CHICAGO — When covering a team that’s knocking on the doorstep of notching the worst record in Major League history, some days can be tougher than others to find things to write about that haven’t already beaten a dead horse a dozen times over.
Saturday had a few spectacles to take in outside of the game of baseball.
Hours before the White Sox took the field against the Detroit Tigers and presumptive American league Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal, a sermon and sing-a-long of sorts unfolded along the third base line at the front corner of the White Sox dugout.
“Faith and Family Night,” as the South Siders called it, featured a reverend leading a sermon, which segued into the White Sox’s Gavin Sheets, Justin Anderson and Korey Lee providing personal testimonials on their faith, before former Chicago Bears star running back Matt Forte took to the mic and followed suit.
After Forte concluded his speech to the crowd, a mini-concert closed out the ceremony for the one hundred or so people in attendance.
Now, I’m not here to bash on religion. I’ve seen the good it’s done for countless people — Friends and family members included — But in my own little way, I’d like to think all the hand waving and asking Jesus to “hold my hand” was the White Sox way of getting creative and asking for a little help ahead of facing a guy that has a legitimate shot at the AL pitching triple crown.
“When you’re going up against a team’s ace, a guy that’s leading the league in a lot of categories, you’ve really got to throw everything else away and compete,” said White Sox interim manager Grady Sizemore before the game. “He’s going to make good pitches, he’s going to get you out here or there, but you’ve got to be ready for that one mistake and not miss it.”
The younger, mid-late 2000’s version of Sizemore would be ready for that one mistake. From 2005-08, the former three-time all-star averaged a .281/.372/.496 slash line with 41 doubles, 27 home runs, 81 RBI and 116 runs scored over 160 games a season.
As for this lineup, well, let’s just say they could’ve used a couple young Sizemores Saturday.
Heading into the game, the White Sox had scored a major league-worst 400 runs with the second-lowest team batting average (.220). The next closest team in runs scored was the Miami Marlins (472), and the only team with a lower batting average was the Seattle Mariners (.216).
After the game, they finished with just four runs on 12 hits and ended up losing by nine, 13-4, all despite going 5-10 with runners in scoring position.
“It’s frustrating, but that’s the game. I thought the guys did a good job of putting good at-bats together all night,” Sizemore said after the game. “Unfortunately, we just couldn’t hold them down. We weren’t able to get ahead of guys and they were doing a good job of just battling and making us work.
“They got some big walks and some big hits and that was kind of the game.”
“The game” seemed almost rinse and repeat.
Time and time again this year, no matter if the manager was Pedro Grifol or Sizemore, whether Erick Fedde, Tommy Pham, Paul DeJong or Michael Kopech were still on the roster, the other team did something the White Sox didn’t, leading to them doing another thing the White Sox haven’t done much of (winning), which then leads to the same old questions and answers postgame.
But hey, the Window World Parachute Team landed a trio of skydivers onto the field ahead of the first pitch, and Forte ended up throwing out the ceremonial first pitch to a roar of approval from the 23,000-plus fans in the stands.
And while the White Sox may not have the greatest product on the field (I know, I am embellishing a little bit), they do have some great products around it — The Campfire Milkshake, Buona Beef, smoked pork sandwiches, tacos and tostadas — To go with the non-baseball theatrics.
And if washing down all that fantastic food to the sight of skydivers parachuting in with the American flag draped off their waist, at least Forte reminded you that Bears season is right around the corner, and the future looks much brighter for Caleb Williams and crew, than it does for Chicago’s baseball team on the South Side.