The Braves did what the White Sox couldn't do.
In defense of the Pale Hose, the other Sox couldn't do it, either.
Atlanta knocked off the Astros in six games to win its first World Series since 1995, and with a pretty simple formula: The Braves outhomered Houston 11-2, and outslugged them .443-.299. Also, while both teams scrambled for starting pitching plans, Brian Snitker got a couple of huge starts from Ian Anderson and Max Fried, while Dusty Baker could only get Jose Urquidy to effectively cover the first five innings back in Game 2.
But mostly it was the homers, so success in modern baseball continues to be extremely reliant on the long ball, no matter how many people wish it to be otherwise.
Now that the World Series is over, perhaps the White Sox will finally tell us who's returning to the organization, as Rick Hahn still hasn't tied up the season's loose ends. Beyond that, here's the rough calendar for scheduled White Sox news over the next month.
IMPORTANT DATES
Between now and Monday: The White Sox will have to decide whether to exercise options on Craig Kimbrel and César Hernández, while holding exclusive negotiation rights with their other free agents (Carlos Rodón, Leury García, Ryan Tepera, Billy Hamilton). They'll also have to issue the qualfying offer to Rodón to this time, should they choose that route, and he'd have 10 days to accept or decline it.
Also between now and Monday: The best time to finish your offseason plans, because the decisions made by the team inevitably color the decisions made in the plans that come after.
THE OFFSEASON PLAN PROJECT: See all plans | Create your own
Between now and Nov. 5: Major League Baseball will announce the finalists for the Manager of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards.
Nov. 7: We'll find out if Dallas Keuchel will take home a Gold Glove, which would join his Fielding Bible Award.
PERTINENT: Gold Glove finalist nod catches Dallas Keuchel at weird time
Nov. 8: Free agency begins, although it probably won't get off to a riveting start.
Nov. 11: The Silver Slugger Award winners will be announced. Tim Anderson is the lone White Sox candidate, competing with Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts and Bo Bichette at shortstop.
Nov. 15: We'll see if any of the White Sox's vaunted rookies received any support in the American League.
Nov. 16: We'll see what kind of support Tony La Russa received for AL Manager of the Year.
Nov. 17: We'll see where Lance Lynn, Lucas Giolito and Carlos Rodón finished in AL Cy Young voting.
Nov. 18: We'll see if any White Sox received surprise MVP nods. Perhaps another 10th-place vote for Tepera?
Nov. 19: The deadline for the White Sox to add players to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft.
Dec. 1: The non-tender deadline for arbitration-eligible players. The White Sox will have to decide whether to offer contracts to Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López, Evan Marshall, Adam Engel, Brian Goodwin, Jimmy Cordero and Jace Fry.
Also Dec. 1: The date the current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire, which could also be the day the sport stands still if Major League Baseball decides to lock out the players association. The Athletic's Evan Drellich wrote a good primer about a potential lockout that's worth your time. It covers the range of outcomes, from "merely an extension while negotiations finish" to "What happens if it threatens Opening Day?"
Dec. 5: The winter meetings are supposed to begin in Orlando, but if a lockout occurs, the meetings may be limited to a convention for minor league teams. Baseball America has a good primer on what happens to Minor League Baseball in the event of a lockout at the highest level.
Dec. 9: There's precedent for the Rule 5 draft occurring even in times of a work stoppage, so this could be the last scheduled stop for baseball news if an agreement can't be reached beforehand.
(Photo by Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports)
