"Hi, everybody, and a very pleasant good evening to you, wherever you may be...and if you're the Houston Astros, you 'be' in a quandry...if you'll pardon the incorrect grammar.
"The Houston Astros find themselves in an interesting spot...as in the Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times". They've used their top three pitchers, two of them former World Champions, and have three losses to show for it. Also in the negative column, last night they were on the losing end of a marathon game this time, unlike the 18-inning game that they won here in Houston, to defeat the Braves.
"Meanwhile, Ozzie Guillen and his White Sox just keep rolling along: since a 3-2 loss at the Detroit Tigers on September 27, get this: the White Sox are an amazing 18-1. The only loss: you guessed it, to the Los Angeles Angels, and that was after a long layoff resulting from a sweep of the RED Sox.
"And if you're an Astro fan, thinking that the team can rebound to win four straight from the White Sox, two very ominous stats stand in the way: #1, it's never been done in the World Series, and #2, the last time the White Sox lost four games in a row, you'd have to go back to what seems like an eternity: September 8-11, which included a three game series sweep at the hands of a team they just destroyed in the playoffs...the Los Angeles Angels.
"So you add it all up, and though it may not be politically correct to say, if the fat lady isn't singing, she's warming up in the bullpen. And for the White Sox, to paraphrase the late great basketball announcer Chick Hearn, the refrigerator door's almost closed, and it's stocked full of champagne. But they have to win one more, and we'll bring it to you, right after this."
/Vin Scully voice inflection
Chickie's commentary may apply to basketball, but in baseball, "it ain't over til it's over."
The fat lady IS humming or at least practicing scales...
la la la la la la la...