Jermaine Dye's surprising revelation about Game 2 of 2005 World Series

Share

Jermaine Dye's favorite moment of the White Sox run to a World Series title in 2005?

Unsurprisingly, it was being aboard for Paul Konerko's grand slam in Game 2 of the Fall Classic. Konerko's four-run dinger is a lot of people's favorite memory of the championship season.

But there is one pretty big surprise about Dye's recollection of the moment, and it has to do with how he reached to load the bases ahead of Konerko's slam.

White Sox fans remember. He was hit by a pitch.

Wasn't he?

That's where things get a little interesting.

Dye was part of a 2005 White Sox reunion during NBC Sports Chicago's "Be Chicago" fundraising show Wednesday night. When Our Chuck Garfien asked him what his favorite moment of 2005 was, Dye said:

"I think pulling an A.J. Pierzynski trick by acting like I got hit with the ball and then Paul Konerko hitting a grand slam."

Wait what now?

"It felt like I got hit," Dye followed up, responding to Pierzynski, who jokingly shouted, "Cheater!"

But feeling like you got hit and getting hit are two different things, which Dye pointed to with his recollection.

RELATED: A.J. Pierzynski, Carl Everett almost came to blows during World Series season

Pierzynski had an even more infamous play earlier in the postseason, when during Game 2 of the ALCS, he ran to first base and ended up there safely, arguing that the Strike 3 he had just swung and missed bounced on the ground prior to ending up in the glove of Los Angeles Angels catcher Josh Paul. It might not have, but Pierzynski went down to first base anyway and got to stay there. Pinch runner Pablo Ozuna scored the game-winning run when the next hitter, Joe Crede, hit a walk-off double.

And so Dye is saying there were two such incidents of great import during that World Series season.

He's actually said it before.

MLB Network replayed Game 2 of the 2005 World Series at the beginning of the month and included an interview with Dye where he admitted that the pitch hit his bat without hitting him, something that's pretty evident from the replay.

"That at-bat was a pretty good at-bat for myself," Dye said. "I'm fouling off tough pitches, he throws a ball up and in, and it just glances off of my bat. I just took one step to first base because I really didn't know if it hit me or it hit the bat and then realized it hit the bat. Turned around and looked at the umpire, and he says, 'Go to first base.'

"It was a tough call for the umpire. Everybody's human, everybody makes mistakes. But I think that was a turning point in our season and in that game."

Here's the play, Dye's comments and the ensuing grand slam:

Not a bad favorite memory from the guy who wound up the MVP of that World Series.

Listen to more stories from the 2005 White Sox reunion on this episode of the White Sox Talk Podcast.

Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the White Sox easily on your device.

Contact Us