Counting Down

Nine days to the start of the baseball season (Dodgers-Padres in Korea doesn’t count, sorry), and I’m not feeling it. Maybe it’s me. Or not. I need to get a baseball magazine, if there are any still in business. Just a few years ago, I could find Athlon, Lindy’s and Street and Smith nestled among the girlie magazines. Now, only Lindy’s survives, and I’m pretty sure the tending arrow for the White Sox will be pointing down. I can’t even find anything on eBay worth buying. Oh, there was a 1974 Sox picture pennant I could’ve gotten for $31, and this is the first picture pennant I can remember seeing from the ’70s. But it’s not a group photo, just a bunch of head shots. No thanks. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so I went on baseball-reference.com a few hours to go to see how many ballplayer pictures I could identify. Only two out of twelve, but, hey, a Sox fan who can name ex-Cub George Altman, who last played for the North Siders in 1967, not too shabby, I’d say. One more thing—today just so happens to be Altman’s 91st birthday. Happy birthday, my man, and many more. Now, I feel better, even about the Sox. From what I can tell, odds are either Zach Remillard or Danny Mendick will make the team as a utility player. Maybe if I’m extra good in the days ahead, they both will.