By Roger Wallenstein

They weren’t exactly household names, those 13 original Texas Rangers, but one caught my attention immediately as I perused the team’s press release prior to Friday’s opener against the White Sox.
Jim Panther was a high school teammate of mine. We both made it to The Show – he as a right-handed pitcher (1971-73) and me as a beer vendor (1980-86). This season is the 40th in Texas Ranger history, so Jim and a dozen of his teammates from the 1972 team, which went 54-100, were honored before the sellout crowd of more than 49,000.
“They gave all [of us] a jersey with your name on it, and we threw out the first pitch,” Jim said after he returned to his home in Florida. “We threw to people who were ’72 season ticket-holders. This was by far the best one [opening day] I’ve ever seen.”
Perhaps the most familiar former Ranger in attendance was Toby Harrah, who played 17 seasons and managed the team the second half of 1992 after Bobby Valentine – yes, that Bobby Valentine – was axed. Harry Caray loved Harrah because every time he came up to bat, Harry would marvel that it didn’t matter if you spelled his name forward or backward, it still was Harrah!

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Posted on April 9, 2012

By Roger Wallenstein

I can’t get the image out of my mind. Almost like a stupid song or jingle that finds a place somewhere in one’s gray matter and refuses to be expunged.
That’s where the March 1979 Sports Illustrated cover featuring Harry Chappas has resided for the past few days. Harry, you see, was the center of attention as the White Sox broke camp for the ’79 campaign. The year before the team had lost 90 games, and the prospects didn’t look much better for the upcoming season.
But Harry was unique, and the team needed a hook to create some buzz as Opening Day approached. He was listed anywhere from 5-foot-5 to a maximum of 5-foot-7, and the 21-year-old was going to be the Sox’ new shortstop. Harry Caray, who was in the booth for the South Siders that season, publicly measured Chappas and found him to be a mere 63 inches!

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Posted on April 3, 2012

By Roger Wallenstein

This is a true story. I was there. I saw it with my own eyes.
It was last Thursday in Glendale, Arizona. The Royals were visiting Camelback Ranch, and Adam Dunn played first base for half the afternoon. He stepped to the plate three times, all against left-hander Bruce Chen.
Although most of us have short memories, and, as baseball fans, we tend to be very forgiving – especially with a winter’s passage – we remain aware that the big left-handed slugger went 6 for 94 against lefties in 2011. Don’t bother with the math. I already did it: .064 en route to a .159 mark for the season.
However, last week Dunn hit a towering opposite field two-run shot off Chen in the first inning. With a 3-2 count, no less. After flying out in the third inning, the big man strolled to the plate in the fifth with the bases loaded, and produced a long, high fly ball that settled on the hill behind the right-field fence. Grand slam! Joy! Life is good!

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Posted on March 26, 2012

By Roger Wallenstein

The image I prefer to remember from Ozzie Guillen’s departure shows him kneeling down to eye level with Mark Buehrle’s kids in the caverns of the Cell. He was having fun with the little ones, seemingly relaxed and, dare I say, likeable when the TV cameras captured him long after the final pitch of his last game as Sox manager.
The rest is bizarre. He ranted about needing enough money to buy a boat, clothe his wife properly, and travel to Spain. As if he couldn’t do all that on a paltry $2 million salary amidst an unemployment rate of more than 9 percent with millions wondering where their next paycheck would come from. Ozzie was an agitated, angry man.

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Posted on October 3, 2011

By Roger Wallenstein

It was one of those spring days early in the 1985 season when the air was brisk, optimism reigned, and the ballpark was lively.
On old friend found me walking in the aisle between third and home. His eyes were dancing and his energy was contagious. He said something like, “Have you seen this kid? Isn’t he fabulous? I love the way he plays.”
Of course, he was referring to 21-year-old rookie shortstop Ozzie Guillen, who had come over from San Diego during the winter in a trade for pitcher LaMarr Hoyt.

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Posted on September 26, 2011

By Roger Wallenstein

We found ourselves in Seattle last weekend visiting family. There is much to do in the Emerald City. They have a first-class aquarium, harbor cruises, tours of Boeing, the Space Needle, Pike Street Market, Mt. Rainier and the Olympics.
So, of course, we went to the ballgame.
We’d been to Safeco Field a number of times in the past and always have liked the place. It’s a different experience than any stadium I’ve encountered.

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Posted on September 19, 2011

By Roger Wallenstein

Let’s assume, for a moment, that Paul Konerko leads a long and healthy life. Imagine also that he reaches a ripe old age when his reflexes and awareness aren’t what they used to be. His adult children begin to worry about his driving skills.
This is not an uncommon experience for folks whose parents get to a point where operating a motor vehicle poses a risk to themselves and other motorists. At least in the eyes of the Baby Boomer “kids.”
In Paulie’s case, he might confront this situation with something like, “Hey, I’m not going to drive at night. If I take the highway, I’ll stay in the right lane. I never exceed the speed limit. And you would never catch me texting or talking on the phone when I’m behind the wheel.”
The point of this is that Konerko knows how to adjust and adapt. He’s a wonderful fastball hitter, who can pull the ball into the left field seats or line a double into the left field corner with regularity.

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Posted on September 12, 2011

By Roger Wallenstein

T.S. Eliot got it wrong. April is not the cruelest month. September is.
If there was any doubt, it was erased when Miguel Cabrera’s long ninth-inning drive settled well up into the left-field stands at a drenched Comerica Park on Saturday evening.
How could this possibly happen? The Sox held an 8-1 lead after the Tigers and the umpires helped our athletes score five times in the fourth inning – three coming on Alexi Ramirez’ home run – and twice more on back-to-back homers by Alejandro De Aza and Brent Morel in the fifth.

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Posted on September 5, 2011

By Roger Wallenstein

The memory remains unmistakably clear of the final day of July 1977, the summer of the South Side Hitmen.
More than 50,000 energized – this was the first summer of Hey Hey Goodbye – Sox faithful jammed Comiskey Park to witness a doubleheader between the first place White Sox and the Kansas City Royals, who trailed the Sox by 5 1/2 games.

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Posted on August 29, 2011

By Roger Wallenstein

It was a feel-good moment, a warm scene for Middle America. The guy from Peoria joins Hank Aaron, the Babe, Willie, and Junior as the beacons in a club that includes Bonds, Sosa, and A-Rod, a trio who may never see Cooperstown.
As Jim Thome trotted around the bases at Comerica Park last week, the 600th time he had done so in a Major League game, the Detroit crowd rose and paid homage. His dad, wife, and kids – they accompanied the team on its road trip so as not to miss this magic moment – jogged toward home plate to embrace him, as did his Minnesota teammates.
“Anybody that’s ever played with Jim is happy for him, ” Paul Konerko told reporters after the game.

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Posted on August 21, 2011