By Roger Wallenstein

As of this writing, tonight’s White Sox starting pitcher in Houston against the high-flying Astros will be TBD. Be not alarmed. He can’t be much worse than Ivan Nova was last Friday in a 10-2 loss to Toronto in which Nova lasted all of three innings on a yield of eight earned runs. If you’re keeping score at home, Nova’s ERA mushroomed to 7.42.
Dare we point out that in the unlikely circumstance that Nova could stick around for an entire game, pitching as he does, his teammates would need to score eight or nine runs in order to win. This is not a recipe for a winning ballclub.
Of course, placing great culpability solely on Nova negates the fact that the veteran right-hander has four quality starts in nine tries, and he’s even won a couple. It’s just that when quality is lacking, Rick Renteria’s outfit is buried even before latecomers arrive at the ballpark or turn on their televisions.

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Posted on May 20, 2019

By Roger Wallenstein

We knew a little bit about Harry Chappas when the diminutive rookie was slated to be the White Sox Opening Day shortstop in 1979. He had been a September call-up the season before, leap-frogging from Single-A Appleton to Comiskey Park. Then Sports Illustrated put him on its spring training cover, an honor that so far has eluded young fellows such as Eloy Jimenez and Yoan Moncada, who have more talent in their pinky fingers than the 5-foot-5 Chappas had in his entire compact frame.
But that was the point. Chappas was an anomaly, one of the smallest major leaguers in history, a genuine curiosity. Lacking the social media of today, exposure to Chappas was limited until he reached the major leagues. This wasn’t unfortunate in his case because the kid couldn’t play. He was gone by the end of April.
Consider if today’s White Sox had no electronic media to hype the burgeoning prospects they hope will lead them to post-season bounty in the very near future. Few, if any, Sox fans would subscribe to the Charlotte Observer or Birmingham News simply to check on the progress of Dylan Cease or Luis Robert, though you would have the Sporting News. Still, without Twitter, Facebook and the rest of the social media complex, the youngsters could toil more or less in privacy without the daily scrutiny afforded by the Internet.

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Posted on May 12, 2019

By Roger Wallenstein

I care not a bit what American League Player of the Month Tim Anderson does with his bat after he hits a home run. The direction, height and speed of said missile doesn’t interest me in the least. I do experience a jolt of optimism and euphoria when the ball settles into the outfield seats, but any added appreciation for a drive that lands in the last row, as opposed to the first, is lost on me. Regardless of distance, Tim’s homers are good for one run, no more, no less. And the time the ball takes to reach those seats is irrelevant as far as I’m concerned.
Tim keeps telling us that he plays for fun and that he’s not going to change. Go by most any park in this city in mid-July, and you’ll find all kinds of kids playing the game for the very same reason. You’re not alone, Tim. Sorry, pal, you’re not unique in that regard.

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Posted on May 6, 2019

By Roger Wallenstein

“You coulda had this guy for a ham sandwich!” gurgled Harry Caray back in the early ’70s when he called Sox games on TV.
He was referring to Luis Tiant, the legendary Cuban righthander whose career was resurrected when he joined the Red Sox in 1971. El Tiante, as he became known, was a big winner in Cleveland until a fractured scapula threatened his playing days. Subsequently the Twins and Braves unceremoniously released Tiant before Boston took a chance on him.
Taking his ample waistline and Fu Manchu mustache to Fenway Park, Tiant developed one of the most unique deliveries in history, a series of twists and turns showing his back to the hitter and altering his release point pitch-by-pitch. With runners on base, he patented a movement in which his hands undulated back and forth before finally coming to a set position. He provided the height of entertainment each time he took the mound. There has never been anyone quite like Luis Tiant.

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Posted on April 28, 2019

By Roger Wallenstein

It’s always there, that strip at the top of the TV screen, providing all the information that you really need. The score, the count, the outs, the runners, and the ticking pitch count on its relentless journey telling us just how much longer the pitcher of the day will survive before the bullpen enters the fray.
Since 100 pitches signals the bewitching hour for the starter, you can’t help but be encouraged if, for instance, a guy like Reynaldo Lopez requires but 14 pitches to complete the first inning like he did Sunday in the White Sox eventual 4-3 loss to the Tigers. The longer it takes for the entry of fellows such as Jose Ruiz, the better chance there is for success.
Consider that a starting major league pitcher averages about 5⅓ innings of employment in order to reach triple digits in pitches, earning him the next four days off. Somehow, some way, the parade of hurlers next in line are vested with the responsibility of getting the final 11 outs with little or no damage. In the case of the present-day White Sox, this is a challenge of immense magnitude.

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Posted on April 22, 2019

By Roger Wallenstein

Listening to White Sox broadcasts and reading what the beat writers have to say, Don Cooper, who’s been the White Sox pitching coach since 2002, is well-respected and very successful. He has been instrumental in developing talented pitchers such as Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland and others. Perhaps his shining moment came in the 2005 World Series when starting pitchers Jose Contreras and Freddy Garcia joined Buehrle and Garland to stifle the Houston Astros on their way to the four-game sweep.
When talking about Sox pitching successes during Cooper’s tenure, quality starts are frequently mentioned. In half of Cooper’s 16 seasons coming into this year, the Sox ranked in the top 10 among the 30 teams when it comes to starting pitchers who lasted a minimum of six innings on a yield of no more than three runs. Guys like Sale and Quintana were masters of the craft.
Keeping the opposition in check for a game’s first six innings should produce a winning ballclub, providing that the bullpen can protect a lead, helping the starter to pick up a victory.

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Posted on April 15, 2019

By Roger Wallenstein

You gotta love April baseball because the surprises and shockers never cease to amaze us.
The champion Red Sox can’t get anybody out, having lost eight of their first 11 games. The Cubs are even worse with the highest ERA in the MLB universe.
Meanwhile, Detroit, picked to finish at or near the bottom of the Central Division of the American League, is on top while Tampa Bay, which will provide the opposition the next three afternoons on the South Side, has a major league-best 1.88 ERA which helps explain their 7-3 record, good for first place in the AL East.
Perennial ace Max Scherzer of the Nationals is 0-2. This from a guy who’s lost only 13 games over the last two seasons. Chris Sale’s record is the same as Scherzer’s coupled with an 8.00 ERA.
On the plus side, the Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger already has eight home runs and 18 RBIs and is hitting .455. That’s almost an entire season for more than a few part-time players.
Locally, White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson, who missed the two-game Cleveland series last week for the birth of his second child, is hitting 127 points higher than any other hitter in baseball after collecting four hits Sunday in a pathetic 12-5 loss to the high-flying Mariners. If Anderson gets just one hit in his next 24 at-bats, he’ll still be hitting over .300.
Meanwhile, his keystone partner Yolmer Sanchez is one-for-24.
See what fun early April is?

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Posted on April 8, 2019

By Roger Wallenstein

This new, improved edition of Ricky’s Boys provided a glimpse of what could be the future Sunday afternoon in Kansas City. What a delight Lucas Giolito provided us after walking the first batter he faced on four pitches. We could be excused for thinking, “Here we go again.”
But the kid’s Hollywood background immediately kicked into high gear. Not only did he pitch far into the seventh inning without so much as walking another batter, but the Royals couldn’t manage a base hit until Alex Gordon singled with one out in that seventh frame. What drama. So entertaining. We were expecting a rerun, but Giolito produced a creative, successful opening for his 2019 season.

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Posted on April 1, 2019

By Roger Wallenstein

Isn’t it interesting how, with the stroke of a pen, super prospect Eloy Jimenez no longer has to work on his defense in the minors for a few more weeks before being good enough to join the big league club? Even though he had been optioned to Charlotte, Jimenez is now suddenly ready to iron out the kinks on the South Side.
Let’s be clear. Jimenez has toiled in the minor leagues for parts of five seasons, and that’s more than enough. He has stepped into the batter’s box on 1,703 occasions. At the highest levels last season he hit .337, with 22 homers and 75 RBIs, yet he struck out just 69 times. He’s 22 and stands 6-foot-4, tipping the scales at 205. And until last week he was going to spend three weeks next month working on his defense at Triple-A. For a team that had the likes of Daniel Palka, Nicky Delmonico and Avisail Garcia patrolling outfield spots last season.

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Posted on March 25, 2019

By Roger Wallenstein

Not long before he died about five years ago, Ralph Kiner, the premier power hitter of his time who led the National League in home runs for seven consecutive seasons (1946-52), told an audience at a luncheon that I attended about his negotiation with the legendary Branch Rickey prior to the 1953 season.
Rickey was a few seasons removed from his days in Brooklyn and Jackie Robinson, having moved on to the dismal environs of Pittsburgh where the Pirates were perennial cellar-dwellers. Kiner was hitting baseballs with great regularity over the fences at Forbes Field in front of sparse crowds before the days of television.
Kiner’s opinion of Rickey had nothing to do with breaking baseball’s color line. He pointed out that Rickey was exceedingly frugal, a genuine penny-pincher for the small town franchise that finished no higher than seventh place in the eight-team league from 1950-57.
Kiner’s salary was $90,000 in 1952, a season in which the right-handed slugger hit 37 home runs despite batting .244. Agents were non-existent in those times, so Kiner sat across the desk from Rickey, who informed him that he would receive a $15,000 pay cut for ’53. The two went round and round for about an hour before Rickey finally asked, “Ralph, where did we finish last season?”

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Posted on February 26, 2019