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HOUSTON -- Not to imply that it had kind of been a while since the White Sox last won a World Series game before this week ... but the last time it happened, Sandy Koufax was the losing pitcher and Don Zimmer pinch ran.

Well, time sure flies when you're waiting around for that next win, even if you're not named George Steinbrenner. So it's the mandatory duty of the Useless Information Department to try to put into perspective just how much time zipped by in between White Sox victories in the good old Fall Classic.

What kind of stuff happened in between Sox wins? Oh, only stuff like this:

• 10 different presidents hung out in the Oval Office.

• Six different men (and one woman) were mayor of Chicago -- one of them (the honorable Richard J. Daley) for 17 years.

• 485 hurricanes or tropical storms roared through the Atlantic, resulting in an invention we now know as "The Weather Channel."

• An estimated 133.677 million people, with no World Series games to attend, instead visited Chicago's famous Museum of Science and Industry, according to the museum's incredibly helpful Useless Info emissary, Lisa Miner.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 9,753 points (and also sank a few points).

• We woke up to 13,529 episodes of the "Today Show."

• 64 different ballparks hosted a major-league game, though only three were located in the city of Chicago.

• 269 different men came to the plate at least 100 times for the White Sox, from Lorenzo Gray to Frank Thomas, from Mario Valdez to Paul Konerko, from John Kruk to Harold Baines.

• And 137 different men pitched at least 100 innings for the White Sox, from Dave DeBusschere to Mark Buehrle, from Skip Pitlock to Wilbur Wood, from Jaime Navarro to Tom Seaver.

But wait. We're not through yet. Loyal reader (and White Sox devotee) David Hallstrom checks in with just a few of the historical landmarks that occurred between White Sox World Series triumphs:

• The Edsel was discontinued (a mere 44 days after that last White Sox win).

• The laser was patented (March 1960).

• The Sputnik was launched (May 1960), paving the way for DirecTV.

• OPEC was formed (Sept. 14, 1960).

• Alan Shepard went into space (and 146 rockets have launched Americans into space since).

• The ZIP code was introduced (July 1963).

• The Beatles formed, recorded several records, broke up and somehow kept releasing more records.

• Star Trek debuted (1966).

• The American Basketball Association, American Football League, World Hockey League and United States Football League all came and went.

• The 747 took off for the first time (1969) -- and several times since.

• The Concorde came and went.

• And Pete Rose arrived in the big leagues, got 4,256 hits, managed 785 games and was banned from baseball for life.

What is Paul Konerko's unique place in postseason home-run history? Well, when he cranked that grand slam in Game 2 of this World Series, it made him the first player ever to homer for the cycle (solo, two-run, three-run, slam) in any postseason, according to the Sultan of Swat Stats, SABR home-run historian David Vincent.

	Clemens

	Contreras

It isn't often you get to watch a World Series game in which one starting pitcher owns 306 more wins than the other. But it happened in Game 1, when Jose Contreras (35 career wins) faced his old Yankees amigo, Roger Clemens (341).

Only four times in World Series history has there been a bigger win gap between the two starters, according to the Elias Sports Bureau:

(364) Game 4, 1925: Walter Johnson (397-257) vs. Emil Yde (33-12)
(342) Game 5, 1924: Johnson (377-250) vs. Jack Bentley (35-22)
(329) Game 2, 1928: Grover Cleveland Alexander (364-197) vs. George Pipgras (35-20)
(329) Game 7, 1925: Walter Johnson (397-257) vs. Vic Aldridge (68-50)

And what's most amazing about that list? Counting Contreras' win Saturday, it meant those 300-game winners saw their team lose four of those five games.

Clemens, of course, wasn't around long in Game 1. And that two-inning outing of his ranks as the shortest by any 300-game winner in a World Series. But assuming he makes the Hall of Fame (pretty safe assumption), Clemens won't be No. 1 on the list of shortest starts by Hall of Famers in a World Series. Here are the four that were shorter, courtesy of loyal reader Hank Waddles, of brokencowboy.com:

1 IP: Lefty Gomez, Game 3, 1939
1 IP: Whitey Ford, Game 4, 1953
1 1/3 IP: Whitey Ford, Game 6, 1958
1 2/3 IP: Mordecai (Three-Finger) Brown, Game 6, 1906

But short starts sure haven't been a problem for the other team in this World Series. Heading into Game 3, White Sox starters had gone at least seven innings in every one of their postseason starts except one (nine of 10).

In fact, White Sox starters pitched 78 of their team's first 90 innings in this postseason (86.7 percent). And if they can keep that up, Elias reports that it would be the highest percentage by any rotation in any postseason since Mickey Lolich, Woodie Fryman and Joe Coleman tossed 40 1/3 of the 46 1/3 innings the 1972 Tigers worked (87.1 percent).

It's always a great thing to have Clemens mixed up in any World Series, if only for all the Useless Info he manufactures. And in this Series, he has the distinction of once having pitched against both the manager and general manager of the opposing team. So how did those guys fare? Not too hot.

Ozzie Guillen vs. Clemens: 15 for 62 (.242), one double, no home runs, seven strikeouts

Kenny Williams vs. Clemens: 1 for 6, (.167), three strikeouts

These two teams had played a combined 89 seasons since the last time either of them appeared in a World Series. And loyal reader Ryan Kirby reports that's the most ever for two Series opponents.

Just seven other World Series featured two teams that had combined for even 40 or more:

1948: Braves (1914) vs. Indians (1920) 62 years
2002: Giants (1989) vs. Angels (1961) 54 years
1980: Phillies (1950) vs. Royals (1969) 51 years
1972: Reds (1970) vs. Athletics (1931) 43 years
1959: Dodgers (1956) vs. White Sox (1919) 43 years
1995: Braves (1992) vs. Indians (1948) 42 years
1944: Cardinals (1943) vs. Browns (never in 41 seasons) 42 years

• Another loyal reader, Ed Burmila, noticed something even more distinct about these teams: There wasn't a .300 hitter on either roster. (The only position player for either team who hit .300 or better was Chicago's Joe Borchard -- and he got only 12 at-bats.)

Burmila wondered if there has ever been a World Series featuring two teams with zero .300 hitters. And the correct answer, according to Elias, is that this is just the second ever. The other was 1973: Mets vs. Athletics.

But this Series also has nobody playing in it who scored 100 runs, walked 100 times or got 70 extra-base hits. (At least that '73 Series had 101-walk man Gene Tenace.) And Elias reports that it's the first Series in history matching two teams that both finished in the bottom half of their leagues in runs scored.

	Podsednik

• Lost in the hoopla over the Paul Konerko and Scott Podsednik homers in Game 2 was the fact that teams like the White Sox almost never win games like that. Loyal reader Matt Thomas, of the tremendous whowins.com, reports that the White Sox were the 70th home team to head into the bottom of the seventh trailing by two runs. But only nine of the previous 69 (13 percent) came back to win. And what was the first team ever to do that in a World Series? The White Sox, in Game 5, 1917.

• Two more classic Podsednik notes: He is the fifth player in history to hit two home runs in the postseason -- after not having hit that many during the regular season. The others, according to Elias, are Mickey Hatcher (1988 Dodgers), Kurt Bevacqua (1984 Padres), Chuck Essigian (1959 Dodgers) and Bucky Harris (1928 Senators). The difference between Podsednik and those other four is that at least they homered once during the regular season. Podsednik, of course, hit none.

• And the Detroit Free Press' John Lowe points out that Podsednik was the fourth player to hit a World Series walkoff home after his team had blown a lead in the top of the ninth inning: The others: Alex Gonzalez (2003 Marlins), Eddie Mathews (1957 Braves) and some guy named Mazeroski (1960 Pirates).

• Another guy who had his greatest October moment trampled by the events around him was Houston's Jose Vizcaino. Elias reports that Vizcaino was just the second player in history to tie a World Series game with a hit with two outs in the ninth inning. The other was Ruben Sierra, in Game 4 of the 2003 World Series. And what else do Sierra and Vizcaino have in common? Incredibly, their teams lost both of those games.

• The DH rule has been a part of the World Series panorama (and confusion), to varying degrees, since 1973. But before Carl Everett laid down a sacrifice bunt in Game 1, just one other American League DH had ever done that in a World Series game, according to loyal reader Dave Smith, of the invaluable retrosheet.org. That was Dave Winfield, in 1992.

•  We're always trying to figure out how stuff happens in the postseason that almost never happened in the regular season. So figure this out: Houston's Willy Taveras had three extra-base hits in the first two games of this World Series. But the Houston Chronicle's Neil Hohlfeld reports that this is the same Willy Taveras who got no extra-base hits in 103 at-bats between Aug. 16 and Sept. 21. And it's the same guy who had three extra-base hits in his last 144 at-bats of the regular season.

And it's also the same guy, according to Elias, who had a lower percentage of his hits go for extra bases (20 of 172, 12 percent) than any regular position player since Brett Butler in 1991. And after two games, he was leading his team in extra-base hits in the World Series. Who knew?

• Taveras also hit the speedster daily double Sunday -- with a triple and an infield single. Last player to do that in a World Series game, according to Dave Smith: Omar Vizquel in 1995.

• Also doing the popular infield-hit dance Sunday was Astros catcher Brad Ausmus. We know you're dying to know how many fleet-footed catchers have gotten infield singles in a World Series game. So Dave Smith checks in one more time with the nine previous times that had happened in the last 20 years:

Jorge Posada, Game 4 2003
Jorge Posada, Game 1 1998
Sandy Alomar Jr., Game 3 1997
Jim Leyritz, Game 1 1996
Darren Daulton, Game 2 1993
Greg Olson, Game 5 1991
Brian Harper, Game 7 1991
Joe Oliver, Game 3 1990
Terry Steinbach, Game 1 1988

• Bobby Jenks started this season in Double-A and wound up saving a World Series game. He's only the third pitcher since the dawn of the modern save rule to make his big-league debut after June 1 and then save a Series game the same year. The list:

Todd Worrell, 1985 Cardinals (debuted Aug. 28)
Bobby Jenks, 2005 White Sox (debuted July 5)
Bob Welch, 1978 Dodgers (debuted June 20)

	Lamb

• The brilliant John Blake, author of the official MLB World Series notes, reports that in Game 1, Mike Lamb became the first player in history whose name was spelled the same as any animal species to hit a World Series homer. The closest call he found before that was Jimmie Foxx, whose second X prevented him from retiring this honor in 1929 and '30. Blake disqualified Tim Salmon, who homered twice for the 2002 Angels, because salmon are a member of the fish species -- and don't you forget it.

• Finally, White Sox pitchers get to bat in this World Series, in Games 3, 4 and 5. So here are some things you need to know about their offensive exploits:

Game 5 starter Jose Contreras has never made contact (0 for 9, nine strikeouts).

White Sox pitchers don't get airborne much. They tied for the highest ground-ball-to-fly-ball ratio among AL pitching staffs this year (10 ground balls, just one fly ball).

Sox pitchers struck out in 10 of their 21 at-bats this season.

Last Sox pitcher to homer: Steve Kealey, on Sept. 6, 1971.

Last Sox pitcher to triple: James Baldwin, on July 17, 1999.

Last Sox pitcher to get any kind of extra-base hit: Neal Cotts (a double), on June 18, 2004.

Jayson Stark is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Send your Useless Information to uselessinfodept@yahoo.com.