Lost Cause and Effect for Cubs, White Sox

May 14, 2014 @ admin → No Comments

Midweek musings: Is it better to lose 11-0 or 4-3 in 12 innings on a walkoff hit batter? That’s one of those great questions for a postgraduate philosophy class. Or it simply describes the fate of the Chicago White Sox (11-0 loss Tuesday at Oakland) and the Cubs (4-3 losers in St. Louis). On the bright (?) side, some fans of each team might have been paying attention to the Blackhawks hockey game.

Model Stephy C is one of our favorites around here — with or without any Chicago Blackhawks attire.

* Grimm is the name of the pitcher who hit Cardinals pinch hitter Greg Garcia with the bases loads a few minutes before midnight. That would be Justin Grimm. Grim would be an apt description of the Cubs season. Charlie Grimm would be the last manager to take the Cubs to a World Series (1945). Grimm is also the name of the brothers who collected numerous folk tales that date back a couple of hundred years (even longer than the Cubs’ World Series title drought). Feel free to connect any dots.

* Sox infielder Marcus Semien struck out four times in four at-bats. He has whiffed an American League-leading 49 times in 145 at-bats this season. On the bright (?) side for the Sox, he has walked 13 times, second-most on the team to Adam Dunn’s 23.

* Also on the bright (?) side for the Sox, their late-night game on the West Coast did take a mere 2 hours and 50 minutes. And the Sox trailed 6-0 after five innings and 9-0 after six for those fans who thought going to sleep might be a better option than waiting for a comeback.

* Speaking of strikeouts (we were a paragraph or so ago), Cubs outfielder Junior Lake struck out only once in five at-bats. He has whiffed in 44 of 103 at-bats. He has four walks. Something says an 11:1 strikeout to walk ratio is not part of Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein’s grand plan. Then again, Lake could enjoy a long big-league career and the Cubs still would be looking to finish at .500 or better.

Turn the other cheek? Well, in this case, OK.

* Still speaking of strikeout-walk ratios, if it’s any consolation to Cubs fans (and the guess here is that it is not), Milwaukee’s Khris Davis has struck out 39 times in 134 at-bats and has only two walks.

* Pete Ricketts of the Cubs ownership family won the nomination as the Republican candidate for Nebraska governor. Maybe if the Cubs don’t receive enough concessions from the city, Wrigleyville rooftop owners and the rest of the world, they can threaten to move to Omaha. Oh, wait, there’s a minor-league team there already. How about Lincoln? Oh, that’s a college football town. Never mind.

* Ex-Sox oversight of the night: For some inexplicable reason (does being tired count?), Mark Buehrle of the Toronto Blue Jays was overlooked for his performance Monday night in a 7-3 victory vs. the visiting Los Angeles Angels. All Buehrle did was win his major-league-leading seventh game if the season. Buehrle (7-1) allowed two runs, six hits and recorded a season-high five walks in six-plus innings as his earned-run average increased from 1.91 to 2.04.

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