to the Los Angeles Angels in the American League Championship Series, the White Sox earned four straight victories as Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Freddy Garcia and Jose Contreras all pitched complete games.  That accomplishment is the first of its kind in 104 years of postseason baseball.

Their clinching victory Sunday night put the White Sox in position to win their first World Series since 1917.  However, it also caused a scheduling problem for Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who works as a basketball analyst during halftimes of Chicago Bulls games.  His baseball season has never extended this late into October to conflict with his second job.

"I love the Sox, don't get me wrong, but I depend on Ozzie's unique views on the NBA, even if I only understand every fourth word he utters," said one longtime fan, who fondly remembers Ozzie's shocking debut as a basketball analyst at halftime of a 1995 Bulls/Pacers game.

In the National League Championship Series, the season was all but over for the Cardinals in Game 5 Monday night.  Houston fans were rocking as the Astros led 4-2 in the top of the ninth with two outs and two strikes on the batter, ready for their first ever World Series appearance.  But a ground ball past a diving third baseman, followed by a walk, brought up the dangerous Albert Pujols, who obliterated a hanging slider to give St. Louis a 5-4 victory.  The mammoth shot easily traveled more than 500 feet.  Houston still leads the series 3-2 but may not recover from such a paralyzing blow.