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Sunday smorgasbord: The Chicago White Sox fired hitting coach Jeff Manto on Saturday. Why Saturday and not until after the end of the season on Sunday? Reportedly because of a leak. Gee, another area where the Sox cannot execute properly.
Unbeatable: Loop Rock Girl Shannon appears set for Sunday’s Bears-Lions game in Detroit.
* Speaking of failing to execute, Sox general manager Rick Hahn said: “We’re at the bottom of several important categories, most importantly runs scored, walks and on-base percentage. It’s our belief that the best way to continue to address some of those issues is to get a new voice in here to work with our hitters.” Because getting new hitters is way more time-consuming and complicated. Not to mention more expensive.
* How about some failure of a positive sort? With their 6-5 victory vs. the visiting Kansas City Roayals, the Sox assured themselves of avoiding 100 losses. In a 63-98 season, that’s about as close to optimism as you’re going to get.
* Speaking of mathematical challenges, the Cubs have a battle going into the last game of 2013 for statistical supremacy. OK, not exactly supremacy. More like the team lead. In strikeouts. By a hitter. Starlin Castro has 128 and Anthongy Rizzo 127. With Dioner Navarro batting .300, manager Dale Sveum may sit him out and play Welington Castillo at catcher. Or someone else perhaps. Three more strikeouts would give Castillo 100 for the season.
* For any perennial pessismists out there who root for the Bears, consider this: Matt Forte is tied for ninth place in rushing yards/yards per game with 225/75.0. His 4.1 average per carry. Only one player in the top 10 averages fewer yards per carry than Forte. That would be Tennessee’s Chris Johnson whose average is 3.7.
* Still looking for a pessimistic perspective regarding the Bears? Try this: Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford is averaging 340 yards per game to Bears QBJay Cutler’s 230. Meaning Stafford threw for almost as man games in two games as Cutler has in three. Stafford has a long completion of 77 yards; Cutler’s long is 41. Stafford has been sacked a league-low two times to Cutler’s three. Stafford’s quarterback rating is 99.9 to Cutler’s 94.3.
* Still in search of numbing numbers? There’s this: Bears receiver Brandon Marshall has 269 yards receiving to Detroit’s Calvin Johnson’s 268. That’s an 89.9 average ber game to 89.3. Marshall has 20 receptions to Johnson’s 17. In yards after catch, Marshall has 39 to Johnson’s 97. Of the top 40 receivers in terms of yards, only one player has fwer yards after catch (Denver’s Eric Decker with 37). On the bright side for the Bears — hate to spoil the pessimism party — Forte does have 83 yards after catch.
Here is where to go for a daily dose of non-gratuitous video (thanks to the endless efforts of the editorial and video departments at elliottharris.com, who do not know the meaning of taking a day off — and possibly the meaning of gratuitous, not that anybody is complaining around here), First of all, congratulations to Ashley Kaltwasser — once interviewed by your humble correspondent and featured on this site — for winning the bikini title at the Olympia in Las Vegas,:
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