Who Knew?

We were driving home from a trip to Nordstrom’s and the Container Store (and how we got out of there in under a day is a miracle), when Clare called. Michele put her on speaker for me to hear, “I’m glad for Kyle Schwarber.” Who knew? Keep in mind this is a girl who wore an A.J. Pierzynski jersey to her bachelorette party, held in the bleachers at Wrigley Field. This is also the person I once advised to keep her anti-Cub views bottled up for an upcoming White Sox-Cubs’ game at Wrigley lest her future husband pay the price for his beloved’s smart mouth. Still, I could understand. My daughter was known for her bat throughout high school and college. In college, she was moved from second base to the outfield. And she had a little bit of Rodney Dangerfield about her, respect-wise. In an intersquad game at the start of her sophomore year, Clare went 5-for-6, with a homerun and two doubles. Afterwards, the coach said if someone like Clare could perform like that, they all could. Ouch. During his time with the Cubs, Schwarber moved between the outfield and first base, with a handful of games at catcher, his natural position. Clare has always been irritated that Schwarber tore his ACL at the start of the 2016 season, a catcher or first baseman forced to play the outfield. Call it professional empathy, if only girls could play baseball at the major-league level. Schwarber is still playing more outfield than DH, but I’m pretty sure that’s where he’ll end up fulltime before long; he turns thirty next year. As for his new team, the Phillies, what can you say? I mean Schwarber is batting leadoff, his forty-six homeruns accounting for only ninety-four RBIs, though he did score 100 runs. The Phillies shouldn’t work, but they do this year. It’s entirely possible eighty-seven wins in the regular season could lead to a World Series’ crown. And at least one South Sider rooting for the Phillies’ leadoff hitter.