Vacancy at Short

As a former college instructor, I can understand how a teacher might get upset—a student bolting from class unannounced can disrupt your flow, and good teaching depends on the ability to stay in the flow of the zone, so to speak.  But, as a father, I couldn’t help but smile.  Clare left her class last night after getting an alert that the White Sox had declined to pick up the $10 million option of shortstop Alexi Ramirez.

Any way you look at it, this is a business decision.  Ramirez may be over the hill, or he just had a bad year at age 34; the front office has to decide and may even bring him back, assuming he’ll settle for less.  My one strong memory of Ramirez is of him throwing to first for the last out in Mark Buerhle’s perfect game against Tampa in 2009.  We were watching the game on ESPN from our hotel room in beautiful Salisbury, Maryland, where Clare’s softball team was playing in nationals.  We were all just happy she’d missed becoming a paraplegic a few hours earlier.

The field was slick from a persisting morning drizzle, and Clare hit a swinging bunt.  The first baseman charged to field it while the second baseman moved over to first for the throw, only she tripped Clare coming down the line; never have I seen a person do a perfect 360-degree somersault like that.  Clare landed hard and flat on her back.  She was lucky to escape with no more than a possible slight concussion.

This was the summer of softball hell, with new travel coaches who didn’t care if Clare hit five homeruns in a weekend to win them a tournament; her reward was to bat seventh the next week and to be told later by one of the coaches that she would never hit in college.  Ramirez’s throw came after centerfielder Dewayne Wise had stolen a homerun from pinch-hitter Gabe Kapler, then juggled the ball, then snared the ball in his glove as he fell to the warning track. 

That’s what you remember when your daughter calls on a Thursday night.  I’m sure the teacher would understand.