Still Gotta Come Through Chicago
Sox Win, Cubs Game One, and Improving the Bulls
Good morning Chicago. Today we’ve got why yesterday’s Sox win was so symbolic, why the Cubs are in good hands today, and how the Bulls can improve immediately after the hire of Billy Donovan.
But first, if you missed yesterday’s newsletter on the Bears comeback win and QB change Sunday, read that here.
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The Chicago White Sox delivered a game their fans have been waiting for for 12 years yesterday. It was a joy to watch. Lucas Giolito was, literally, nearly perfect. Jose Abreu and Tim Anderson continued playing like two of the best players in baseball. And Adam Engel continued to play like the slightly above average player that he’s really been all year.
That is unquestionably the lead to the story. But Game One was also emblematic of the White Sox season as a whole. They came out firing, the bats showed up, their youth was on display, some national baseball media members started saying ‘Hey how ‘bout these White Sox’ like they’d done anything more than see Luis Robert highlights in July, and then Ricky Renteria almost screwed it all up before the game was over.
After the game, as he always does, Giolito gave a great interview to ESPN about why this game — and this potential no-hitter — was different than the one in the regular season against the Pirates. In that one, he admitted he was wholly focused on finishing the no-no the last three innings, as he should’ve been. Yesterday, despite being aware of having a perfect game into the 7th inning, he was just worried about winning the game.
It wasn’t cliche, it was honest, and I think it was how most fans were feeling during the game. Frankly, I was more nervous about the game due to his perfection than I would’ve been otherwise. That brings so much more into the mix from a managerial perspective. I would’ve been concerned if Tony La Russa or Joe Torre was in the dugout. With Renteria at the helm, I was terrified.
And yet he caught a break when Tommy La Stella got a hit in the seventh inning. That pressure was off. Then Giolito got through the seventh, albeit with less sharp stuff than what we’d seen from him earlier in the game. That took the pressure completely off, especially through seven innings with a 3-0 lead.
But still, Ricky decided to put Giolito back in for the ninth with him already inching closer to 100 pitches. He promptly walked the first batter in four pitches, visibly tired.
I would’ve understood Renteria throwing him out there if he still had the no-no. But without it, that move was mind boggling. It ended up yielding only one run, but his pitching changes in the 8th could’ve spoiled what ended up being a great day for White Sox fans and a possible catalyst for a playoff run.
In the playoffs, it is hard enough. It is much harder when you have a manager who insists on shooting himself in the foot. If the Sox are going to keep winning this postseason, Ricky either needs to be advised by someone with a better head on their shoulders or shape up. I’m not sure he’s capable of doing the latter.
Regardless, watching a usually subdued Giolito on the mound screaming ‘Let’s Fucking Go’ after striking out A’s hitters was a glorious sight. Watching Luis Robert man the outfield like a veteran center fielder was impressive as well.
And watching Abreu and Anderson play their first playoff game without skipping a beat was the icing on the cake. Anderson is the first White Sox player with three or more hits in his playoff debut since Rudy Law, who’s baseball card looks like this, for some perspective.
To be fair to Renteria, his lineup was much better today, all things considered. Without Eloy Jimenez, who should be back at some point in the playoffs, he put the far more competent (fielding wise) Leury Garcia in left field. Because James McCann was catching for Giolito as he usually does, he DH’d Grandal, which paid dividends when he homered himself in for an insurance run in the 8th inning.
He left the two offseason sweethearts — Nomar Mazara and Edwin Encarnación — out of the lineup completely, as he should have. Under-performers should not get another shot when it’s do or die.
The Sox moved to 15-0 against lefties after the Athletics failed to listen to every Sox fan scream that the Sox were 14-0 against lefties before the game. You could have gone to Turtles on the South Side and asked any drunkard in there what their keys to the game were and they would’ve told you that stat.
“We have been doing good against lefties. I guess they haven’t done their home work,” Tim Anderson said after the game.
Yet the Athletics still threw Jesus Luzardo out there and he promptly gave up two bombs and was out before half the game had gone by.
I guess nobody found this tweet funny, by the way?
Damn.
Anyway, I guess any debate over whether Giolito is a “big game pitcher” or a “true ace” is settled. A lot is settled after Game One. The White Sox are capable of disrupting the playoffs for the first time in a long time.
P.S. the broadcasting of that game was absolutely abysmal. It’s hard to go from Jason Benetti and Steve Stone to two announcers who know nothing about the White Sox besides what they heard on preliminary Zoom calls and feel the need to talk about exit velocity for five out of the nine innings of the game.
I’m all ears when it comes to Statcast, but if you expect me to think you’re a genius baseball fan for knowing that good things happen when you hit the ball hard, I don’t know what to tell you.
And no, this isn’t about Jessica Mendoza broadcasting or a woman being in there in general. Suggesting that had something to do with Chicago fans’ issues with the ESPN production today is just intellectually dishonest.
Series 1-0. Next up, Dallas Keuchel tomorrow at 2:10 p.m. Buckle up.
I have a sneaking suspicion that, as millions of Chicagoans are working from home and the Cubs and the White Sox are playing baseball games simultaneously, not a lot of work is going to be getting done today.
It boggles my mind, though, that the powers that be decided to put the Cubs — who have one of the biggest fan bases in all of baseball — in three straight 1 p.m. games to kick off the postseason. What sense does that make at all?
Do we really need to see the Yankees in prime time every night? Could we not have slipped a 5:40 start in there or something?
The idea of working while watching sports is fun until it’s the playoffs and it’s truly impossible to do both. I don’t even blame those who are opting for the record-the-game-and-turn-off-your-connection-to-the-outside-world approach. Because truly, how are you supposed to manage your emotions during a playoff baseball game while sending monotonous emails and hopping on video chats with people that have no idea that a live-or-die situation is going on before your eyes.
Maybe it’s the fact that the Marlins will attract seven people total to the television. Regardless, it’s frustrating to have to juggle real life circumstances and a postseason baseball game.
The Cubs have Kyle Hendricks going. The guy has just quietly turned in another sub-3 ERA, sub-1 WHIP season. No big deal. One of the most underrated players, forget pitchers, in all of baseball for the past five years.
He has a 1.85 ERA at home this year with an opponent OPS of .493. Last year, he had a 2.0 ERA at home with an opponent OPS of .556. He’s lights out generally, but is one of the top 3 or 5 pitchers in all of baseball inside Wrigley Field.
We are in good hands.
The Marlins, no doubt, have formidable pitching to throw our way. Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez are good pitchers who have had good years, but the Cubs have no excuse to not provide the little run support that will likely be needed for Hendricks and Yu Darvish in Game One and Two.
The last six years have flashed before our eyes, as Jon Lester — who’s last chance to throw at Wrigley will only materialize if the Cubs lose one of the first two — could tell you better than anyone.
But what has happened in those six years has been a maturation of the Cubs roster, for good and bad. The Cubs are now seasoned vets in the playoffs. Kyle Schwarber hit a ball into the greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area in his first ever playoff game off of Gerrit Cole. Anthony Rizzo has been here from the beginning. Kris Bryant has been gaining confidence over the last week, both during the games and after them with the media, and I do believe he’ll be ready to go today.
And Javy Baez just plays baseball. His resting heart rate is sub-50 whether it’s Game 7 of the World Series or he’s fielding ground balls in warm ups before Game 74 of the regular season.
We’ve got the guys. Now it’s time to make a run, because like it or not, it could be the last with our guys.
Doc Rivers — a SGCTC legend — has been let go by the Clippers. They decided to change their mailbox aesthetic when the house was on fire. That’s their loss. Do I think that Rivers wants to guide the Bulls through a rebuild at this point of his career? I don’t.
Bulls fans go through years of misery and finally get a good coach to agree to terms with them and then start acting like we get our pick of the litter.
One day guys, but slow up.
Frankly I’d rather have Doc take a television job over the next couple years so I don’t have to hear Chris Webber speaking absolute nonsense through my TV more than I need to.
Anyway, I’m growing increasingly confident that the Bulls can make up some legitimate ground up this offseason. We’ve got the right front office, the right coach, and the best city in the world behind us.
The first goal is to draft Killian Hayes, the 6’5, 215-pound guard out of France. This draft is a crapshoot, so it’s anyone’s guess as to who will go in the first three spots before the Bulls. But if Hayes, who is 18, can fall to the Bulls at 4, they will — in my opinion — have their best guard playmaker since Derrick Rose.
The Bulls currently have zero playmakers on their roster. Scoring is not the same as playmaking. Playmakers can create their own shot, but also do the same for others. I won’t totally delve into his skills right now, but Hayes — who does need to improve in a slew of areas — would be a cornerstone and a great add to a team that has a bunch of guys who can only get a shot off themselves or can’t get a shot off at all.
Plus, if the Bulls draft LaMelo Ball, and I have to watch him, Zach LaVine and Coby White compete for 30-foot jump shots, I will reconsider watching basketball altogether.
The second goal is my “hottest” Chicago sports take that I believe to be absolutely true, one I’ve convinced many of you of, and one you all know if you’ve been reading this newsletter for long enough.
Get rid of Zach LaVine. He’s a no. 3 guy on most teams who will never think he is anything but a no. 1. If he was just a scorer who didn’t play defense but accepted a fitting role I wouldn’t have a problem with him. But that will never happen.
Plenty of teams don’t know that, however, and I think the Bulls could easily pull off a trade that involves him and a similar player like Buddy Hield. They make similar money and Buddy Hield will never think he is the second coming of Michael Jordan. He also does other things better, like shoot the three consistently and play reasonably-okay team defense.
The Bulls could also target Victor Oladipo, who has struggled since coming back from injury, but also reportedly wants out of Indiana.
In a league where there are constantly disgruntled players, the Bulls finally have a chance to capitalize on that with a stable front office and coaching situation.
The final goal is to bring — cliche incoming — some winning players into the organization. Joakim Noah is the obvious first choice given his ties to Billy Donovan. I have no doubt in my mind that Noah would make a meaningful impact on this roster simply by giving a shit about being a Bull and being into the idea of getting better at practice.
They missed their opportunity last year when they could have gotten someone like Pat Beverly, and this offseason the goal should be to bring in winning players — whether they’re all that great at basketball or not — to form some semblance of culture heading into next year.
Goddamn I’m excited for next year’s basketball season: what a joy that is to say and feel.
Lastly, for all of you Khalil Mack sack-watchers. Hope you can read graphs:
Let’s have a great day Chicago. Thanks for reading as always, and thank you for spreading the word. I appreciate all of you.
The comment section was popping yesterday. Let’s keep it going:
I didn't realize all 3 Cubs starts were at 1 o'clock. Also- forgetting to bet on the Sox yesterday feels like someone who passed up investing in Apple early on. As fellow subscriber Mikey N stated- "Numbers don't lie. Get to class kids!"
Something I wanted to harp on yesterday- my mood on Mondays would be drastically better if we could get some club dub footage. I need some more Dancing Bear in my life.
Lets get some Chicago Ws today, and lets get Zach Lavine out of Chicago. I wonder what we would have to package alongside Zach Lavine to get Bradley Beal in Chicago.
Wow 15-0 against lefties! But doesn't that make them a meagerly 20-25 against righties? How hard is that to figure out?