Rally Time Celebrates Little League Champs JRW

August 28, 2014 @ admin → No Comments

There are rallies. And then there are rallies. The Chicago Cubs had one Wednesday at Cincinnati, but lost 7-5 to the Reds when Javier Baez hit a deep fly out that ended the game with two runners on base. The White Sox had a seventh-inning rally (if you can call one run a rally) with Jose Abreu driving in the run for a 3-2 victory vs. visiting Cleveland. And then there was the rally that unified Chicago baseball fans — for a moment at least. It was the one at Millennium Park that honored the U.S. Little League World Series championship Jackie Robinson West team. Here’s hoping the players on the first all-African-American team to win the crown will know as much fun, success and respect for the rest of their lives as the had at that rally.

Video below of Playboy’s September 2014 Playmate Stephanie Branton, who will be on Thursday’s “Sports & Torts.”

* Speaking of the JRW celebration, White Sox executive Ken Williams provided one of the highlights with his remarks to the crowd (video below).

* Speaking of the Sox, Abreu moved into the America League lead for RBI (96) with two against the Indians. If he had come up as a Cubs prospect (with the accompanying hype), he already would have a statue outside the ballpark.

* Still speaking of the Sox, their victory ended a seven-game losing streak. Meaning they have a two-game lead over Minnesota for last place in the American League Central and a one-game lead over the Cubs for the best record by a Chicago big-league team.

* Speaking of the Cubs, their loss ended a four-game winning streak. On the bright side (yes, actually), outfielder Jorge Soler hit a home run in his first big-league at-bat. The last Cubs rookie to homer in his first at-bat: Starlin Castro in 2010. Soler wears uniform No. 68. Which, if you add the digits together, is 14. Cubs fans can now project Soler as another No. 14, Ernie Banks. — although it might be wise to check back in 14 seasons to see how that all works out.

This is Stephanie Branton, not Lee Roy Jordan or Mick Tingelhoff.

* If it’s Thursday (and the chances seem extremely good that it is because yesterday was Wednesday — provided that today is Aug. 28, 2014, or a subsequent Thursday), then it is time for another edition of “Sports & Torts” on Talkzone.com. The interview show co-hosted by David Spada and Elliott Harris airs at noon Central time. The guests on this week’s highly acclaimed show (well, it’s held in such high regard in the Spada and Harris households as well as reportedly elsewhere) are Playboy’s September 2014 Playmate Stephanie Branton, former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Lee Roy Jordan and former Minnesota Vikings center Mick Tingelhoff. Tingelhoff is a likely 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, while there are some who wonder why Jordan isn’t in the shrine in Canton, Ohio. For some reason, some of us tend to focus on Stephanie (probably because she has the rare distinction of appearing on the cover in addition to being the centerfold of the magazine. For those who are unable to tune in for the show (or for those who would like an encore), the program will be available later Thursday — and presumably forever (or close to it) — at the Talkzone.com web site.

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Here is where to go for a daily dose of non-gratuitous video (thanks to the efforts of the editorial and video departments at ElliottHarris.com):