How To

How do you lose 121 games in a season? Like this: Start by bringing in reliever Jared Shuster to relieve Garrett Crochet—he gone come December—in the bottom of the fifth inning of a scoreless tie. Then watch as Shuster sandwiches a single around two walks before throwing a wild pitch and giving up a sacrifice fly. Tigers 2 Sad Sox 0. Wait, there’s more. Have Fraser Ellard relieve Shuster in the bottom of the seventh of what’s now a 2-1 game. Watch as Ellard manages to record an out before giving up two doubles and a walk and a wild pitch, good for another two runs. Your final score is 4-1 with the Sad Sox collecting all of three hits. Wait, there’s more. Sox infielder Nicky Lopez was a little ticked that some, many, of the fans who showed up for the last home series were “cheering against us” and hoping for a loss. “But we understand it was a tough season for all of us, even the fans.” [quote from story in today’s Sun-Times] Nicky, you guys did the losing. You made it tough on yourselves, with help from the front office and ownership. I doubt you understand much of anything going on at 35th and Shields.