Game ball's fate is well-kept secret
Following last year's Red Sox controversy, White Sox are mum
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HOUSTON - Mark Buehrle had a secret and wasn’t about to share it with anyone right after his Chicago White Sox swept Houston in the World Series.
“The game ball?” the pitcher said Wednesday night. “I can’t say. I know who has it, I know where it ended up, but I’m not going to say. Who knows? Maybe I stole it and put it in my locker.”
The game ended when Astros pinch-hitter Orlando Palmeiro grounded to shortstop Juan Uribe, who threw the ball to first baseman Paul Konerko. The 1-0 victory secure, Konerko ran toward the mound and disappeared in a cluster of celebrating players.
From there, what happened to the ball was a mystery to almost everyone.
“I don’t know, I really don’t,” World Series MVP Jermaine Dye said.
“I have no idea what happened to it,” said Bobby Jenks, who earned the save.
When asked about the game ball’s fate after it popped into his glove, Konerko was tightlipped.
“I’m not doing interviews,” he said as he partied with his teammates on the pitcher’s mound.
The final-out ball from last year’s World Series caused all kinds of commotion.
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Eventually, a compromise was worked out and Mientkiewicz loaned it to the Red Sox for a year.
Catch of the game
Shortstop Juan Uribe already had the defensive play of Game 4 before fielding Orlando Palmiero’s grounder to end the game.
With one out in the ninth inning and Jason Lane on second, Chris Burke popped a foul ball down the left-field line. Uribe ran over, his eyes to the sky, reached into the first row of fans, caught the ball and fell headfirst into the seats.
Third baseman Joe Crede was ready to make a play on the pop before Uribe went for it.
“I thought a fan caught it at first,” Crede said. “But as he came back over and I saw he had the ball in his hand, I started screaming, ’Three, three, three!’ so the guy wouldn’t tag up.”
Astros second baseman Craig Biggio said the Houston fans may have showed a little too much courtesy.
“The guy goes into the stands. How’d he pull it out?” Biggio said. “If I was a fan, I would’ve mauled him.”
Big Hurt, big smile
Frank Thomas tried to hobble away from a bevy of teammates chasing him with bottles of champagne in Chicago’s clubhouse after the White Sox won the World Series.
Caught in the corner of the clubhouse with a trash bag covering his broken left foot and a smile plastered on his face, all he could do was laugh as he was soaked by the bubbly.
“This means everything to me,” he said. “Whatever I do after this is extra. I just always wanted to get right here.”
Thomas missed the first two months of the season recovering from offseason ankle surgery before hitting 10 homers in his first 69 at-bats. He missed the rest of the season after breaking his foot in late July.
“It doesn’t matter that I didn’t play in the series,” he said. “I’m just so happy for the team.
Aaron Awards
Atlanta’s Andruw Jones and Boston’s David Ortiz were picked as the 2005 recipients of the Hank Aaron Award, given annually to the best offensive players in each league as voted by fans.
Jones led the major leagues with 51 home runs and topped the NL with 128 RBIs. Jones hit his 50th homer in September, becoming the 12th player in major league history to reach 300 homers before his 30th birthday.
Ortiz led the major leagues with 148 RBIs. The designated hitter hit 47 home runs and had an AL-leading 88 extra-base hits.
Aaron, baseball’s home run king, was on hand to give the awards to Jones and Ortiz before Game 4 of the World Series.
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