A Day at the Beach

Michele and I went to a North Side beach yesterday for the first and no doubt only time this summer. Why does something you like to do have to be so far away? Going to the beach means something different here than on either coast. In Chicago, a beach is measured in blocks, in California or New Jersey, by the mile. The time we went to Daytona Beach with Clare in college, I looked north and then south. The sand and ocean appeared endless in either direction. On the coasts, a beach is pretty much the same in good weather or bad. In Chicago, a beach can be overwhelmed by Lake Michigan in a bad mood, and parts of it literally turn to ice come winter. I was lying on a towel in a spot where ice could be taking hold in a few short months. Long story short, we love our beaches, if in different ways than surfers and Jersey guys. An afternoon of tanning and reading put me in a mood where I could accept whatever the White Sox had to throw at me. Apparently, Lucas Giolito was so upset with Tony La Russa’s sudden absence due to illness that he couldn’t concentrate in his start last night. Then again, Giolito’s stunk all season, so the three homeruns he gave up to the Royals were hardly anything out of the ordinary. The four-game losing streak is now five, Royals 9 White Sox 7. Did I mention Gavin Sheets? He hit two homers himself good for five RBIs. Over the last fifteen games, Sheets has been hitting at a .432 clip with three homers and fourteen RBIs. All of a sudden, he has twelve and forty-two on the season. So, he has to play for the Sox to see exactly what, and who, they have going into the offseason. It’s going to be a winter of hard decisions. If only we had a front office capable of making them.