Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
The White Sox swept the Astros tonight and are now World Champions for the first time since 1917. I don't have much say about the game itself except that the feeling that the Sox would eventually score one run to win it started to take over around the fifth inning. I just have some random notes.
First, as I mentioned earlier, this was the closest sweep ever. The Sox won by two runs once and one run three times. Here are the only other series that had that many close games were:
| Yr | Winner | W | Loser | L |
| 2002 | Anaheim Angels | 4 | San Francisco Giants | 3 |
| 2001 | Arizona Diamondbacks | 4 | New York Yankees | 3 |
| 2000 | New York Yankees | 4 | New York Mets | 1 |
| 1995 | Atlanta Braves | 4 | Cleveland Indians | 2 |
| 1992 | Toronto Blue Jays | 4 | Atlanta Braves | 2 |
| 1991 | Minnesota Twins | 4 | Atlanta Braves | 3 |
| 1981 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 4 | New York Yankees | 2 |
| 1980 | Philadelphia Phillies | 4 | Kansas City Royals | 2 |
| 1975 | Cincinnati Reds | 4 | Boston Red Sox | 3 |
| 1974 | Oakland Athletics | 4 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 1 |
| 1972 | Oakland Athletics | 4 | Cincinnati Reds | 3 |
| 1971 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 4 | Baltimore Orioles | 3 |
| 1959 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 4 | Chicago White Sox | 2 |
| 1949 | New York Yankees | 4 | Brooklyn Dodgers | 1 |
| 1948 | Cleveland Indians | 4 | Boston Braves | 2 |
| 1947 | New York Yankees | 4 | Brooklyn Dodgers | 3 |
| 1941 | New York Yankees | 4 | Brooklyn Dodgers | 1 |
| 1935 | Detroit Tigers | 4 | Chicago Cubs | 2 |
| 1925 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 4 | Washington Senators | 3 |
| 1924 | Washington Senators | 4 | New York Giants | 3 |
| 1918 | Boston Red Sox | 4 | Chicago Cubs | 2 |
| 1915 | Boston Red Sox | 4 | Philadelphia Phillies | 1 |
| 1912 | Boston Red Sox | 4 | New York Giants | 3 |
| 1911 | Philadelphia Athletics | 4 | New York Giants | 2 |
This was one of a handful of one-run clinching games in World Series history and just one of six 1-0 finales ever:
| Yr | W | L | Winner | R | Loser | R |
| 2005 | 4 | 0 | Chicago White Sox | 1 | Houston Astros | 0 |
| 1995 | 4 | 2 | Atlanta Braves | 1 | Cleveland Indians | 0 |
| 1991 | 4 | 3 | Minnesota Twins | 1 | Atlanta Braves | 0 |
| 1966 | 4 | 0 | Baltimore Orioles | 1 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 0 |
| 1962 | 4 | 3 | New York Yankees | 1 | San Francisco Giants | 0 |
| 1921 | 5 | 3 | New York Giants | 1 | New York Yankees | 0 |
| 1990 | 4 | 0 | Cincinnati Reds | 2 | Oakland Athletics | 1 |
| 1971 | 4 | 3 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 2 | Baltimore Orioles | 1 |
| 1963 | 4 | 0 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 2 | New York Yankees | 1 |
| 1940 | 4 | 3 | Cincinnati Reds | 2 | Detroit Tigers | 1 |
| 1918 | 4 | 2 | Boston Red Sox | 2 | Chicago Cubs | 1 |
| 2001 | 4 | 3 | Arizona Diamondbacks | 3 | New York Yankees | 2 |
| 1997 | 4 | 3 | Florida Marlins | 3 | Cleveland Indians | 2 |
| 1996 | 4 | 2 | New York Yankees | 3 | Atlanta Braves | 2 |
| 1974 | 4 | 1 | Oakland Athletics | 3 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 2 |
| 1972 | 4 | 3 | Oakland Athletics | 3 | Cincinnati Reds | 2 |
| 1929 | 4 | 1 | Philadelphia Athletics | 3 | Chicago Cubs | 2 |
| 1926 | 4 | 3 | St. Louis Cardinals | 3 | New York Yankees | 2 |
| 1912 | 4 | 3 | Boston Red Sox | 3 | New York Giants | 2 |
| 1992 | 4 | 2 | Toronto Blue Jays | 4 | Atlanta Braves | 3 |
| 1975 | 4 | 3 | Cincinnati Reds | 4 | Boston Red Sox | 3 |
| 1953 | 4 | 2 | New York Yankees | 4 | Brooklyn Dodgers | 3 |
| 1951 | 4 | 2 | New York Yankees | 4 | New York Giants | 3 |
| 1948 | 4 | 2 | Cleveland Indians | 4 | Boston Braves | 3 |
| 1946 | 4 | 3 | St. Louis Cardinals | 4 | Boston Red Sox | 3 |
| 1935 | 4 | 2 | Detroit Tigers | 4 | Chicago Cubs | 3 |
| 1933 | 4 | 1 | New York Giants | 4 | Washington Senators | 3 |
| 1927 | 4 | 0 | New York Yankees | 4 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 3 |
| 1924 | 4 | 3 | Washington Senators | 4 | New York Giants | 3 |
| 1915 | 4 | 1 | Boston Red Sox | 5 | Philadelphia Phillies | 4 |
| 1960 | 4 | 3 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 10 | New York Yankees | 9 |
For the second straight year, the team that was number two in terms of World Series drought garnered a championship. The Indians now more into number two. Of course, number one—the Cubs—have to be particularly galled by the Sox win. Here are the droughts for all franchises longest to shortest:
| Franchise | Wait |
| Chicago Cubs | 1908 |
| Cleveland Indians | 1948 |
| San Francisco Giants | 1954 |
| Texas Rangers | 1961 |
| Houston Astros | 1962 |
| Washington Nationals | 1969 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 1969 |
| San Diego Padres | 1969 |
| Seattle Mariners | 1977 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 1979 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 1980 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 1982 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 1983 |
| Detroit Tigers | 1984 |
| Kansas City Royals | 1985 |
| New York Mets | 1986 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 1988 |
| Oakland Athletics | 1989 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 1990 |
| Minnesota Twins | 1991 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 1993 |
| Colorado Rockies | 1993 |
| Atlanta Braves | 1995 |
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays | 1998 |
| New York Yankees | 2000 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 2001 |
| Anaheim Angels | 2002 |
| Florida Marlins | 2003 |
| Boston Red Sox | 2004 |
| Chicago White Sox | 2005 |
One final note: Scott Podsenik recorded his third triple of the postseason tonight. He becomes just the eleventh player to do so. Here are the rest:
| Player | Yr | 3B |
| Scott Podsednik | 2005 | 3 |
| Paul Molitor | 1993 | 3 |
| Mariano Duncan | 1993 | 3 |
| Devon White | 1993 | 3 |
| Mark Lemke | 1991 | 3 |
| Rickey Henderson | 1989 | 3 |
| Billy Johnson | 1947 | 3 |
| Tommy Leach | 1903 | 4 |
| Freddy Parent | 1903 | 3 |
| Chick Stahl | 1903 | 3 |
| Buck Freeman | 1903 | 3 |
I hope that means us cubs fans aren't waiting until 2014 (which would put Back To The Future II only one year off... damn that's good).
Sandus, I meant two of the top three, I need sleep--too many late games.
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