Checking the Map

Well, Garrett Crochet and the White Sox weren’t in Kansas yesterday, but Miami, where the Marlins fouled off 28 of Crochet’s pitches over the course of his four innings. Crochet left with the Sox ahead 3-2, but, well, we are talking the second coming of the ’62 Mets here. Reliever Michael Soroka was touched for a two-run homer, and that was the ballgame. Starting in the fourth inning, Sox “hitters” went 1-2-3 five out of six innings; a seventh-inning walk represented their only baserunner. Soroka’s record now stands at 0-9. Holy Mets. If he keeps it up, Soroka could match Craig Anderson’s 3-17 for the Lovable Losers of 1962, or Bob Miller’s 1-12. The Sox record stands at 26-65 after 91 games, vs. 24-67 for the expansion Mets. I have full faith in manager Mickey Mouse’s ability to close the gap and clinch a record he so richly deserves.

Hope, Sort Of

White Sox rookie righthander Drew Thorpe threw 6.1 innings of three-hit, one-run ball last night against the Marlins in a 3-2 Sox win. Thorpe picked up the victory and is now 3-1 with a 3.71 ERA since his callup last month. The temptation is to dream, and hope that the Sox will have themselves a real starting staff before long. But then I read today in the Tribune online how Thorpe says he’s been learning from his teammates since coming up. By that, I assume he’s including Garrett Crochet, who pitches today. And that’s good. But what if Crochet gets traded? What can Thorpe learn from Chris Flexen or Mike Clevinger? The bad possibilities abound.

Trivial Pursuit

Yesterday, the White Sox used four pitchers who combined for a twelve-hit, 8-4 loss in Cleveland. The thing of it is, I couldn’t name any of them if you asked me. Just as well for a team 25-64, one game better than the ’62 Mets at the same point in the season. If only I could forget the name of manager Mickey Mouse. If only. Lately, his Kops have been oopsing and dropping and catcher-interfering, all of which led him yesterday to proclaim it’s, “Just little things, little details. The game came [down] to a few decisions that we opted in another direction that cost us.” [quote from story in today’s Sun-Times] Opting to lose—that would explain a franchise picking Mouse to manage in the first place.

An Early Fourth

A visit from my grandson includes hitting off a tee in our backyard, Clare constantly working on Leo’s stance. Whatever she said late yesterday afternoon led to a stinging line drive into Grandpa’s stomach. I have to remind myself to stand further back next time. A visit from my grandson also includes playing with trucks big and small; right now he prefers the small one, Tootsie Toys, a Chicago precursor to Hot Wheels. If you wanted a semi or a cement mixer back in the day, you went to an Ace Hardware, Woolworth’s or drug store with a good toy aisle. Since it was hot and humid and our attic isn’t air-conditioned, we brought a bunch of trucks downstairs into the living room to play with. Of course, the TV was on to the White Sox-Guardians’ game, so we actually saw Martin Maldonado hit a two-run homerun; I liked Leo’s hit more. As for my grandson, all he wanted to do was crash his dump truck into Grandpa’s. Berwyn did fireworks a day early, though late for any self-respecting, almost three-year old. The Sox and trucks kept Leo up until 9 P.M., when we all went back out into the yard to ooh and ah at the explosion of colors in the night sky; one of the perks of living in our Berwyn bungalow is proximity to the high school football field where the show takes place. For me, the best fireworks’ shows were the ones after White Sox games, that is, until I could sit next to my grandson as he watched his first.

Keystone Kops 2.0

Oh, are these White Sox bad. Take Paul DeJong, please. On Sunday, DeJong went 0-for-6 against the Rockies, including two strikeouts and two double plays (hitting into, not turning). Last night in Cleveland, DeJong got thrown out at the plate in the second inning and then hit Josh Naylor in the back with a throw as Naylor advanced from second to third on a groundball in the sixth inning when Cleveland went on to score three runs. Error, DeJong, who has eleven on the season, one less than this career high back in 2018. And let’s not forget “closer” Michael Kopech or centerfielder Luis Robert Jr., who combined to lose the game 7-6 in the bottom of the ninth. Kopech was Kopech, giving up a leadoff single, followed by a groundout that advanced the runner followed by a wild pitch. Kopech caught his spike delivering a pitch that went very much astray. Runner on third, one out. Enter Robert, who up until that moment was having a very good night going, at 2-for-4 with a homerun and four RBIs. The Guardians’ Bo Naylor lofted a flyball to Roberts, who decided not to make a throw. End of ballgame. Why did our “star” centerfielder eat the ball? Because “I didn’t have a chance.” [quote from story on team website today] Did that line of thinking upset manager Mickey Mouse? Of course not: “He’s playing in because there’s one out. He’s going back. Even if he runs back and comes in, there’s no play there. If we’re going to dissect that, we’re making something out of nothing. You’re not going to throw that guy out from there.” Mouse also defended DeJong, if not quite as strongly, saying “I thought he made the right decision going there” to third base. The devil’s in the details, I guess. Making something out of nothing—there’s Mouse’s managerial epitaph in five words, and this organization’s.

Anniversary

The ball is one of eighteen I have on display; it’s the only one without an autograph or more, with thirteen of them being White Sox team autograph balls. That doesn’t make it any less important. The label reads, “Clare Bukowski, Berwyn Bronco Yankees/2-run walk-off homer/225 feet, left-center field/July 2, 2004.” God, could my twelve-year old daughter hit. The next day, despite my attempts to dissuade her, Clare insisted on taking part in an All-Star homerun hitting contest. I think it’s safe to say most if not all of the other participants also played on travel teams. Clare was the only girl. She finished fifth out of 25. She played one more year of baseball, moving up to the Pony level, and I wanted her to come back for a second year the summer between grade school and high school, but it didn’t work out. Berwyn switched over to Little League, and that involved way too much money for us as we were just starting to navigate our way through travel softball. Several years ago, our daughter let it slip she would’ve liked to play softball at the University of Chicago, why I really couldn’t say. Maybe she heard that Kim Ng had played there, or she had a thing for Enrico Fermi. The Maroons’ playing field is located a few blocks from the site of Stagg Field, where scientists for the Manhattan Project split the atom in a facility under football grandstands back in 1942. Ng went from softball to baseball, working her way up to general manager of the Marlins in late 2020. Despite leading Miami to the playoffs last season, she left the team over what may have been a power struggle. Ng reportedly moved on after learning the Marlins intended to create the position of president of baseball operation, who in effect would be her boss. Clare called me yesterday to say that Ng had signed on as a senior advisor for yet another attempt to establish a pro women’s softball league. Right now, Athletes Unlimited has players compete on an individual basis; think a series of All-Star Games where pay is based on individual performance. According to an AU press release, next year a number of teams will barnstorm and the year after that four teams will play in host cities. Baseball doesn’t particularly want women, and pro softball can’t seem to catch on. My onetime baseball player is currently teaching her son how to hit. I wonder if she’ll do that with her daughter, too. And will it be baseball or softball?

Guilt By Association

Another start for Garrett Crochet, another bunch of strikeouts, eleven Rockies over seven innings yesterday in an eventual 14-inning 5-4 White Sox loss. Did I mention Crochet didn’t issue a walk? Not that it matters. According to Bob Nigthengale in yesterday’s USA Today, the Sox had “brief contract extension talks” with Crochet, but nothing happened. What, Crochet wouldn’t take a lowball offer from his overlords? For shame. Just because he has 140 strikeouts (vs. 20 walks) in 101.1 innings with a .93 WHIP and .198 opponents’ batting average, who does this guy think he is? Especially using CAA Sports to represent him. These are the people who signed Shohei Ohtani to a record contract, and Jerry Reinsdorf announced to the world last August he wouldn’t be going after Ohtani. If not Ohtani, then not Crochet, even if he just turned 25 and could be the foundation of a kiddie corps with Jonathan Cannon, Drew Thorpe and some intriguing minor-league pitchers. Nope, Reinsdorf is a person of firm beliefs and budgets who won’t pay market value for a pitcher any more than he would a new stadium. Lucky us.