Day One Scorecard

Your official Chicago Tribune Opening-Day scorecard reads:  Chicago Bears, two stories (one front page, one back page); Cubs, two stories; and White Sox, one (again, not done by a beat writer, unless a longtime columnist finds himself demoted).

 

As for the Sox 5-3 loss to the Royals, we’ll lead with the good news: Yoan Moncada looked comfortable both at third base and at the plate; Daniel Palka made a nice back-to-the-wall leaping catch in right field; and the team rallied for three runs in the ninth, even loading the bases with two out.  For what it’s worth, I thought Yolmer Sanchez had himself a bases-clearing double that turned into the final out.  Next game, for sure.

 

Now, the bad news: Eloy Jimenez looked anxious going 0-3 with two strikeouts; mediocre starting pitching courtesy of Carlos Rodon, who can’t seem to get out of the sixth inning; crappy defense as evidenced by three errors; crappy relief pitching that coughed up KC’s margin of victory; and nonexistent hitting until the ninth.  Everything gets fixed by next game, for sure.

 

The best part of the day for me was interacting with the child who is my 27-year old daughter.  Phone calls asking for weather updates (rain in KC) and what station the Sox were on, followed by texts—Eloy looks nervous, Chris Sale gave up seven runs in three innings, what does Dad think?  The last concerned three pictures of Clare swinging a length of PCV pipe in her living room.  The hitter is starting light as she works her way back from labrum surgery.

Just for fun, I said she was opening her hips up too fast.  The pictures showed no such thing, but I need to get ready for April Fool’s.