Bucking History

The White Sox are suckers for pitchers down on their luck, be it Herb Score or Mat Latos. Best not to mention James Shields. But we should discuss Vince Velaszuez. Velasquez is an eight-year MLB veteran. In five of those seasons, including this one, he’s won no more than three games. So, a 2-2 record and 3.97 ERA in five starts qualifies as big news. The 29-year old right hander managed to get through five innings at Fenway Park last night, limiting a pretty listless Bosox lineup to one run on three hits and two walks. That performance took 79 pitches. So, Velasquez isn’t out of Latos territory quite yet. Before the game, some rookie and second-year players ventured inside the Green Monster. Relief pitcher Tanner Banks put it best in today’s Sun-Times, how “you feel the energy of not just the present game but those who came before. There were so many names in there, thousands. And we got to write our names up there, and you think, ‘Is this going to be around another 100 years?’ Is the ink going to fade? I guess it’s our job to make that ink have meaning.” Guys, when you get a chance, ask Jerry Reinsdorf about Comiskey Park. Talk about a place with history.