Marking Time

In January, time just doesn’t stand still. It’ll go in the wrong direction when you’re not looking. Today is yesterday, and tomorrow never comes. Except, maybe, on the coattails of football. Yesterday was the league championships, and, so far, no repeat today of the Patriots or Seahawks winning. I must be enough of a Bears’ fan to note that, not only did the Rams lose, but the Seahawks allowed them more points (27) in regulation than the Bears did in overtime (20). Wait till next year, or whenever. If I can make it through the arctic chill the rest of the week, again, assuming time doesn’t go backwards, SoxFest starts on Friday. That should be good for a few stories, force the Bears to share media coverage, if only for a weekend. Then, another week and it’s Superbowl Sunday, February 8. Pitchers and catchers report to White Sox camp two days later. With that, time should start moving in the right direction again.

Curioser and Curioser

Thursday night, the Bulls reached .500 with a road win against a pretty good (27-18) Minnesota team. Last night, they climbed one game over with a home victory against an equally good (28-17) Boston team. Kevin Huerter hit the game-winning three with .2 seconds left on the clock. Bulls 114 Celtics 111. The thing is, Huerter might’ve been sitting on the bench if not for Tre Jones’ hamstring injury, suffered against the T-Wolves. Yup, another injury for another Bulls’ guard. At first, it looked like Jones would be out two-plus weeks, but now it’s looking more like two weeks. What a difference a day makes. It was another all-hands-on-deck performance by the home team, with eight of the nine Bulls who saw action scoring in double figures and, instead of ten or more points, Josh Giddey managing ten assists in 23 minutes of play. How often does a team commit fifteen turnovers to the opposition’s six and still win a game? Maybe it helps to hit 21 three-pointers. Again, the question becomes, who do you trade? Coby White hit five of those three-pointers on his way to a team-high 22 points. Jalen Smith impressed again, and his pairing with Nikola Vucevic seems to have energized Vucevic. Did I see a couple of defensive stops from the big guy? So, decisions to make before the February 5 trade deadline. As to Derrick Rose having his number retired in postgame ceremonies, Rose didn’t talk about altered grades in high school or suspicious SAT scores, so I won’t talk about him.

Everything New is Old Again

Yesterday, the Tribune printed a listing of organizational job titles for the White Sox and the people filling them in the upcoming season. By my count, of the hundred or so listed, no more than eight went to women, and not one of those was in coaching or the GM-track in the front office, unless “education coordinator” or “nutritionist” qualifies. Apparently, the person hired for “player development biomechanist” just had to be a guy.

How Long Can This Go On?

The Bulls travelled to the Great North Woods, where they vanquished the Timberwolves, 120-115. Think David over Goliath or, better yet, the wee folk toppling a roster full of Paul Bunyans. Trust me when I say Nikola Vucevic looked kind of puny matched up against the T-Wolves’ frontcourt. So, great win, and Josh Giddey is back (fingers crossed, prayers going out for his hamstring). Now what? Does Billy Donovan spend the rest of the season playing the hand Arturas Karnisovas has dealt him, or does Karnisovas start moving some of those expiring contracts and bevy of guards he’s accumulated? You tell me. I do know that I love guard Tre Jones, a cleaner version of the late, great Norm Van Lier. What Jones lacks as a defender (and he he’s OK) compared to Stormin’ Norman, he more than makes up as a playmaker. Last night, with just 31 seconds left in the game, Jones—all 6’ 1” of him—drove the lane, Bunyans be damned, for what proved to be the game-winning basket. This is not a player to be undervalued. Ditto center/forward Jalen Smith, who contributed seventeen points in a starting role. If Vucevic gets dealt, Smith steps in as center, with Zach Collins as backup, assuming Collins’ big toe ever heals. As with Jones, Smith is a talent worth keeping. Who, if anyone, should go, then? My vote would be Coby White, who’ll be testing free agency come the offseason. You have to appreciate White for his determination; this is someone who willed himself into an offensive force. Only he doesn’t play much defense, and he’s prone to the big turnover. Giddey and Jonest make more sense. With Ayo Dosunmu spelling either of them off the bench? Yes, but Dosunmu will be joining White in the free-agent ranks. It’s all so complicated. Best just to sit back, watch (tomorrow the Celtics come to town), and wait.

Practice What You Preach

Bears’ head-coach Ben Johnson got all Tom Thibodeau-y while addressing the media at Halas Hall yesterday. “We go back to square one,” he informed reporters.” It’s back to the bottom again, and we’ve got to build this thing back up.” Danger, Will Robinson, Danger! [above and following quotes in today’s Tribune] You can’t start next season until the current one ends on February 8. By striking this “let’s get cracking” note, Johnson comes off as Tom Thibodeau 2.0, someone incapable of living in the moment. Thibodeau wore out his players wherever he went, always intent on winning the game at hand, then ignoring the win once it was achieved to focus on the next game on the schedule, November or May, it didn’t matter. Johnson may wear himself down in the same way. Practice what you preach, Coach. Johnson also said he told quarterback Caleb Williams he needed to “get out of football a little bit.” Indeed, Williams has been spotted around town this week at Blackhawks’ and Bulls’ games. Some of that would help Johnson prevent burnout.

Breaking News

I nearly jumped out of my chair last night. You just don’t expect the phone to ring at 10:30. Let me note here we have a landline in the kitchen, a beautiful piece of analog technology from Western Electric, without doubt the nicest-looking red wall phone on the block. Once upon a time, we went with a landline on account of elderly relatives. Now, I’m pretty much that elderly relative. Anyway, Clare called to tell me the White Sox had traded centerfielder Luis Robert Jr. to the Mets for two prospects, second baseman Luisangel Acuña and pitcher Truman Pauley. In other words, a soon-to-be 24-year old infielder and a twelfth-round 2025 draft-pick out of Harvard. Of course, Sox GM Chris Getz is all excited about Acuña and pretty much made him sound like the second coming of Nellie Fox. We’ll see. But it is worth noting Acuña stole sixteen bases over 95 games and 175 at-bats for the Mets last season. The real news here is 2021’s totally in the past. No more Robert or Eloy Jimenez in the outfield. On a more recent note, no more Mike Tauchman and probably not much Andrew Benintendi, at least not in the outfield. A Gold Glover in left for the Royals in 2021, Benintendi now looks more like Eloy out there. So, who’s in the outfield come Opening Day? Don’t know, but it should be interesting. My guess is that Brooks Baldwin will get a long look at one of the corners, and Acuña may get a crack at centerfield, where he’s played some in the minors. Also keep an eye on Sam Antonacci and Braeden Montgomery, both of whom could hit their way onto the team. Speaking of daughters making phone calls, in May of 2017 I was standing in line to get into a Frank Lloyd Wright house when Clare called to tell me the Sox had signed Robert. It was a big deal back then. Things change.

Recognized, Not Imitated

Wilbur Wood must have done something right in a life that ended on Saturday. How many White Sox pitchers merit an obit in the NYT/Athletic? Wood did by performing some pretty incredible feats throwing a knuckleball that he polished with help from HOFer Hoyt Wilhelm. First, Wood excelled as a reliever for the Sox, appearing in as many as 86 games (1968, when he also started two games and posted a 1.87 ERA overall). Then came Chuck Tanner, named manager in 1970, followed by Wood the starter. Wood won 20 or more games four straight seasons, 1971-74. In 1972, he threw an eye-popping 376.2 innings, the most since Grover Cleveland Alexander in 1917. Needless to say, nobody has come close to 376.2 innings since. If Alexander belongs to baseball long ago, so does Wood (and me, too, by extension). Consider that between them in 1974, Wood and Jim Kaat combined to start 81 out of 163 games for the Sox, and they both won 20 or more games, Wood with 20 and Kaat 21. In case you’re wondering, some bizarre ground rules led to a 163-game season for the Sox, with three ties. Wood said that his father threw a mean palm ball that he couldn’t master because his hand was too small. But he did fine with the knuckleball. Baseball-reference.com give him a WAR of 50, which might have been considerably higher had he managed to avoid a line drive off the bat of Ron LeFlore that shattered a knee in 1976. By his own admission, he didn’t pitch the same after that, trying to avoid another such injury. Who knows, he might have been good for another 50-100 wins. Did I mention that Felix Hernandez, whom nine Athletic writers saw fit to vote for entry into Cooperstown, has a WAR of 49.8?