Odds and Ends

Luis Robert Jr. and Oscar Colas threw some leather in the outfield yesterday, allowing the White Sox to beat the Astros 6-3 and earn a series split. Robert and Colas also managed two hits apiece, not to be confused with three hits each for Yoan Moncada and Yasmani Grandal. Now, if they can just keep some semblance of that up. Mike Clevinger threw five scoreless innings to earn the win. You can’t applaud—at least I can’t—while holding your nose. My fig leaf here is that neither the commissioner’s office nor legal authorities found cause to act on allegations leveled against Clevinger by the mother of one of his children. Still, not my cut of tea, he. Did I mention ex-Sox outfielder Trayce Thompson? Well, certainly not in the same breath as Clevinger; Thompson appears to have been raised right. You don’t have a fifteen-year pro career spanning eleven big-league stops (two apiece with the Sox and Dodgers) if you’re anything but a model citizen. Did I mention Thompson has a beautiful swing to go with a plus glove? The problem for the recently-turned thirty-two year old has been contact. Thompson has a career .235 BA across all levels of the game. But something about LA must agree with him, probably the home-cooking for an Angeleno. Twice, in 2016 and again last year, Thompson hit thirteen homers in a parttime role. Then, there was Saturday against the Diamondbacks. Thompson hit three homers while driving in eight. Good for him. Let the not-nice guys finish last for a change. Did I mention Iowa guard Caitlin Clark, the “ponytail Pete [Maravich]” of women’s college basketball? Or that she scored a combined 112 points in her last three games of the NCAA Tournament, including thirty in a losing effort against LSU? If I’m the Sky, I’m looking for a way to draft Clark after her senior year in 2024. Oh, and the Bulls, who…committed…three…turnovers THE ENTIRE GAME against the Grizzlies yesterday. Yes, they won. You commit just three turnovers (one an intentional clock violation at the end of the game), and you can come back from a twenty-three point deficit each and every time. I think.