Meanwhile, Over in the NL…

Yes, Virginia, there’s life after having played for the losingest team in MLB history. Just look at ex-White Sox players Gavin Sheets and Andrew Vaughn. Sheets has become something of a fan favorite in San Diego since he signed with the Padres last year, so much so he merits chants of “Holy Sheets!” whenever he comes to bat. I heard the chants Wednesday night as Sheets walked to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning in the Padres’ wildcard series against the Cubs. Ironically, Sheets was pinch-hitting for another ex-Sox player (though you might’ve missed him if you blinked), Austin Hays. Sheets turned around a 100.8 mph fastball from the Cubs’ Daniel Palencia, sending out a 107.5-mph exit-velocity two-run homer that effectively ended the Cubs’ postseason. Way to go, Gavin. Sheets will be meeting up against Andrew Vaughn, his old teammate on the Sox back in 2024, as the Padres face the Brewers in the NLDS. What an interesting season-and-a-half it’s been for the third pick in the 2019 draft. The righthand-hitting Vaughn just couldn’t reach the next level with the Sox; he was good but not nearly the player his college stats foretold. After 4-1/2 seasons on the South Side, GM Chris Getz shipped Vaughn to Milwaukee, where he became a platoon player. And how has that gone? Well, the 28-year old Vaughn hit .308 with 46 RBIs in his new role last season and .306 with 43 RBIs this year. How interesting if the Sox face either of them down the road in the postseason.

Calm Before the Storm

I’m waiting, for the White Sox-Guardians’ game tomorrow and the mail today. There could be a good-luck charm coming. It’s in the form of a team-autographed ball, the 1937 White Sox, to be precise. They were a few games better than the 2026 squad, at 86-68, good enough for third place, sixteen games behind the Yankees in a 154-game season. It was the best team Jimmy Dykes would have in thirteen years of managing on the South Side. Two names you’d expect to see are there, Ted Lyons and Luke Appling (hey, I met him once!), but that’s not why I bought it. There were two other names, starting with Monty Stratton, a 25-year old righthander who went 15-5 with a 2.40 ERA in his second full season with the Sox. Stratton would match that win total in 1938 and then never pitch again in the major leagues after an off-season hunting accident led to the amputation of his right leg. Jimmy Stewart played him in the move, and I have a photo of a smiling Stratton in his Sox uniform on the wall opposite my work desk. The other autograph I made sure was on the ball belongs to Zeke Bonura, a hitting enigma if there ever was one. The righthand-hitting first baseman didn’t make the majors until he was 25 and played only seven seasons. You’d think anyone who totaled 704 career RBIs in such a relatively short span would’ve had a longer career, but he didn’t. (Baseball) age and WWII got in the way. In our house, there’s a direct connection between Bonura and another Sox enigma, Daniel Palka. When Palka hit 27 homeruns his first and only full season in the majors in 2018, I knew he equaled Bonura’s number for a rookie. My daughter was dumbfounded. There was some other Bonura trivia I aced that brought the pride of New Orleans back to life one summer nine years ago. Stratton, Bonura, Palka—good names deserving of good results in Cleveland starting tomorrow.

Pinch Me

Anthony Kay retiring Yordan Alvarez with two on and the game on the line, then walking Isaac Paredes, then retiring Jose Altuve? Somebody pinch me, I must be dreaming. No, White Sox 7 Astros 3, with the Sox moving on to face the Guardians in the ALDS. Where to start? Might as well get the hard part out of the way first. Sox manager Vibes Venable made all the right moves, going to Kay in the fifth inning with the Sox up 4-3 and using Jordan Hicks along with Erick Fedde for two innings apiece. I can’t stand Venable’s Gosh-Golley, Pollyannish public persona, but he got the job down yesterday. And the players believe in him. Plus he moved the envelope a little, calling a double steal in the sixth before Chase Meidroth clubbed the game-clinching three-run homer. I’ll hold my tongue while Venable works his so long as he gets results like this. Can the Sox beat the Guardians? If they keep attacking, yes. Sam Antonacci led off the game with a double and scored on a single from Kyle Teel on the next pitch. The Sox had five hits, a walk and an error, which I would’ve scored a hit, in the first inning. Then came a stretch of thirteen consecutive outs. No more of that, please. Traffic on the bases wins ballgames.

Youth Movement

Rookie lefthander Hagen Smith opened for the White Sox in Houston yesterday, throwing three shutout innings. Then, it was veterans Jordan Hicks and Sean Newcomb (2.1 innings, two runs); and rookie David Sandlin (1.1 innings, no runs), leading to second-year closer Grant Taylor, who went 2.1 innings, giving up one unearned run in a 6-3 Sox win. Left fielder Sam Antonacci was, well, Sam Antonacci. He led off the game with a walk and scored on a Munetaka Murakami sacrifice fly. In the third, Antonacci singled in two runs. The 23-year old converted infielder also walked and managed to get hit by a pitch. Fellow rookies Murakami scored two runs while Braden Montgomery and Chase Meidroth both had two hits and a run scored; Tristan Peters chipped in with a nice sacrifice bunt. Plus, Kyle Teel looked good swinging the bat. Last but not least, the fog at the plate cleared, if only momentarily, for sophomore Colson Montgomery, who hit a homerun to dead centerfield in the fourth, on an 0-2 pitch no less. Oh, more, please. Can the Sox win again today, even as they face Hunter Brown, who had their number with a 2-0 record and 1.38 ERA in two starts against them in the regular season? Well, you can’t say the visitors lack playoff experience anymore, so, that’s a start to build on.

Mum's the Word

Two recent injuries to Chicago-team athletes highlight the difference between baseball and football. One sport allow the flow of information while the other would control it with a nod to the Kremlin. Back on September 20, Alex Bregman was hit in the face by a foul ball while standing in the on-deck circle during a game against the Reds. Within hours, Bregman had posted a picture of his face, his right eye swollen shut; news that Bregman had suffered several facial fractures came the next day. At no time did it appear that the Cubs tried to control the release of news or keep Bregman from talking to the media. Now, compare that to the injury the Bears’ Caleb Williams suffered a week ago Sunday against the Vikings. The way Williams went down without contact and then grabbed his thigh, it looked to be a fairly serious hamstring injury. Only the next day Coach Ben Johnson refused to rule out his quarterback for last night’s game against the Eagles. Johnson said Williams was “week-to-week.” Then, on Sunday, ESPN reported Williams had a Grade-2 hamstring strain and was expected to miss three-four weeks. Either Johnson and the Bears’ medical staff don’t know how to communicate with one another, or Johnson was blowing smoke at an always-gullible Chicago media and the Eagles. I’m going with door number two. Go on the Bears’ website and search for an injury update, and you won’t find anything official. Look for Williams addressing the injury the way Bregman did his, and you won’t find anything. At least, I didn’t. Not to worry, though. Third-string quarterback Case Keenum guided his team to a 27-7 win over Philadelphia, and all is right in Bears Nation. Except for the part about being upfront about player injuries. That’s so baseball.

Clichés Abound

The White Sox beat the Rockies 4-2 in the last regular game of the season. Now, it’s on to Houston for three games against the Astros. The team with four fewer wins earned home-field advantage after winning the AL West. And they say we’re in a weak division. I keep looking for the right cliché to describe the situation. The Sox need to play smart, but being dumb enough to think they can take the wild-card’s not a bad idea, either. They should strike first, yet be able to take a punch, and leave everything on the field. Push the envelope, but don’t do anything stupid. The Pope’s a South Sider and a Sox fan. I have no problem with a little divine intervention.

Nope

In his biggest start of the year, Davis Martin went one-third of an inning, putting the White Sox in a 3-0 hole they never managed to climb out of. Rockies 9 Sox 6 and AL Central crown to the Guardians. Joining Martin in failing to seize the moment was Colson Montgomery. With two out and two on and the score 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Montgomery struck out on four pitches. Two innings later with runners on the corners, one out and the score still 5-3, Montgomery hit into a 4-6-3 double play. Colorado broke the game open with four runs in the ninth. To me, you want to end the regular season on a high note. And that means winning. Owning up to bad performance(s) after the game is no substitute.