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Random thoughts while wondering the last time a city had two baseball teams with more than 90 losses in the same season:
* Say this much for Chicago Cubs fans who attended the game Monday at Wrigley Field. They were able to see a team capture a postseason berth. A team that hadn’t won a World Series for decades. OK, so it happened to be the Pittsburgh Pirates whose last postseason presence was in 1992. If it’s any consolation to Cubs fans (and the guess here is that it is not in light of the night’s 2-1 loss, among a season of defeats), their team has been in the playooffs more frequently than the Pirates in the last two decades — although each has the same number of World Series appearances in that time frame. Namely, none.
We asked the photo department for a Pirates picture, and this is what it came up with: Chicago Bliss players at Treasure Island in Las Vegas.
* Cubs record 65-92, White Sox record 62-94. Who says the last week of the season won’t make for excitement among Chicago baseball fans?
* Wait till next year? Or maybe the year after? Cubs fans might want to adopt a new mantra. More like wait till next decade. The team’s infield: first base Anthony Rizzo (.230 batting average), second base Darwin Barney (.209), third base Luis Valbuena (.218) and shortstop Starlin Castro (.241). Those players are trade bait only for bargain-basement shoppers.
* Speaking of Cubs second basemen, former Cubs star Ryne Sandberg no longer has an “interim” label. Instead he has a three-year deal to manage the Philadelphia Phillies. All part of Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein’s grand plan to have Sandberg gain experience on the big-league level and someday manage the Cubs when they are much closer to being able to challenge for postseason play.
* Speaking of managers with Cubs connections, New York Yankees skipper (not a fan of that word, but hate to repeat “manager” so close together) Joe Girardi — the Northwestern alum and former Cubs catcher — might be available to come back to Chicago to take over the Cubs, if manager Dale Sveum is not retained. The question is why would Girardi do so? Given his American League experience on the bench, he would seem better suited to manage the White Sox, if he wants to be back in Chicago.
* Perhaps the most surprising thing in the White Sox’ 3-2 victory against visiting Toronto was Sox infielder Jeff Keppinger had two walks. That’s 10 percent of his season total (20). This is about the only way your humble correspondent learned any math as a youngster. In case anyone was wondering about the educational value of baseball — and even if they weren’t wondering.
Sometimes wandering Facebook late at night can be shocking. And so it was, as your humble correspondent learned through a friend’s post that Gary Crawford had died the other day. He was CEO and founder of NegroLeagueLegends.org that helped promote former Negro League players. More than that, he was a television production guy whose knowledge of sports — especially hockey for the Canada native with Greek heritage — was extensive. Even more than that, he was a friend — for several years. We were going to have lunch sometime soon. Or so that was the plan. Rest in peace, Gary. You will be missed.
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