Fundamentals

The White Sox topped the Orioles 10-5 yesterday after Dylan Cease spotted Baltimore a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Andrew Vaughn, Oscar Colas and Luis Robert Jr. all homered while Eloy Jimenez had himself a for-hit afternoon. I’m sure the ’62 Mets had games like this, and I know the ’70 Sox did. Walt Williams bested Jimenez by a hit in the Sox 22-13 win at Fenway Park on the day of my high school graduation. But a win’s a win, and it gave something for me to talk about with Clare when she and Leo came over for dinner. Of course, I played trucks with my grandson, but, Leo being the two-year old that he is, we had to do other stuff, like going into the basement. He probably didn’t expect to watch his mom hitting a homerun back in the day. But there she was on the computer screen, going deep against Illinois Wesleyan and working the count for a double at North Central against her high school teammate. And the ball off the fence at Carthage, you could hear it clank. Leo sat in my lap, mesmerized. “Mommy!” he shouted more than once. Eventually, the person in question came down to check on us. I think she was pleased how I was preparing her son to learn hitting from someone who knew how to do just that.