One More Day

One more day, and it’s March. That used to mean a whole month of spring training, but, now, you can throw in Opening Day, too, depending on weather conditions. Nothing says spring baseball in the Midwest like snow flurries across the infield. What do I want? Well, I read where White Sox head groundskeeper Roger Bossard said team owner Jerry Reinsdorf told him he wants to stay on the scene until he’s 99. So, definitely not that. But the makings of a good, young team would be a start. Think what ex-GM Larry Himes did back in the day with Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura and Jack McDowell. When Himes got the axe in September of 1990 for insufficient loyalty, his successor Ron Schueler did a decent job of keeping the team young; think Mike Cameron (later traded for an even younger Paul Konerko); Aaron Rowand and Mark Buehrle. Schueler also had a scouting department that knew to sign the likes of Carlos Lee and Magglio Ordonez. Then came Kenny Williams, and the Sox would never be that interested in young players again. So, what do I want? Reinsdorf into retirement sooner than later. And a roster full of prospects that will allow me to dream and compare: You know, he reminds me of…

Just Wondering

The McCaskeys finally found themselves a chump in the state of Indiana, which passed legislation yesterday creating a stadium authority to bring the Munsters over the state line. This is no longer a news story for Chicago media, but a tug-of-war with local bragging rights on the line. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: How sad. One thing I’d like to know, though, is would the cost of a personal seat license vary state to state? For some reason, nobody in McCaskeyland seems interested in bringing the subject up. Maybe the answer is hidden away in one of those blob buildings that make up so much of the stadium-complex renderings.

Hidden Treasure

The White Sox play the Dodgers today, so this should be a good test, given that LA has started spring training with a 5-0 record. The Dodgers’ lineup includes ex-Sox farmhand Alex Call, a third-round pick in the 2016 draft. The right-handed hitting outfielder was traded to Cleveland in 2018 for first baseman Yonder Alonso. Bad trade, that. Call is a nice glove and bat off the bench. Playing for the Dodgers is a testament both to his ability and the acumen of the Sox scout(s) who identified his talent. The same holds for current Sox Brooks Baldwin, a twelfth-round selection in 2022. The switch-hitting Baldwin struggled through the first half of his first real season last year (he also had 114 at-bats in 2024). Then, something clicked in early July with a pinch-hit homerun against these same Dodgers. Baldwin batted .253 in the second half of the season vs. .227 in the first half. He also hit eleven homers overall in 300 at-bats. Guess who’s 4-for-7 with a homerun this spring? Yup, the twelfth rounder. Again, a testament both to the player and the scout(s) who found him. It’s almost enough to make me think the Sox know what they’re doing. But I don’t want to get ahead of myself quite yet.

Clueless, and not the Movie

The Bulls lost their tenth game in a row last night , rolling over 131-99 to the visiting Hornets. Wait, there’s more, or less, depending on how you view things. Despite their embrace of tanking, the Bulls have only the seventh worst record in the league. Shame on you, Billy Donovan, for taking a blah roster and making it competitive, at least until the injuries started piling up. So, if the Bulls can’t win the race to the bottom, what can they accomplish? Outside of showing that Patrick Williams will never develop beyond a journeyman—if that—no matter how many minutes he plays, I’m not sure. Arturas Karnisovas acquired some guys who, once upon a time, were promising, but they were slowed by injuries. Guess what? They’re injured again. I’m looking at you, Jaden Ivey and Anfernee Simons. And let’s not forget big man Zach Collins, out for the season with a big-toe injury that limited him to ten games. Wait, there’s more. Tank time is when you let young talent develop, only in the Bulls’ case, it’s questionable talent, or the talent merits questioning with more playing time. Last night, Josh Giddey had eight points with five assists…and five turnovers. In his last ten games, Giddey has scored in the single digits four times while tallying eleven or fewer points six times. Plus he’s turned the ball over four or more times in five of those games. And Matas Buzelis, even more of a building block than Giddey? The second-year forward is nothing if not a human roller coaster. Last night’s 32-point performance was nice but hardly enough to erase recent two- and four-point performances. Like Giddey, you never know what Buzelis is going to show up on any given night. Long story short, this is a team that stinks too much and not enough all at the same time.

Balls and Strikes

MLB will start using its Automated Ball-Strike system come Opening Day, and I’m wondering about consequences. I mean, what if Angel Hernandez was still around? A team starts with two challenges and can keep going until and if the challenges prove unsuccessful. With Hernandez behind the plate, teams would probably be right challenging each and every pitch. At some point in the season, I think umpires will start complaining that they’re being shown up; I’m looking at you, C.B. Bucknor. Either someone like Bucknor cleans up his act, which is doubtful given that he’s been around since 1996, or they’re going to be driven from the game courtesy of ABS. I don’t like the pitch clock because it should be unnecessary, and was up until Mike Hargrove, “the Human Rain Delay,” started doing his shtick back in the 1970s; that’s when umpires needed to step in. And don’t get me started on extra innings or the pitcher only getting three throws to a base per at-bat to try to catch a runner. But ABS I see as necessary. See Hernandez, Bucknor above. With luck, the great majority of umpires will get with the program. If not, they can always resign, at which point MLB might consider another fundamental change, as in women umpires.

Gold Glove

Pirates’ HOF second baseman Bill Mazeroski died last week at the age of 89. It only seems like he earned three of his eight Gold Gloves against me. I started playing Strat-O-Matic Baseball in the spring of 1966. I was the American League, a sad person I knew from St. Gall was the National League. The game is based on a complete season’s worth of stats, so it’s always a year behind. The sad person especially liked to play the Dodgers (Koufax and Drysdale); the Giants (Willie Mays with 52 homeruns); and the Pirates. If Roberto Clemente wasn’t hitting homers against me, Mazeroski was turning double plays. The best fielding rating in Strat-O-Matic is a one, and that was Mazeroski. I’m guessing that at some point the Pirates faced off against the White Sox, a 90-win team against a 95-win team. The Pirates scored 675 runs with a .265 BA to 647 runs for the Sox and a.246 BA. Pittsburgh had a team ERA of 3.01 to 2.99 for Chicago. We would’ve played on somebody’s front- or back-porch, rolling dice and yelling just short of an adult telling us to “Quiet down!”. Clemente homers, Mazeroski turns two but Johnny Romano goes deep in the eighth for a 3-2 Sox win. Really, 89 seems awfully young.

Still Early, But...

I’ll try not to buy World Series’ tickets just yet. A 2-0 start by the White Sox in spring training is nice, but I don’t want to go overboard quite yet. Still, an 11-2 win over the A’s beats an 11-2 loss. In ascending order, Brooks Baldwin homered; Miguel Vargas had a hit and two runs scored; William Bergolla Jr. went 2-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI; and Edgar Quero collected two two-run singles as part of a 3-for-3 day. What’s not to like? I mean, outside of the A’s using nine pitchers and the Sox seven?