By Roger Wallenstein

The only thing missing from Jose Daniel Abreu’s walk-off grand slam Friday night was the ball striking a light tower creating a shower of sparks.
“You feel like the whole place could kind of feel it,” said Sox leadoff man and center fielder Adam Eaton, recounting the situation: bottom of the ninth, two outs, bases loaded, Sox down 6-4 to Tampa Bay. “When he got up it was like, ‘Uh, oh. Something great’s going to happen.’ And indeed it did.”
Roy Hobbs was fiction. The Sox’s “El Natural” is real. Fans had to settle for an exploding scoreboard rather than a shattered light tower, but his blast into the right-field bullpen sent 17,000 patrons into a frenzy – along with his teammates.

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Posted on April 28, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

On a Sunday morning when your team hasn’t won a game since last Tuesday’s frigid 2-1 squeaker over the Red Sox – a game the White Sox stole on a ninth-inning error – your mind tends to dwell on other aspects of this young season.
I lack patience for Sox fans who complain that their organization is second-class compared to the guys on the North Side of town. The idle, senseless Internet chatter bemoaning Sox attendance is the kind of prattle which needn’t concern those of us who root for the White Sox.
So what am I doing checking attendance figures for the young season? I’m not proud of this. But the inkling that this season has the potential to be less than thrilling results in seeking other signs – in addition to those on the field – that this ballclub just may be in difficulty.

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Posted on April 21, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

Some people just like to go first.
There’s usually the zany kid who has to be the first one to run into the frigid waters of Lake Michigan on a day like Saturday, the first balmy day of spring. Or how about the joker who inhales a jalapeño martini while friends stand back and wait for the reaction. Then there’s the skydivers and bungee-jumpers who thrive on being the first out of the plane or off the bridge.
Apparently Adam Eaton relishes being first, and luckily for the White Sox, he’s a ballplayer.

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Posted on April 14, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

There is one baseball record that never, ever will be broken.
It’s conceivable that some iron man can break Cal Ripken’s consecutive-game mark of 2,632 or an ageless singles hitter can amass more than Pete Rose’s 4,256 hits. The Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton hit 117 home runs in his first four seasons, 33 more than all-time leader Barry Bonds had at the same stage of his career. Stanton is just 24. Keep an eye on him.
Mike Trout is the best young hitter in baseball. Could he break Joe DiMaggio’s mark of hitting safely in 56 straight games? Not likely, but if anyone can do it, Trout can.
No, the magic number is 161, not a recognizable milestone in baseball. However, with the advent of replay review where a manager can challenge umpires’ decisions, Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox’s all-time record of getting tossed out of 161 games is forever secure.

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Posted on April 6, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

My favorite cold-weather baseball story actually comes from a high school game.
I was teaching and coaching at the posh Francis W. Parker School in Lincoln Park when the athletic director was a soft-spoken, wonderful guy named Bob Steffens. Before becoming AD, he coached a number of sports, including baseball, during his long career at the school.
Parker, in its continual effort to bolster the self-images of its students, had a no-cut policy. Anyone who wanted to play on a team could do so, although there was no requirement that everyone got playing time.
Parker’s home baseball field was what could best be described as tundraesque during April in that triangle at North Avenue and Lake Shore Drive. When the wind blew from the east – which it tended to do every time we played at home – there was no stopping it.

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Posted on March 31, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

The relationship between athletes and their fans has always been more or less a double-edged sword for the men and women who play the games.
Seattle’s 12th Man propelled the Seahawks to the NFL championship. It’s become de rigueur when players in winning locker rooms and clubhouses thank “the greatest fans in the world.” Fantasy camps let fans hobnob and play catch with current and former stars. Offseason conventions like SoxFest enable fans to mix with the likes of Ron Kittle, Tony LaRussa, Gordon Beckham and Paul Konerko.
On the other hand, boos will echo throughout the Cell when Adam Dunn strikes out yet again with guys on base. Ryan Braun will be rudely treated this summer in ball arks across America. And whatever you do, don’t invite Moises Alou to the same dinner party with Steve Bartman.

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Posted on March 25, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

When I heard that Robin Ventura had signed an extension as White Sox manager, my question didn’t focus so much on the wisdom of three more years – apparently he now is under contract through the 2016 season – with a guy who just guided the team to 99 losses last season.
No, my original curiosity remains about why Ventura took the job in the first place.

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Posted on January 27, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

When my pal Tom suggested we get a 14-game package for the 2013 White Sox, I agreed that we should get in on the action right from the start.
After all, the team had come within a week of winning the division a year ago, and these guys appeared capable. On the basis of Chris Sale outdueling (Big Game) James Shields 1-0 on Opening Day on the strength of Tyler Flowers’ solo home run – this is a true story – and a 4-2 record on the first homestand, we basked in our good judgment, having another 13 tickets in hand.
No jumping on the bandwagon at the beginning of September. Not us. We were in it from the get-go.
Of course, that’s not quite how things turned out.

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Posted on September 30, 2013

By Roger Wallenstein

It’s time to think pleasant thoughts as the baseball season winds down to a merciful – at least here in Chicago – ending this Sunday.
No reason to bemoan Saturday night’s jaw-dropping loss to the Tigers as our fellas blew a 6-0 ninth-inning lead in Detroit and robbed the brilliant Chris Sale of a chance to be a .500 pitcher this season.
The first cool, crisp, clear days of autumn are upon us. Soon the landscape will be ablaze with its fall majesty. The Bears are 3-0. The more astute among us stopped gnashing their teeth over this forgettable baseball season long ago. Complaining about the White Sox has become as passé as getting pissed off about the gaggle of cyclists who make driving in this city seem like a daily driver’s test at the DMV. It’s just the way it is.

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Posted on September 23, 2013

By Roger Wallenstein

Hardly anyone noticed last week as Paul Konerko caught and then passed Babe Ruth.
For starters, people stopped watching the White Sox long ago. Loyalty has its limits. So when Detroit reliever Jose Veras struck out Konerko in the bottom of the eighth inning last Wednesday in the Tigers’ 1-0 victory at the Cell, the game wasn’t stopped to commemorate Konerko’s 1,330th career strikeout, the same number as George Herman Ruth.
Paulie broke the tie with the Babe on Saturday, taking a called third strike from Cleveland’s Ubaldo Jimenez to lead off the ninth inning in yet another 8-1 embarrassment for our staggering bunch of so-called professionals.

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Posted on September 16, 2013