A-Rod Failure Unreal; So Is Talk of White Sox Deal

October 19, 2012 @ admin → No Comments

With one more victory in the National League Championship Series, the St. Louis Cardinals will be in the World Series to defend their 2011 crown. They would face the Detroit Tigers, who Thursday (Oct. 18) swept the New York Yankees out of the postseason. Meaning Chicago Cubs fans can root for the Tigers to prevail, and Chicago White Sox fans can root for the Cards to repeat. Assuming fans of either Chicago team stil are paying attention.

Good call: For the record, Jaime Edmondson picked the 49ers to win Thursday night's game.

* Speaking of the Yankees, rumors abound about the posibility of trading third baseman Alex Rodriguez — possibly to the White Sox. A-Rod went 3-for-24 (.125 batting average) with 0 runs batted in this postseason. He has five years and $114 remaining on his contract. The good news for the Sox? He wants to stay with the Yanks and has no-trade protection.

* As bad as Rodriguez was, he wasn’t the only one. Robinson Cano went 3-for-40 (.075), Curtis Granderson was 3-for-30 (.100). It would be tough to be worse than Eric Chavez. He went 0-for-16 with eight strikeouts. The Bronx Bombers or Bronx Bummers? And Cubs and Sox fans thought they were going to have a long offseason. Something says Yankees fans might not recover from this postseason swoon until June.

* The Sox, who failed to draw 2 million fans to U.S. Cellular Field in 2012 (the first time to go that low since 2004), announced a decrease in some ticket prices for 2013. Bleacher seats will cost 32 percent less and outfield reserved seats will be cut 30 percent. The team also is cutting parking prices to $20. They had been $23-25. The Sox commissioned a study to help them reach these decisions. Really? What, the Sox thought fans were staying away because they didn’t want to see a winning team under first-year manager Robin Ventura?

* Broadcaster Bob Brenly, who exited as a Chicago Cubs television analyst on Wednesday, found employment with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday. Gee, not only does he go to a team with better weather (especially when it can close the roof of extremely hot days) but he goes to a team with a better chance of being in the postseason than his former employer.

* From the non-baseball department, Comcast SportsNet will televise the “IHSA Football Playoff Pairing Release Show” on Saturday (Oct. 20) and the IHSA title games on Nov. 23-24. The pairings program will be 8-10 p.m. and also will be available on CSNChicago.com and IHSA.tv.

* Speaking of basketball, Chicago Sky center Sylvia Fowles was named to the All-WNBA second team. On the first team: Los Angeles Sparks foward Candace Parker, Indiana Fever forward Tamika Catchings, Connecticut center Tina Charles, New York Liberty guard Cappie Pondexter and Minnesota guard Seimone Augustus. Second team: Fowles, Minnesota forward Maya Moore, San Antonio forward Sophie Young, L.A. guard Kristi Toliver and Minnesota guard Lindsay Whalen.

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Actress Ann Sheehan discussed a broad range of topics on "Sports & Torts."

Thank you to actress/model Ann Sheehan for being a great in-studio guest on the Oct. 18 edition of “Sports & Torts” with co-hosts David Spada and Elliott Harris on talkzone.com.

Also on the highly acclaimed (in the Spada and Harris households, among other locales) were Pro Football Hall of Famers Bob Brown and James Lofton. For those who were unable to tune in for the show that airs at noon Chicago time on Thursdays (and even for those who were able), you can check it out by clicking here.

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Yes, it’s time for some random video.