By Roger Wallenstein

We saw some really dumb stuff last week. For openers, there was that poor sumbitch who steered his cargo ship – as large as the Empire State Building according to reports – into the bank of the Suez Canal, grounding the behemoth crosswise so that all traffic has been disrupted, affecting commerce throughout the world.
Those photos of the itty-bitty steam shovel – or whatever they’re called today – attempting to free the huge vessel would be like using a soup spoon to dig a swimming pool. Judging from the paltry equipment employed, the time required for the ship to become buoyant could be five or six months.
Which is the predicted time frame for the recovery of White Sox leftfielder Eloy Jiménez, the victim of his own folly last Wednesday in a meaningless spring training game. I never was fully aware that my pectoralis major – what we all know as our “pecs” – have tendons connected to clavicles and sternums and then meeting up at the humerus. Now that Eloy has ruptured his, we can only imagine the resulting misery.

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Posted on March 29, 2021

By Roger Wallenstein

Was the trade of Fernando Tatis, Jr. in 2016 for pitcher James “Big Game” Shields the worst deal in White Sox history? The short answer is “yes,” or at least “probably.” However, these puzzlers never are simple. Investigation and hindsight are required.
Upon first glance, the Sox traded a 17-year-old prospect for a pitcher in the twilight of his career. The kid, now 21, just got a historical 14-year contract from the San Diego Padres which will pay him $340 million. The pitcher, Shields, is long gone from the game while the youngster is poised to lead his teammates for more than the next decade as the legitimate challengers to the vaunted Dodgers.
Imagine if general manager Rick Hahn, who has admitted the folly of his ways, hadn’t made this deal almost five years ago. Just think if Tatis was playing alongside Tim Anderson today in the Sox infield, joining the mix of other young athletes like Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech, Reynaldo Lopez and Garrett Crochet.
Surely in the 120-year history of the South Side franchise no front office made such a grievous error. Nevertheless, the situation back on June 4, 2016 provides perspective about Hahn’s thinking, which did have a sliver of rationale.

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Posted on March 1, 2021

By Roger Wallenstein

The year was 1960, the first time I attended a minor-league baseball game, featuring the Duluth Dukes hosting the Eau Claire Braves at Wade Stadium in Duluth, Minn. “The Wade,” as the locals call it, is a concrete fortress whose aluminum planks in the cheap seats can be downright frosty even in summer if the wind is blowing in an unfriendly direction off Lake Superior.
Our summer camp was 30 miles away, and a field trip to see the Dukes of the Northern League more than 60 years ago was a delicious treat.

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Posted on February 22, 2021

By Roger Wallenstein

With everything that’s happening in our tumultuous world, you can be excused for missing a rather amusing tale coming from the world of major league baseball last week.
As scandals go, this one appears rather tame compared to the PED uproar of the 1990s and early 2000s or the Astros’ sign-stealing scheme.
Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times first reported the story after a court proceeding in Los Angeles involving former Angels visiting clubhouse attendant Brian “Bubba” Harkins.
While Harkins, who worked for the Angels for more than 30 years before being fired last March, is an unfamiliar name, people like Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander, Adam Wainwright, Max Scherzer, Cory Kluber and Felix Hernandez are easily identifiable. All were mentioned in last week’s reporting.

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Posted on January 11, 2021

By Roger Wallenstein

I never saw a Negro League game. By the time I was old enough to have more than a passing interest in baseball, there already were a number of Black stars sprinkled onto the rosters of Major League teams, and the Negro Leagues were defunct. While we never articulated the obvious, we inherently knew the Black guys could play. We saw that for ourselves.
Being a White Sox devotee, Miñoso was our man. Not only were his statistics among the American League’s elite, but he lit up the field with his electric energy, devout rapture for the game, and boundless enthusiasm. Miñoso getting hit by a pitch could be just as exciting as a teammate legging out a triple. Minnie, a right-handed hitter, stood inches from the inside corner of the plate, not exactly a secure position for a Black, multi-talented ballplayer in those days. Not surprisingly, Miñoso led the league 10 seasons in getting hit.

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Posted on December 23, 2020

By Roger Wallenstein

Ozzie Guillen says everyone hates the man. He had his worst year in 2020. Greater prizes continue to remain on the free agent market. Injuries, including a horrific tear of an ACL, have slowed him down the past few seasons. Social media reaction has been, to put it mildly, underwhelming.
So don’t expect a bright, big, red welcome mat to be rolled out in Arizona for Adam Eaton once spring training begins, whenever that may be.
Of course, many of the same fans who are angry about the White Sox signing Eaton – one year at $7 million with a club option for 2022 at $8.5 million – also were grousing all summer about Nomar Mazara, whom the up-and-coming South Siders obtained in a trade exactly one year prior to bringing Eaton back to town to fill the void in right field. Mazara was an abject failure, hitting one lonely home run while posting an OPS of .589, compared to .754 over four years with the Rangers. Even the amateur gamblers likely would take the Over that Eaton can top those numbers.

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Posted on December 14, 2020

By Roger Wallenstein

You’d have thought Blago had just announced he’s running for governor again. Or maybe Paul Anka is getting a primetime special. The White Sox need a DH. Why not Harold Baines?
The White Sox rehiring Tony LaRussa on Thursday received a reaction along the lines of those three hypotheticals. Our current president, although he has no chance in Illinois, would love this one. COVID has temporarily been placed on the back burner. At least for devotees of the South Side franchise.

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Posted on October 29, 2020

By Roger Wallenstein

This year twenty-twenty,
I’m awaiting its end.
Too bad it’s not e-mail
I could just hit “send.”
Our lives have been changed
By the raging pandemic.
When will we be safe?
The answer is academic.
Amidst all the turmoil
Came a baseball season.
Only 60 games played
I thought they were teasing.
Let’s give credit
Where credit is due.
MLB pulled it off
With a few rules new.

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Posted on October 26, 2020

By Roger Wallenstein

The news that the White Sox are considering Tony La Russa for their vacant manager’s position resulted in near panic last week from some Sox fans and writers. You’d have thought that the ballclub was doing something as dangerous as holding a public rally at The Grate so kids could run the bases sans masks or social distancing.
The responses came quickly. “He’s too old. He hasn’t managed since 2011. He wouldn’t be able to relate to the players. He couldn’t work well with the front office. I repeat, he’s too old.”
These are challenging times for all of us, but especially for folks who were born in the 1940s, of which La Russa and this writer are guilty. People who know about deadly viruses have warned us for months that we are most susceptible to COVID-19. Much about our lives has changed. Like our vocabulary. Words such as “morbidity” have entered into daily conversation right alongside launch angle and exit velocity.
Suggestions are not uncommon that our perceived frail condition dictates that we are expendable. A few particularly uncaring, heartless and ignorant individuals have reasoned that older folks, being closer to our demise than the general population, should not prohibit others from pursuing their regular routines.
If you’re thinking that I’m sensitive to the ageism slur, then we’re on the same page. Substitute “Black” or “Brown” or “gay” rather than “old” into the equation and you’d rightfully be confronted with anger and outrage along with a tidy lawsuit.

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Posted on October 19, 2020

By Roger Wallenstein

Let’s face it: “Agree” had nothing to do with it.
Like his boys, Rickey Renteria does not quit. He was fired. By Rick Hahn. Don’t let the screen door hit you in your analytics-adverse ass on the way out.

pic.twitter.com/UF5sxf6Tn7

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) October 12, 2020

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Posted on October 13, 2020