The White Sox party like it's 2005

These things happened. Yesterday.

- Jose Contreras pitched a gem.

- Scott Podsednik hit a home run.

- Freddy Garcia became one of the guys again.

Really, it was quite a day to be a Sox fan.

Things got off to a frustrating start in Game 1, the first of a big five (5!) game series against the division leading Tigers. Luckily, I'm good about when bad things happen to the Sox - I tend to go with the whole "It's only one game out of 162!" approach - but seriously....that game was awful. Runners stranded everywhere, they lose on an error, and, to top it all off, Ozzie blows up after the game with a rant involving the word "horseshit". Actually, that was pretty cool. But those first two things really got my blood boiling.

Thankfully, Game 2 was awesome. The Count was on top of his game, throwing strikes and allowing only two base runners in eight superb innings of work. You could argue it was the best he's pitched since....the 2005 playoffs! You know where I'm going with this. Add in Scotty Pods' dinger and the Freddy Garcia signing, and I think I'm going to watch my '05 World Series DVDs when I'm done writing this post.   

It probably goes without saying, but, man, did I adore the 2005 Sox. The only other Chicago sports team to win a championship in my lifetime was the Bulls, but I was so young that I didn't really appreciate it. The Bulls just won the championship every year. No big deal. It was all I knew.

The 2005 Sox were different. That postseason run was so magical that in a way I feel like that team was my very own version of the '85 Bears. If you've lived in this city your whole life and are around my age, missing out on the '85 Bears by just a couple years, you know the way people talk about them. It always reminds me a column Chuck Klosterman wrote for ESPN on Barry Bonds and Babe Ruth. My favorite part:

We are all familiar with the story of Babe Ruth; it's the classic American narrative. He was born inside a burning saloon. As a teen, he was persuaded to become a southpaw pitcher through the guidance of a priest impressed by the boy's ability to consume entire turkeys during brunch. As he matured, Ruth found he was able to hit 600-foot home runs for dying children without the use of a bat. His on-field excellence was punctuated by an ability to drink whole kegs of beer while making love to nine women simultaneously, none of whom was his wife. When the Red Sox traded his rights to the Yankees, 560 people died in a mud slide. Ruth served as Warren G. Harding's secretary of state, albeit briefly. He also weighed in the neighborhood of 18,000 pounds and once won a best-of-three-falls wrestling match against Man o' War, the horse he later ate.

That's how people talk about the '85 Bears around here. Only it's the entire team, not just one guy. Even though football players didn't make a ton of money back then like they do now, none of the those dudes will ever be out of a job or strapped for cash after their careers if they stayed in the city. Chicago loved that team.

The thing is, to me, the stories about the '85 Bears seem like myths. My dad talks about how opposing QBs used to take themselves out of games because they didn't want to get choke slammed by Wilbur Marshall. Cool. I mean, that's all well and good, but is it real?

The stuff that happened in 2005, that was real. I saw it. I saw El Duque get out of a bases loaded, no outs jam against the defending champion Red Sox. I saw Sox' starters throw four complete games in a row. I saw the Podsednik homer, the Blum homer, the Konerko grand slam, the Uribe catch. That was my team.

Maybe this 2005 reunion won't continue to work out. Pods will probably fall off at some point (he has to, right?). No one can expect Contreras to consistently pitch the way he did tonight. Freddy Garcia's contract will probably get voided when he gets busted after a long night of ripping bongs in the kitchen. But, for right now, I'm happy. The 2009 Sox remind me of the 2005 Sox. At least for a night.

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2 P.M. UPDATE

SlowBreaker column, up and running. It's worth your time, I think.