Don't Say That

My father grew up tough on the streets of a Chicago neighborhood once known as “Hardscrabble.” Time wore away the edges of that toughness, but not all of it. Sometimes, if he didn’t like what I was saying, he’d answer back with, “Don’t talk like a busted a*****e.” I hear Tony La Russa and think the same thing. On Sunday, new White Sox closer Liam Hendriks came in to protect a one-run lead in the ninth against the Royals, only to give up a game-tying home run to Carlos Santana (Hint: Never, ever, leave the ball down against a left-handed batter). The Sox then lost the game in the tenth when Garrett Crochet fielded a bunt on the suicide squeeze which he proceeded to throw into the ground. You don’t get runners out at the plate that way, or win the game. Final score, Royals 4 Sox 3. And there was La Russa after the game telling the Tribune, “Just because the guy for the other side hit a fastball out of the park, that’s all they got off of Hendriks.” And here I thought they were paying Hendriks $54 million to keep the ball in the park. Ah, but it gets better. Well, no, worse. La Russa also felt the need to defend Crochet’s fielding. You see, “The bunt hopped up on him. If it had stayed down, you practice underhanding it, but it came up, so he had to go over the top. So, it was a tough play for him, but he got out of it. That was just one run, and he did a great job to stop it right there.” Except for the part about giving up the winning run. My father hated BS. So do I.