Yesterday was Opening Day for both my South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, and their North Side rivals, the Chicago Cubs. The White Sox were opening the season against the Brewers up in Milwaukee, while the Cubs were playing their home opener against the Washington Nationals at Wrigley Field. Yesterday, both teams were in first place, not having lost a single game. The Cubs are the odds-on favorite to win the National League Central, while the White Sox have undergone a major rebuilding with a group of young promising players. I have been looking forward to the White Sox finally turning the corner at last, and at the very least, not setting still another Major League baseball record by tying the Washington Senators by having four 100-loss seasons in a row. A very modest goal, right?
At the beginning of the White Sox television broadcast yesterday afternoon, both Steve Stone, seen on the left in the photograph on the right, and John Schriffen were very upbeat, expecting great things from this team. Shane Smith was the starting pitcher for the White Sox and went 1.2 innings, giving up 4 runs on 3 hits, followed by 4 relievers who gave up an additional 10 runs, with the Milwaukee Brewers winning by a score of 14-2. Not only that, but the Brewers starting pitcher, Jacob Misiorowski, fanned 11 White Sox hitters to set a franchise record, with 4 relievers bringing the strikeout total to 20, tying a modern Major League record for strikeouts in a 9-inning game since 1900. How about those White Sox - still setting Major League records, even on Opening Day. Their North Side rivals, the Chicago Cubs, lost to the Washington Nationals 10-4 in their home opener at Wrigley Field. And so, I ask you - was I wrong to bet my entire life savings on a White Sox-Cubs World Series this year, which would be the first subway series in Chicago since 1906? Of course, yesterday could have just been a fluke. There is still hope, right? Right?
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