Zeke Bonura

It was probably 2018, when Daniel Palka blazed through the South Side during his only full season in the majors. Palka could hit balls very far and did it often enough that the TV broadcasts started to show an updated list of most homeruns by a White Sox rookie. Somehow, Clare caught a game I missed and saw a name she was sure nobody born before 19XX had ever heard of. The quiz ensued, and I responded, “You mean Zeke Bonura?” For the next two or three years, every game seemed to have a graphic with Bonura’s name on it. And who was Zeke Bonura? A first baseman who spent the first four years of his seven-year career on the South Side; and, just like Daniel Palka, Bonura could hit the ball far. But he could also hit for average, which would explain his .317 BA and .396 OPB for the Sox. In addition, he averaged 110 RBIs during his time on the South Side. Why they traded him at age 28 is beyond me. Not long ago, I saw a Willard Mullin-like cartoon of Bonura—“The Bull of the Sockyards”—for sale on eBay. Zeke is shown driving a car with teammates on the roof, with the notation he was voted most popular player in Chicago and awarded a car “for driving home so many mates”; on the auction block for holding out each spring; and throwing some leather at first base despite being “heavy-legged.” The cartoon I had to have, and I do. I framed it for display in the basement. Before I took it downstairs, Michele sent a picture to Clare to let her know this is both a Palka and Bonura household.

Hop to It

What George McCaskey lacks in football savvy he make up for in gall. Speaking to the Tribune’s Colleen Kane on Friday, McCaskey gave an update on the search for a new stadium, to be built largely with funds not coming from the McCaskey family. “We want to go where the best deal is possible, where it’s most feasible—financially, politically, geographically.” I’m tempted to point out a good place for the heirs of Halas to go, but manners prevent me from being so blunt. At the same time McCaskey was trying to shake the money tree, henchman Kevin Warren was pushing for the General Assembly to get cracking so the Bears could start a-buildin’ next year. Yeah, hop to it. But McCaskey and Warren might want to tell NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to shut up. One of the selling points for a new stadium is that it will allow the Bears to get a Super Bowl. But then Goodell said the other day he could seed the Super Bowl being played outside the U.S. If that were to happen, wouldn’t that lessen the odds for Chicago getting one, let alone two, for its publicly subsidized plaything?

He Said What?

The Dodgers shut out the Padres 2-0 last night to advance to the NLCS. Kiké Hernandez and Teoscar Hernandez homered to account for both LA runs. After the game, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports asked what made this Dodgers’ team different from others. Before answering, Hernandez asked if they were live. When Rosenthal said, Yes, they were, Hernandez responded, “The fact that we don’t give a f***.” Go, Mets.

Proof's in the Pudding

Did I say something about Dylan Cease needing to prove himself if he wants to get paid big bucks once he hits free agency after 2025? Well… Cease went 1.2 innings in game four of the NLDS against the Dodgers, giving up three runs (all earned) on four hits and a walk while striking out one in a 8-0 LA win. Yes, Cease was starting on three days’ rest, and, for what it’s worth, he went 3.1 innings on Saturday, which doesn’t seem like a lot. On the other hand, Cease needed 82 pitches to get there. Any way you look at it, not a staff-ace performance. I hate sounding like a shill for management, but, if I’m the one shelling out the dough, I want performance in return. This doesn’t apply only to Cease, who’s still making a relatively modest $8 million this season. Look at the Phillies. Signing Kyle Schwarber; Bryce Harper; Trea Turner; and Nick Castellanos hasn’t translated into any World Series rings. In fact, it’ll be the Mets moving on to the NLCS after beating Philadelphia in four. Long story short—no matter the payroll or the hype surrounding a team or whatever Mickey Mouse told reporters in his postgame comments, wins and losses are what count, most of all in the postseason.

Crunch Time

This is interesting. The Padres are giving the ball to Dylan Cease tonight in the hopes of eliminating the Dodgers after last night’s 6-5 win gave San Diego a 2-1 lead in the NLDS. Interesting because Cease started game one just four days ago and couldn’t get out of the fourth inning, despite having two- and three-run leads to work with. At the risk of repeating myself, anyone wanting to be paid like the staff ace needs to pitch like one. The Padres are at home, and, if last night was any indication, the crowd will be nothing short of electric. It's all on you, Dylan.

Harry Chappas

I’m at that point in life where no visit to baseball-reference.com is complete without glancing at the “In Memoriam” listing of names. That’s where I found Harry Chappas’. His was not a happy story. A 5’7” shortstop, Chappas had stints with the White Sox from 1978 to 1980, between the ages of 20-22. These were bad Sox teams, with owner Bill Veeck looking for ways to recapture the excitement generated by the “South Side Hitmen” of 1977. Which led Veeck to push the notion that Chappas was a mere 5’3”, a king-sized Eddie Gaedel, if you will. After his career ended, Chappas told Sports Illustrated, “I began to realize that Bill Veeck just wanted me to be a gimmick to put people in the seats.” [SI, 9-29-1997] In which case, so did Sox announcer Harry Caray. I can’t remember a player who suffered more from Caray’s “love-em to hate-em” routine. That was Harry Caray, those were the late ‘70s White Sox. Chappas batted .245 with 45 hits, 26 runs scored and twelve RBIs over the course of his career. He appears to have had a hard life after baseball and died last month at age 66. Not all memories turn golden with the passage of time.

Rumors

Let’s see. One online rumor I read has Buck Showalter pushing to be the next manager of the Sad Sox. If so, no. Showalter might’ve worked in place of Tony LaRussa, definitely as a replacement for Ozzie Guillen, but, now, at 68 Showalter’s too old. According to Jon Heyman in the New York Post of 10-3-24, Rick Hahn wanted to hire A.J. Hinch to replace Rick Renteria but was vetoed by…wait for it, Jerry Reinsdorf, who insisted on LaRussa. If so, Hahn must wake up every morning cursing cruel fate. Hiring Hinch probably would’ve saved his job, and it would’ve kept Jake Burger on the South Side and… There are all sorts of names being mentioned for the Sox job; none of them move me one way or the other. I’d offer it to Guillen, provided he knew what he was getting into. Otherwise, let the “process” play itself out.

Same Old Same Old

There are lots of ex-White Sox players in the postseason. Why? It’s not because the front office can’t find talent. It’s because the front office doesn’t know what to do with talent once it finds it. Of those players who saw action yesterday (not including extended cup-of-coffee Tommy Pham), Yankees’ reliever Tommy Kahnle and Padres’ right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. performed well, the Padres’ Dylan Cease and the Dodgers’ Michael Kopech not so much. Kahnle threw .2 scoreless innings in New York’s 6-5 win over the Royals in the ALDS while Tatis went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored in San Diego’s 7-5 loss to the Dodgers in the NLDS. That leaves former teammates, now adversaries, Cease and Kopech, both of whom looked like they were still with the Sad Sox. Cease couldn’t hold a three-run lead his team gave him in the first inning, instead giving up a game-tying three-run homer to Shohei Ohtani with two out in the bottom of the second. Bad Dylan was on display with a walk that made possible the homerun, on a 2-1 pitch. Walks, pitching from behind—not how you cash in come free agency, Dylan. Cease was up to his old, frustrating tricks in the fourth after his teammates gave him a two-run lead the inning before. Two one-out singles ended his night and put on the tying runs. Cease’s line reads 3.1 innings; five runs allowed, all earned; six hits; two walks; and five strikeouts. Which brings us to Kopech. The wild one entered the game in the eighth inning, sandwiching two walks around a strikeout. With the Sox, that would have been enough to lose, but the Dodgers are a major-league team, so Kopech escaped without giving up any runs. I wouldn’t want Kopech back; just too much can go wrong with him. Cease, I don’t know. He went 14-11 with a team that won 93 games, and he’s never won more than fourteen in a regular season. If I’m robbing the bank to sign a topflight pitcher (see Zach Wheeler), I want better stats than that. Like the Sad Sox are going to sign quality players, right?

Mistakes by Rank

Sad Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf long ago made it clear that the biggest—and probably only—regret in his life was letting Tony LaRussa go. Where does that leave Terry Francona? Francona started his coaching career in the White Sox organization and even managed Michael Jordan at Double-A Birmingham. Francona’s first MLB managing job came in 1997, with the Phillies. The immortal Terry Bevington was at the helm of the Sad Sox that year. So, there are mistakes and mistakes in the world of Reinsdorf, some people who got away he regrets and some he doesn’t. Francona must fall in that second category. I mean, he was available to manage and interested in returning to the dugout. The Reds signed him to a reported three-year deal yesterday. Managers who win two World Series don’t come around that often. The Sad Sox must think they can do better, unless, of course, they contacted Francona and were turned down. But wouldn’t we know if that were the case?

Pony Up?

Pete Alonso hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth last night to give the Mets a come-from-behind 4-2 win over the Brewers that puts New York in the NLDS against the Phillies. Alonso has said he patterns himself after Paul Konerko. “When I kept watching on TV, it was, ‘I want to be like that guy. I want to be like Paul Konerko.’” [Tim Britton article in The Athletic, 7-30-2019] And last night, he was. Alonso is a free agent come season’s end. If Jerry Reinsdorf is serious about regaining the trust of White Sox fans, he can make a run at Alonso. I doubt Paul Konerko would mind.

Three's A Charm. Right.

Let’s do a quick review of Sad Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf as a judge of managerial talent. In 2020, he fired Rick Renteria and took a pass on AJ Hinch as his replacement, going instead with his old pal, Tony LaRussa. How did that work out? Hinch and his Tigers, the team that did hire him (along with announcer Jason Benetti, by the way), just swept the Astros on the road and move on to face the Guardians. Once LaRussa proved physically unable to handle the everyday grind of managing, Reinsdorf settled on Mickey Mouse as his replacement. Interesting that the Royals, at the time also in the process of hiring a new manager, passed on Mouse, their bench coach, and instead settled on Rays’ bench coach Matt Quartaro. The Royals lost 106 games their first year under Quartaro, five more than the Sad Sox under Mouse. And this year? They swept the Orioles in Baltimore to move and face the Yankees. I wonder why Kansas City didn’t want Mouse, who was a longtime part of the organization? Anyway, I’m sure Reinsdorf and the Sox will get it right this time. Three’s a charm. Right?

Duck!

With baby Maeve coming home from the hospital last Friday, we’ve been on grandparent duty this week, which in my case means throwing lots of batting practice to Leo. At three years and two months, my grandson wouldn’t seem to be much of a threat at the plate, but that’s just what he wants you to think. Swing and miss, I take a step closer to make my next pitch. Swing and miss, another step in, then another, then…Whack! A line drive to the head. Repeat. And a couple of minutes later, Whack! again, followed by the second stern lecture on why it’s not funny to hit someone in the head, “Do you understand?” I doubt it. So it falls on me to stay back and try to find Leo’s sweet spot, which will allow me to be in position to field any comebackers. Still, the kid shouldn’t be able to hit a wiffle ball so hard, not at three years and two months.

Collateral Damage

Perhaps the biggest victim of the Sad Sox collapse is Eloy Jimenez, he of the homerun swing and multiple injuries. Eloy showed a world of promise his first two seasons, in 2019 and 2020. His rookie year, he hit 31 homers in 122 games. The injuries started piling up in 2021, and, well, now he’s gone, shipped off to Baltimore and demoted to the minors last month. Go on the Orioles’ website to their 40-man roster; Eloy is the only one wearing his cap to the side. New organization, same Eloy, which is too bad. If he’s ever going to reach anything close to his potential, Jimenez needs to grow up, which was never required of him with the Sox. Ex-manager Rick Renteria wasn’t afraid to bench players, including Yoan Moncada and Tim Anderson, and he probably would’ve grown tired of Eloy’s “Hi, Mom!” routine had he not been fired after the 2020 season. Tony LaRussa, of course, couldn’t be bothered to show Eloy right from wrong. LarRussa let the man-child be. And now Eloy’s stuck in Norfolk, uncertain what the future holds.