Two Words

The two words I most associate with Yasmani Grandal are “clank” and “lumber,” as in, “The ball clanked off of Grandal’s mitt, and he lumbered to retrieve it.” That’s exactly what happened last night at Tropicana Field. The White Sox were trailing the host Rays, 4-2, in the bottom of the seventh inning, runners on first and second with two out. Grandal picked up his sixth passed ball of the season, after which Ji-Man Choi smacked a double to right good for two runs. Final score, Rays 6 White Sox 3. Manager Tony La Russa and I must’ve been watching different games. “Everybody sees the game differently,’’ La Russa was quoted on the team website today. “I saw our pitcher hanging in there and shutting them out [after rookie righthander Davis Martin gave up four in the first]. We got to 4-2, had a couple of chances to make it even and got the go-ahead run up in the top of the ninth. That’s the game I saw.’’ Two blind men and the elephant, I guess. But speaking of the ninth inning, the Sox had the bases loaded with two out and Luis Robert up. Robert struck out on three pitches. Again, body language suggested—to me, no more than a fan and certainly not a HOF manager—that Robert didn’t want to be there. If your best player can’t rise to the occasion, you’re in a boatload of trouble, my friend. Funny how our manager missed that.