We Interrupt This Year to Reminisce

You know, one thing the Cubs are good for is reminding us of the White Sox. And all this playoff hoohah has us thinking often of the greatest baseball year Chicago has seen in many generations: 2005. So let us recall the first day of the American League Division Series, 2005:
White Sox 14-Red Sox 2.

The day dawned with an unmistakable buzz about town as thousands of fans and celebrities arrived for the opening of the ALDS at U.S. Cellular Field. The Tribune greeted the visitors with a front-page story warning about crime, poverty, drug use, and curiously stereotypical African Americans in the vicinity of U.S. Cellular Field. Gasp! As far as we can tell, the arriving fans ignored the Tribune, as most Chicagoans have learned to do. The day ended with Bridgeport looking and sounding a lot like Baghdad, however, as the White Sox hit an ALDS-record five home runs, two of them by A.J. Pierzynski. The Sox scored five runs in the first, one in the third, and two in the fourth to chase former Cub Matt Clement off the mound and, apparently, out of baseball. Jose Contreras scattered eight Red Sox hits over seven and two-thirds innings, and Neal Cotts and Cliff Politte were nearly perfect in relief.

The Sox were on their way to a sweep...