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Midweek musings: Yes, your Chicago White Sox (and if not yours, then surely somebody’s) have the longest current winning streak in the major leagues. With their 2-0 victory Tuesday at Kansas City, the Sox have won four in a row. If they win 24 more in a row, they will be .500 (74-74). And still not in first place in the American League Central. Oh, well, take the small victories. Or the small number of consecutive victories.
Adriana Lima is included in today’s effort because. Just because.
* Second baseman Gordon Beckham’s first-inning home run accounted for the first Sox run vs. the Royals. It was his fourth of the season. In 253 at-bats. Which, the mathematical calculation department at elliottharris.com believes, is a home run every 63.25 at-bats. Not exactly Ruthian but twice as good as shortstop Alexei Ramirez, who has four homers in 506 at-bats. Which, the mathematical calculation department at elliottharris.com believes, is a home run every 126.5 at-bats. And, yes, math is among the reasons that some of us went into journalism.
* Speaking of homers, Donnie Murphy hit a home run in the Chicago Cubs’ 4-2 loss to the Washington Nationals at Wrigley Field. That gives the third baseman seven homers in 48 at-bats. That’s as many home runs as shortstop Starlin Castro has in 512 at-bats. Murphy is homering every 6.9 at-bats. Keep that up for much longer and the folks at Cooperstown might start working on a Hall of Fame plaque. OK, keep that up for about a decade or more and they definitely will.
* Don’t look now, but Cubs supposed star of the future first baseman Anthony Rizzo (18 homers) is hitting .228. White Sox slugger Adam Dunn (28 home runs) has a .237 batting average. In case Cubs fans weren’t depressed enough already by this season and beyond.
* If Rizzo is the foundation of what Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer are building and Rizzo’s productivity doesn’t improve, the Cubs’ future would seem likely to resemble its recent past.
* Speaking of stars of the future (not to mention right now), rookie Elena Delle Donne returned from a foot injury to help the Chicago Sky take another step to a playoff berth. She had a game-high 24 points in a 79-73 over the host Washington Mystics. A victory Friday at home against the New York Liberty would give the Sky (18-8) the first postseason berth in franchise history. Courtney Vandersloot added a season-high 19 points and Sylvia Fowles had 16 points and 15 rebounds. In anticipation of a postseason presence, the Sky is selling tickets to its playoff games — although the dates, times and opponents are unknown right now. How you sell something like that seems more challenging than trying to stop Delle Donne, but if you want to purchase something so vague, you can click here.
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