What a Surprise

The Nats-Phillies’ game Tuesday night ended with the tying run thrown out at third base on a fly ball to centerfield.  Philadelphia pinch-runner Vince Velasquez easily beat the throw, but then again Velasquez left second base early.  In the postgame news conference, Philadelphia manager Gabe Kapler called Velasquez “an inexperienced baserunner,” maybe because he’s a starting pitcher.

And maybe I should mention here that the Phillies carry thirteen pitchers, so it was either a pitcher or the last player on the bench available to run.  Maybe I should mention that not too long ago the Royals carried speedster Terrance Gore to pinch run in critical situations just like the one the Phils found themselves in.  Oh, well, I bet Philadelphia will find another use for those extra pitchers, if you give them enough time.

Of course, that might not include the postseason, because you have to win enough games to get there.    

True Colors

Clare had her surgery at a hospital just off The Magnificent Mile of north Michigan Avenue.  I don’t know what the operating room looked like, but the waiting room was moderately breathtaking with its views of the North Side and Lake Michigan.  Like they say in the real estate business, it’s all about location, location, location.

I brought a ton of stuff to read, including the latest issue of Chicago Magazine.  On the very last page was an interview with Hawk Harrelson.  Of particular interest to me was the sentence in bold face:  “I hate Wrigley Field. I really do.  I will never step foot in it again.”

With a little effort, I probably could’ve located the ballpark from my 12^th floor perch.  Of course, Harrelson hates Wrigley.  He’s smart enough to know the Cubs would be just another team, sort of like the White Sox, but for their ballpark.  That mass of bricks together with the ivy-covered outfield walls and hand-operated scoreboard are baseball in a way no mall could ever be.

Back when Harrelson was general manager of the Sox in 1986, the team had a ballpark the equal to Wrigley, a mass of bricks together with a series of sublime arches in the exterior walls and a centerfield so grand you thought it might be the commons for heaven.  But Hawk must have been too busy screwing up the front office to notice.  His loss, to say nothing of ours.

Surgically Repaired

Nothing like getting up at 5:30 in the morning in order to catch a glimpse of your daughter before she’s goes in for surgery on her shoulder.  Yup, that’s just how I wanted to start the week.

Clare had known about the torn labrum in her right shoulder for a couple of years.  As luck would have it, she works for Northwestern, which connected her to the hospital, and they do nice work, as the saying goes.  And all indications so far is that the surgery was a success.

The tear happened sometime during softball.  Already by sophomore year high school, Clare had terrible pain in her right shoulder.  My guess is a combination of hard throws (she started her softball career with an extended tryout at shortstop) and swings.  We never told any of the coaches school or travel how much Clare hurt because we didn’t want to put the idea in their head that she was somehow “damaged” and at best a dh.  So, my daughter played quietly with the pain.

To see her there in pre-surgery was to see the youngster again with that same worried look on her face, but it had nothing to do with start-of-the-season jitters.  Thoughts of scalpels and anesthesia were a more likely culprit.  Thankfully, the tear is gone now, and in six months the hitter can hit again.  She’ll also be able to pick up a baby without any problem, should that time for parenting ever come.

Wide-eyed Wonder

We live in a world of cool where admitting to butterflies can be taken as a sign of weakness.  The strong shout in celebration of victory, the weak cry in their defeat.  Thank heaven for some recent exceptions, like White Sox rookie reliever Ryan Burr.

Debuting in Detroit last Thursday, Burr admitted “I was shaking a little bit” on the mound when called upon in the seventh inning.  Good for him, and Cubs’ rookie infielder David Bote who last week talked about trying to feel that he belonged in the major leagues, even after hitting his second walk-off homerun this month.  Not only did he admit to having doubts, Bote then gave credit where credit was due in the person of reliever Ian Kintzler, who helped the 25-year old realize that, yes, he does belong.

And let’s not forget White Sox thumper David Palka, who’s been proving he belongs in the big time since late April.  “I still have to sit down sometimes at night, and I go, ‘Wow, this is great,” Palka said in the Sun-Times on Sunday.  “It’s funny.  I still get chills.  Some people have waited forever for this.”

And some people aren’t afraid to show wide-eyed wonder over their good fortune.

Apples and Oranges, contd.

The Bears beat the Chiefs 27-20 in an exhibition game Saturday, and I guess that’s a good thing.  What really struck me, though, is that head coach Matt Nagy decided not to play most of his regulars, even though there are only two weeks to go before the season opener.

Nagy explained that he was happy with how his starters performed in practice.  As someone who coached his daughter in baseball and attended numerous softball practices, let me just say, Huh?  Who gets ready for the season by practicing rather than playing?  Football players, that’s who.

Just imagine what would happen if Joe Maddon or Rick Renteria took the same approach to spring training, with the likes of Anthony Rizzo and Jose Abreu missing upwards to half the games because they did so well in fielding drills and batting practice; fans and sports’ media would be up in arms.  Even those last few games before the start of the season (in March, my God!) features a bunch of starters in the lineup given that clubs are basically carrying only three players on their benches nowadays.  Football is an entirely different creature.

In spring training, practice is practice, separate from playing.  In preseason camp, practice is everything, playing not so much.  Go figure. 

The Tweets that Come Back to Bite

 White Sox rookie right hander Michael Kopech becomes the fourth ballplayer this season who has had to walk back racist, homophobic tweets from his high school days.  I wonder how this happens, who gets chosen to be put under the microscope, who gets a pass?

Five years ago, Kopech was a 17-year old yahoo in east Texas.  Now, he’s a public figure made aware of the potential for whiplash inherent in social media.  Kopech’s girlfriend is Vanessa Morgan, a biracial actress.  What would the 17-year old say to that?

Absent proof of membership in a hate group, I think we’d all be better off  keeping in mind Kopech’s age when he authored these tweets and remembering John 8:7, which calls those of us without sin to be first to cast a stone at another.

Courage, and the Lack Thereof

On Thursday, I watched the movie “Dunkirk” for a second time.  Christopher Nolan’s account of the mass evacuation of British and French forces from the French coast in June 1940 is a rumination on the meaning of courage.  That is something no one will ever accuse Urban Meyer of having.

The Ohio State football coach was suspended three games without pay for the way he handled a situation involving an assistant coach; that man may have beaten his wife with some regularity.  The wife sent pictures of her bruises to Meyer’s wife, who apparently didn’t feel the need to call authorities or have her husband do so.  Meyer said he didn’t know the details, then he said he did.  Mistakes were made, and Meyer admits that he followed with his heart rather than his head.  Blah, blah, blah. 

Just imagine Meyer at Dunkirk.  I can’t.