By Roger Wallenstein

To play or not to play? That was the question last winter when Paul Konerko toiled with his decision about one last year with the White Sox after Rick Hahn opened the door for a swansong season at a reduced salary.
Of course, Paulie chose to return for his 16th season albeit in a defined role where his responsibilities have included mentoring Jose Abreu and other young players along with pinch-hitting, DHing against left-handers and playing an occasional first base.
So how has the plan worked out? It depends on how you look at it.

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Posted on September 15, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

In what has been billed as the beginning of spring training 2015, this month – at least from a won-loss standpoint – looks ominously familiar.
With the trades of Gordon Beckham, Alejandro De Aza and Adam Dunn, the White Sox front office cleared space so that we could get a look at the likes of Carlos Sanchez, Michael Taylor, Andy Wilkens, Chris Bassitt, and Scott Snodgress while observing the progress (or lack thereof) of Jordan Danks, Marcus Semien and Josh Phegley.
This all appears reasonable since the Sox, while interesting to watch prior to the All-Star Game, have truly never been in contention since Opening Day. No one puts much stock in a team’s spring training record – the Sox were 9-14 this year – but our fellows were joined by Boston, Texas and Minnesota at the bottom of the American League last March, and all four teams reside at the bottom of their respective divisions as we painfully trek toward the end of another losing season.
Were we foolish to think that the Sox could finish at .500 or better back on August 1st when the team was 54-56? I mean, isn’t 110 games enough to determine the caliber of a major-league ballclub? Apparently not.

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Posted on September 8, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

Jazz great Mose Allison wrote a song more than 50 years ago that could serve as the theme for the surprising turns the American League pennant races have taken since the July 31st trade deadline: “It Didn’t Turn Out That Way.”
Did anyone think then that neither the A’s nor the Tigers would be leading their divisions a month later, heading into the season’s final turn?
The White Sox are doing their part in the drama, having just split a four-game series with Detroit, whom they will see for three more games this month, and consummating a trade with Oakland, whom they will see for four. (They also have seven left against the division-leading Royals, including the last four of the season at The Cell.) If things had gone as planned, those games could already be scratched off as meaningless. Not now.

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Posted on September 1, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

Sitting at a crowded restaurant in the middle of Evanston Sunday night were two well-dressed octogenarian ladies at the table next to us. Midway through the meal, one leaned over and asked, “Do you know how the Chicago Little Leaguers did today?”
“They got beat 8-4,” I told her, “but they made a nice comeback in the last inning when they scored three runs.”
“Too bad,” she said, “but they still did okay.”
They did even better than that, otherwise the lady wouldn’t have been asking. Had we been dining at adjoining tables, say, last June during the Stanley Cup playoffs, no way would she have asked for a Blackhawks score. Nor would she have inquired about the Bulls even in their ’90s heyday. And absolutely no one – not old ladies, old men, Generation Xers, or Millennials – is asking these days about the Sox and Cubs.
The breadth and scope of the grip that the 11- and 12-year-olds of Jackie Robinson West Little League held on the city had a different feel than any other bandwagon, finger-waving, we’re-number-one experience of past Stanley Cup, World Series, NBA or Super Bowl championship seasons.

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Posted on August 25, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

The Chairman doesn’t lose too many battles, but Jerry Reinsdorf’s attempt to install a fellow chairman, the Red Sox’ Tom Werner, as the next baseball commissioner fell short last week.
Most fans in these parts never had heard of Werner or the newly-anointed Rob Manfred prior to the owners’ conclave in Baltimore. However, now it’s common knowledge that Reinsdorf wanted someone with the potential to be a hard-liner when the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires after the 2016 season. The Chairman figured that Werner could fill that role even though Manfred was the chief negotiator for the owners in 2011 when the current contact was enacted. Apparently Jerry didn’t think Manfred did a very good job.

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Posted on August 18, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

Let’s begin with the numbers, ugly as they may be.
The White Sox dropped five of seven games last week and now find themselves playing out the string in the American League Central at 56-63. They scored 14 runs during the week. Their two opponents, Texas and Seattle, scored 44. That’s not good.
Included in the five losses was Tuesday’s 16-0 beatdown by the Rangers. The good news there – in a rather perverse sort of way – was that Adam Dunn got to pitch the ninth inning on a yield of one run. Compared to the bullpen trio of Maikel Cleto, Andre Rienzo, and Eric Surkamp, Dunn held his own. None of them pitched better than the Sox’s DH-first baseman. Rienzo and Surkamp now toil in Charlotte. That’s how dismal a week it was.

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Posted on August 11, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

“Good pitching beats good hitting, and vice versa,” Yogi Berra once said.
More recently, Hawk Harrelson has claimed that the game today is a “battle of bullpens,” whereas years ago it was the team’s starting pitching that dictated a club’s success.
The message from both of these walking antiques is that victories don’t come easily without pitchers who can get outs, especially in crucial situations. Yogi no doubt meant to stop his sentence before the comma, while Hawk’s proposition is arguable since the greatest bullpen in the game can’t save an inept starting staff.

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Posted on August 5, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

It is late at night, and having been away all day, I just watched a large man, a sports hero, a Chicago icon, display a slice of humanity that we see all too seldom from those who claim celebrity and adulation. Frank Thomas’s emotional Hall of Fame induction speech won’t soon be forgotten.
The other five inductees offered their thank yous, citing specific people, seasons and games in a controlled, straightforward manner. Thomas stated the obvious, “I’m an emotional guy. I wear my emotions on my sleeve.”
Within a minute of addressing the thousands who came to Cooperstown, the tears came in waves as Thomas talked about growing up in Columbus, Georgia, one of five children of Frank and Charlie Mae Thomas.

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Posted on July 28, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

I’ve lived here for more than six decades, yet driving around the South Side on Saturday, I felt more like a tourist than a Chicagoan. Yes, our city is one of neighborhoods, but leaving yours and investigating others leaves one with a sketch of the lives and experiences so different than our own. I’m confident this is a good thing.
With the usual 6:10 starting time for Saturday’s Sox game, which turned out to be a 4-3 victory over Houston thanks to a surprising and welcome scoreless three innings from an inconsistent bullpen, my pal Tom suggested that we check out a summer festival in Calumet Park before heading to The Cell.
Along with my wife Judy we navigated unfamiliar territory on our way to the festival which invited us to “See the Cyclone Grill in Action.” Anytime the word “grill” is used to advertise an event, I have more than a lukewarm interest. We discovered that the grill was four Webers on a circular platform with the ability to rotate. Unique to say the least, but the nearby church outing with a couple of 55-gallon converted drums with sizzling chicken, ribs, and pork butts had the Cyclone beat hands down.

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Posted on July 21, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

The cagey folks in Bristol had about as much chance tricking Jose Abreu as major league pitchers have had through the season’s first 96 games.
ESPN has duped the masses into thinking that calling out names for the NFL and NBA drafts is an earth-shaking event, worthy of prime-time television, exaggerated hoopla and the celebration of making millionaires out of 19-year-olds.
When the Milwaukee Bucks with the NBA’s first pick tabbed Lew Alcindor in 1969 – 10 years before the founding of the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network – the hype was real. The team added 29 more wins with Lew – double what they won the previous season – but my mind is foggy trying to recall a similar immediate elixir since then.

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Posted on July 14, 2014