ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - The rain kept falling and the White Sox fans stayed put.

JANIE MCCAULEY
"We're not leaving!" We're not leaving!" "Four more wins! Four more wins!" These Chicago South Siders had been waiting far too long for the White Sox to reach the World Series to be deterred by bad weather or their 2,500-mile trip home from Angel Stadium. When they finally began making their way out more than an hour after Chicago wrapped up the AL championship series in five games with a 6-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels, the White Sox fans chanted and danced all the way out.
"It finally puts us above the Cubs, because they've been getting all the credit," said bench coach Harold Baines, who played more than 13 of his 22 seasons with the White Sox.

Manager Ozzie Guillen had a few words for Chicago fans everywhere as they celebrate the club's first trip to the World Series in 46 years:

"Enjoy it. Enjoy it. Have a great time," Guillen said. "Don't get too crazy in the street. Be careful. I know people are going wild right now. ... Feel proud about this team. Feel proud about what we did. I know what we want to do, but I think Chicago fans should feel real proud."

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LINEUP SHAKE-UP: Mike Scioscia shook up his lineup for Game 5 to try to give the Angels some much-needed punch against Chicago's sensational starting pitchers.

The Los Angeles manager replaced Steve Finley in center field, moving Garret Anderson from left to center and starting Juan Rivera in left. Rookie Casey Kotchman was the designated hitter, and Scioscia even considered moving Chone Figgins out of the leadoff spot.

The moves didn't sit well with Finley, though the 40-year-old outfielder batted just .150 (3-for-20) with one RBI and six strikeouts this post-season.

"Not happy. That's all I can say about it," Finley said before the game at Angel Stadium, where it rained lightly in the hours leading up to first pitch and the game started 14 minutes late.

"I don't make the decisions," he said. "I really wanted to play today. I don't make the lineups. I'm not happy. I'm not playing. Hopefully I can do something during the game to help us win."

Finley strained his right shoulder in June and missed 18 games. He had one of the worst seasons of his career - if not the worst - hitting .222 with 12 homers and 54 RBIs in 112 games. He spent a stint on the bench late in the season.

"The shoulder is everything - the whole year," he said regarding his poor season. "Look what's happening to Vlady right now. I'm fine right now, my swing is fine right now. I've hit some line drives."

Scioscia sought a more defensive-oriented lineup and wanted to take some pressure off Vladimir Guerrero, Anderson and Darin Erstad.

"I don't know if it's going to spark us or not, but it's going to take some pressure off some guys in the middle where if they haven't swung it gives us trouble," Scioscia said. "It gives us a little deeper lineup, and offensively it can help us."

Kotchman, a 22-year-old rookie who batted .278 with seven homers and 22 RBIs in 47 games this year, started for the second straight game. He had two hits with a double and drove in a run during Saturday's 8-2 loss.

His father, Tom, has been with the organization for 22 years as a scout and coach, and led the rookie Orem Owlz to the Pioneer League championship this season. Tom Kotchman knew when Casey was in high school and took batting practice one day in Spokane, Wash., before the elder Kotchman's Class-A Boise Hawks played the Spokane Indians that his son had a serious future.

"A scout from California with the Texas Rangers said, 'Who's that kid?"' Tom Kotchman recalled Sunday. "I said, 'He's a high school kid.' I didn't tell him he was my son. ... Other scouts said, 'You know how to evaluate everybody else but your own kid."'

Kotchman, who played 38 games for the Angels in 2004, was still available with the 13th pick of the 2001 draft, and the Angels took him.

"He told me, 'Dad, I'm going to be in the big leagues in three years,' and he ended up being right," Tom Kotchman said.

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SAME 'OL SOX: Paul Konerko woke up Sunday and everything seemed normal, despite the fact he was Chicago's offensive star in the previous two games of the ALCS.

No jitters or added anxiety with the White Sox one win from their first World Series since 1959.

"Everybody's in the clubhouse talking about fantasy football like every Sunday," Konerko said.

Guillen has always told his Chicago players that this team would stick to its formula, win or lose. That meant the pitchers would do things the same way and work through problems as they arise - same for hitting and defence.

"It's what Ozzie said from Day 1 of spring training: 'You come to play every day. Whatever it is you do, do it the same way every day,"' Konerko said. "'I don't care what you did the day before, good or bad or what the team did the day before, good or bad. You do the same every day.' And guys latched on to it, and it's worked."

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OZZIE ON A ROLL: Guillen was pumped up before Game 5 and went on a rambling discourse on a variety of subjects as he sat in the dugout with his club one victory from its first World Series since 1959.

"It's been so many years without that feeling in Chicago," he said of what it would mean for Chicago to win a ring.

Guillen reiterated he will give some thought to retiring should the White Sox win the championship. He said he expected third base coach Joey Cora to be a manager soon.