Now What?

The White Sox lost to the Guardians 4-2 last night. The series they had to sweep turned into the series where they were swept, at home. For as long as I can remember, Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf has always had at least one apologist in the media willing to spout the company line about why things went the way they did, and didn’t. Thankfully, those folks have all moved on, while the people out there now talking and writing seem plenty upset about this bad joke of a season. Now what? It's reached a point where I wonder if the scorn Reinsdorf often heeps on his critics and the spite that guides the operation of his team will be of much further use to him. I just saw an excerpt from yesterday’s pregame show where a panelist nearly suffered a stroke on-camera calling out a certain HOF manager and the organization he works for. Folks, this was on the pregame show, where everything is supposed to be sweetness and light. My guess is Reinsdorf’s instinct is to hunker down and wait for the anger to subside; then, it’s back to business for the 2023 season. Bad Doug would love for him to do just that, because it would all but guarantee an Opening Day crowd that would make Phillies’ fans look a bunch of tea-drinkers. Not-Bad Doug wonders how Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn keep their jobs and who’ll be the manager come Opening Day. In Chicago sports, things stay the same forever, until they don’t. The Cubs were owned by the Wrigleys, until the Trib bought the team. There was day baseball, until the Trib decided otherwise. The Bulls and Hawks played in facility steeped in lore and personality, just like the Sox did, until they didn’t. Mike Ditka was the one and forever coach of the Bears, until he wasn’t. I could be wrong, but we may be coming to another of those epochal “until” moments in Chicago sports.