Upon Further Review

The 1968 White Sox started 0-10. After twenty-five games, they were 10-15 (on their way to a 67-95 record), as opposed to the 2023 team, which is 7-18 with yesterday’s 8-0 loss to the Blue Jays. Those long-ago Sox had HOFers Luis Aparicio and Hoyt Wilhelm along with future—I hope—HOFer Tommy John. Two or three HOFers on this squad? I doubt it. And definitely not Michael Kopech, who gave up three runs in the third after two outs and nobody on and another two-out run in the fourth. One of Rick Hahn’s rebuild centerpieces now sports a 7.01 ERA on the season. And Luis Robert Jr.? He went 1-for-4, oversliding second base so excited was he to get a hit. Oh, and he struck out the other three times, just like Eloy Jimenez. But, hey, the team struck out seventeen times on the day. Robert’s average is down to .218, Jimenez to .172. A rebuild’s tough going when your projected stars don’t perform, right, Rick? Good thing we have your new manager to keep everything in perspective. See, Pedro Grifol knows about losing. “I've been on teams that you go through a streak like this and you know the season’s over. This doesn’t feel like that. Doesn’t feel like that.” [today’s team website story] Correct me if I’m wrong here, but Grifol is saying he’s been part of teams that have gone belly up. Gosh, maybe that’s why the Royals didn’t stay in-hose to make him their new manager. Grifol also thinks, “Adversity is an education.” [team website story] Wouldn’t that make the ’62 Mets a bunch of Einsteins?