If You Can't Say Something Nice....

We were checking the mums at a garden store when Clare called with the news—Adam Dunn is gone, traded to the A’s!  And so ends an era.

In one month short of four seasons with the White Sox, Dunn never hit better than .220 or collected 100 rbi’s.  In his first three seasons, Dunn put up strikeout totals of 177, 222 (!) and 189.  Then there was the matter of personality.  The man was all Alfred E. Neuman.  What, me worry?  It never seemed that Dunn did, or cared.

Part of it was personality, and part of it was a defense response, I’m sure.  Either way, Sox fans had to be worried when they read in the paper that Dunn wanted to be a mentor to younger players.  I mean, what was he going to do, tell them not to worry?  You don’t want a player to press, but you do want a player to be aware of the consequences of failure.  Clare certainly was every year she played baseball or softball.  She was the kid who wanted a chance and then never let go once she got it.  To her and to me, Adam Dunn was an alien from a distant galaxy by way of Houston Texas.  Dunn and the Astrodome, a perfect match.

I think the Cubs have something to do with the Sox making two moves this weekend, dumping both Dunn and the defensively challenged Alejandro De Aza (who lost a ball in the sun at Yankee Stadium last weekend.  De Aza stared up at the sun a second time before throwing the ball back to the infield.)  The North Siders are starting to bring up their much-heralded rookies, who may or may not help them break the 100-year-plus curse.  Regardless, the Cubs are going to dominate the sports section come next February, and the White Sox had better be prepared.

These two moves are a start.