69

A long time ago when Tony Kubek and Joe Garagiola were the announcers on NBC's Game of the Week broadcasts, I remember them saying there were 13 ways for a runner to score from third base without a hit. Last night, the White Sox used one of the more unusual methods to tally what proved to be the winning run: a balk. With the game tied and Paul Konerko at the plate, KC pitcher Ramon Ramirez balked in Carlos Quentin. I know you're wondering what the other twelve ways are. Well, Tony and Joe didn't actually identify them, but I'll give you my list -- and feel free to share yours by posting a comment at this site:

1. Bases loaded walk
2. Bases loaded hit batsman
3. Sacrifice fly
4. Sacrifice bunt, which probably would be called either a safety or suicide squeeze
5. Ground ball out (technically sac bunt also falls into this category but it's scored differently)
6. Error
7. Wild pitch
8. Passed ball
9. Dropped third strike with a play made to first base
10. Steal of home
11. Fielder interference with the runner on third for which the ump awards him home plate
12. Catcher interference on the batter with the bases loaded

Quentin not only scored the winning run, he also smashed two two-run home runs to bring his total to 21. The first came in the fourth inning with the Sox trailing 5-0. The second came in the sixth inning with the Sox on the short end of a 6-2 score. By the way, Jim Thome also deserves kudos for guiding a single through the right side of the infield, despite the shift on him, to tie the game in the eighth and to put Q in position to be balked in.

Okay, the win, combined with another Twins loss to the Red Sox, means that the Magic Number is 69, Dudes -- think Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure -- and the Good Guys' division lead is up to 3.5 games. Speaking of Good Guys, Ozzie tore a page from the Leo Durocher quote book. After some heated conversation between Jermaine Dye and Orlando Cabrera over Cabrera's jumping back and forth at second base while J.D. was batting, Ozzie explained that he didn't mind a little edge to the team because "Good guys finish last." (I know, Leo said "Nice guys," but close enough.) You gotta love Mr. Guillen, especially if you're a sportswriter, or even a blog writer. He's a quote machine. Go Ozzie! Go Sox!