Crashing the Garden Party

Something Jimmy Buffett said about keeping the “old man” at bay every day factored into our going on a garden walk yesterday. Forget that the dew point made it feel like 100+ degrees on the streets of Ravenswood Manor. We had phlox to check out, dammit! The backyards were stunning in every way, here a rose bush there a fire pit; one homeowner even put a TV out and switched on the White Sox-Cubs’ game. “What’s the score?” someone asked. “2-1, Cubs.” “Oh, not like Friday [12-5 South Siders]. That’s good” To which I said, “That’s a matter of opinion.” And North Siders beheld a Sox fan amongst them. Not that I liked the final score of 5-4, them. Lenyn Sosa helped lose the game with a bonehead play on the base paths. With two on and one out, Chase Meidroth popped out to Cubs’ second baseman Nico Horner. The ump called the infield fly rule, and Hoerner let the ball drop onto the infield grass in front of him. That should’ve made no difference. Meidroth was out regardless, the runners didn’t have to try to move up. But Sosa broke for third and was out from the Rate to Wrigley. Here's what’s truly amazing—Sox manager New-Mickey Venable sounded upset. He told reporters, “That’s a play we talk about a lot, and he just got stuck. A little bit of a mental error there where he didn’t see the call being made. That’s kind of an automatic one where you know that ball is out. He’s got to do a better job on that, and he knows that, and we discussed it.” The Sox also botched an eighth-inning rundown that allowed what proved to be the decisive run to score. Venable called out Sosa—remember, I said that as a second baseman he has a nice bat—and first baseman Miguel Vargas. Third baseman Colson Montgomery was called for obstruction on the play, which Venable said a team “obviously” can’t have. Oh, my goodness. [both quotes from story today on team website] The first-year manager even put the blame on himself and his coaching staff: “We have to look ourselves in the mirror and figure out a better way to coach that [the baserunning or rundown gaffe, take your pick]. Certainly, we’re going to readjust, and as we continue to make mistakes, it’s on us to figure out how to get it right.” [quote from story in today’s Sun-Times] Here's an easy way to see how serious Venable is—does Sosa play or sit tonight against the visiting Phillies? I say sit, but I’m not the one looking in the mirror.