OK, so the Yankees series didn’t go as planned. It was fun to imagine that the White Sox would roll into the Bronx and whoop the Bombers deep into the Bambino’s grave, six feet deep, but the baseball gods were not on the pale hose’s side this weekend.
Did it suck to lose some painfully close games? Absolutely. The Chicago White Sox were rolling high as the best team in the game, but like all things we’ve learned within the last year and a half: man can be humbled at any point nature wishes to exact a lesson.
But hold your Yoan Moncada, pineapple-themed outfit right there. The 2021 season is full of ups and downs, drama, laughter, and sometimes, full-on amazement. Despite losing Eloy Jimenez early on and then Luis Robert, and then having a slight scare with Jose Abreu, the White Sox have shown dominance and resilience, all while the chips stacked against them.
A Team Built on Swagger
Tony La Russa is easily the most quixotic character within the storyline of this year’s squad. One game, he handles the bullpen masterfully, with the right combination of pitchers coming out to face some of the most feared mashers in the game. Sometimes, he flexes that old school grit and leaves his starters in to dominate a game, giving them the chance to make a statement. He’s also big on resting players and providing the guys off the bench their shot to make a difference. There’s no doubt the young core of superstars is learning things from La Russa’s wealth of baseball knowledge.
And then there’s the ongoing storyline of him doing something unbelievably so out of touch with the modern game. It’s like that scene in The Simpsons where a clipping is Abe Simpson, “Man yells at cloud.” The entire drama of soliciting baseball’s “unwritten rules” is patently just – dated. Coming into the season, it was a question of if guys like Tim Anderson, one of the teams two unquestioned leaders (the other being Jose Abreu), would gel with the old-timer, who’d prior made comments about political points of view on the field just the same as flipping bats and animated rather than playing the same old boring game.
And after the golden child, the potential rookie of the year, the guy who kept the machine moving while everyone else sucked, Yermin Mercedes dropped a heater into the seats in center field on a 3-0 lob over the top of the plate. La Russa was mad at him for the Twins sucking? Anderson came to Mercedes’s defense against the manager publically, saying, “Tony is like the dad and we’re like his kids. We’re like the bad kids who don’t listen,” Tim Anderson chided. “We don’t always agree and that’s OK.”
If that’s the culture of the clubhouse, that’s OK. Is La Russa even going to be around next year? It isn’t very likely. While there’s no questioning of his legacy in the game, he’s the old guy trying to keep up. The new era of baseball needs to squash the old school rules of “keep your head down and do the job.”
Fuck that.
Pimp your home runs, celebrate getting that strikeout, love that your team is young and fun, and sticks together through the ups and downs as an actual championship squad does. What baseball needs to come to terms with is that when the other team sucks, that’s no one’s fault. People paid money to sit in those seats. If you’re gonna get murdered, well, that’s what you have to take up with the folks paying to wear your jerseys. When the Minnesota Twins were getting shellacked by over 10 – there should be a slaughter rule. If not, don’t be mad when someone tees off on a shitty pitch thrown to get the game over with. The other team shouldn’t have to play any less because you’re weak.
The White Sox of Future Generations
This is a story of unlikely heroes. Giolito is finally starting to find his groove. He was not good at the beginning of the season. Then, out of nowhere comes Carlos Rodon, who we’ve given multiple seasons to figure it out, and then looks like a CY Young contender, throwing a no-no; murdering lineups, lets and right with dominant pitching? Wild. Billy Hamilton has been solid off the bench. He’s not Luis Robert, but he’s saved some asses while he’s been trucking out there. Andrew Vaughn is figuring out who he is, and that’s only a major plus considering with Mercedes, those are two young men who can beat the life out of a ball with one swing, and they can’t even get cheap car insurance yet.
There will be more ups and downs through the season. We’re about to drop into summer ball. The White Sox are going to the playoffs, and they’ll screw up a few more series, but that’s OK. The core isn’t going anywhere, but Tony La Russa probably is headed back to retirement. The kids will be OK, and before you know it, there will be a parade going down 35th Street, and losing a series to the Yankees will seem like a fever dream, especially when the White Sox beat that ass in the ALCS.
