“Good”—No!

White Sox manager New-Mickey Venable has two bad habits, in addition to making head-scratching decisions from the dugout. Ask him a question, and he’ll always start his answer with “Yeah,” then go into spin mode. Just once, I wish a reporter would try to trip him up with, “You’re clueless out there, aren’t you?” But what really irritates me is his Old-Mickey way of praising the opposition. Last night, the Sox laid an egg against the Bluejays, losing 6-1. Thank heaven the heavens opened up and stopped the game after six innings. Otherwise, who knows what the final score would’ve been? After the game, Venable complimented Toronto starter Chris Bassitt (traded away long ago by Kenny Williams) for doing a “really good job down in the zone.” Why, “He can beat you in a lot of ways.” Especially if “you” are a bad ballclub with a bunch of retreads sprinkled in with rookies trying to figure it out. Help from the hitting coach optional. Maybe that’s how Bassitt “did a good job getting us on the ground.” Venable also said the Bluejays “do a good job of controlling the zone and doing damage on pitches in the zone.” Especially if the other team is throwing out a bargain-basement starter like Aaron Civale. Andrew Vaughn, with four RBIs in his first two games back in the bigs, for Civale why, again? But, hey, center fielder Luis Robert Jr. “feels really good.” [all quotes from today’s Trib story online]