Time Flies

The White Sox had a day off yesterday after playing sixteen straight days. I can only hope it provides the pause that refreshes as they start a weekend series in Minnesota. For me, I had time to think. God, just two years ago, the Sox were on their way to a record-breaking 121 losses. I looked at the team roster, and there were names I honestly couldn’t recall, which was probably for the best. New faces, new day. Go, Antonacci! The Sox were off, but not Chris Sale and the Braves. The 37-year old lefthander and onetime anchor of the White Sox staff threw a five-hit, complete-game 1-0 shutout against the Dodgers last night, striking out eleven without a walk. Clare told Michele to tell me this morning, and I told Michele to tell our daughter I knew. We were all Chris Sale fans in our family, my wife saying, “I wish he still pitched for the White Sox.” So do I, but stuff happens in baseball, teams collapse and have to rebuild (and rebuild again, it seems). If there’s any silver lining in re Sale, it’s that he’s more legitimate HOF credentials than Jacob deGrom. On his career, Sale is 158-97 with a 2.95 ERA and 2756 strikeouts vs. 105-74 and a 2.70 ERA and 2010 strikeouts for deGrom. I can just see a rangy, gray-bearded Sale giving his induction speech at Cooperstown. Would he wear a White Sox cap? Maybe if they allowed him to bring a pair of scissors to the podium.