The White Sox were in the national spotlight after a lengthy brawl Saturday with the Cleveland Guardians featuring Tim Anderson and José Ramírez. There was no announcement from Major League Baseball about discipline as of Sunday.
The Cubs’ momentum continued over the weekend as they won their series against the Atlanta Braves — who are tied with the Baltimore Orioles for the most wins in the majors — to finish a 5-2 homestand before heading on a six-game trip.
Every Monday throughout the season, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead — for the Cubs and Sox.
Dansby Swanson faces his old team for 1st time
Perhaps the experience will feel more surreal when the Cubs head to Atlanta in the final week of the season.
Before his new team took two of three games from his former team over the weekend, Dansby Swanson said he cracked up when he saw the Cubs-Braves matchups this season, most notably a three-game set Sept. 26-28 at Truist Park when the postseason could be on the line.
“I don’t know what will be more difficult,” Swanson said of facing the Braves for the first time at Wrigley Field instead of in his return to Atlanta. “But it’s nice playing here this time of year because of the weather. It’s probably 95 or 100 (degrees) back home with a lot of humidity, which sometimes I do miss.”
After going hitless Friday, Swanson homered, doubled and drove in four runs in the Cubs’ two wins Saturday and Sunday.
“There’s been so many opportunities to grow as a human and everybody here with the Cubs has been so accepting of me,” Swanson said. “They’ve made it really, really easy. People are really respectful and know how to push me to get the most out of me.”
Swanson sometimes keeps track of the Braves through box scores, checking in to see how his friends are doing. Going into the series versus the Braves, he thought the games would showcase who the Cubs believe they are as they’ve fought their way into the playoff hunt.
“It’s kind of like the trajectory of our year, starting out a little bit slow and really starting to ramp up and build on some things over the last month or two,” Swanson said. “It’s a really great opportunity to go out there and show what we’re made of.”
Korey Lee excited for new opportunity with Sox
Catcher Korey Lee had a pretty good source for details on the White Sox organization in first baseman Andrew Vaughn.
The two were college roommates at California.
Meeting with reporters during a video conference Wednesday, Lee said Vaughn told him “just to be ready to play (and) give it your all every single day.”
“That’s what I pride myself on,” Lee said. “I know that’s what he does really, really well. I’m happy to be part of the (organization) and ready to get started.”
The Sox acquired Lee in a trade from the Houston Astros for reliever Kendall Graveman on July 28. He was the No. 5 prospect in the Astros organization according to MLB.com, which ranks him the No. 14 prospect in the Sox organization.
He slashed .283/.328/.406 with 18 doubles, five home runs and 32 RBIs in 68 games this season for Triple-A Sugar Land in the Pacific Coast League.
“Houston gave me a great opportunity to learn how to be a pro,” Lee said. “Coming in at 20, you don’t really know what to expect. Now coming into the White Sox organization at 25, it feels a little bit better and the opportunity is great.”
After spending time on the injured list with a strained right oblique, Lee is at Triple-A Charlotte. He has some major-league experience, going 4-for-25 (.160) with four RBIs in 12 games with the Astros in 2022.
“I got to be around Martín Maldonado, I got to learn from him, I got to see how he managed a pitching staff at that end,” Lee said. “Learned how he communicated with pitchers and it taught me a lot.
“I’m going to carry that further into my career and make it my way, but he taught me how to be a professional catcher. And over there in Houston they knew how to win, and I want to bring that over to the White Sox.”
What we’re reading this morning
- ‘Business as usual’ for White Sox while awaiting word on MLB discipline for a brawl with the Guardians
- Cubs are 1½ games back in the NL Central after beating the Braves 6-4 for their 6th straight series win
- Javier Assad’s emergence with the Cubs has provided needed versatility: ‘Guys like that are extremely valuable’
- Lengthy brawl breaks out during the White Sox-Guardians game, leading to multiple ejections
- With a little help from his boss, David Ross is making all the right moves in the Cubs’ resurgence
- With eyes on the future, the White Sox are getting a closer look at pitching depth with recent call-ups
- Gregory Santos is making a name for himself and embracing closing opportunities with the White Sox
Week ahead: Cubs
The offense has been carrying the Cubs since the All-Star break, a helpful burden it has taken on while the pitching staff is without right-hander Marcus Stroman, who will remain on the injured list through the road trip.
In 23 games since the All-Star break, the Cubs have scored 164 runs, the most in Major League Baseball and 34 more than the second-place Dodgers. The Cubs’ .298 post-break team average entering Sunday was the highest in the big leagues by 24 points over the the Cardinals, while their .891 OPS also led the majors.
The Cubs’ 150 runs in their first 20 games after the break is tied for second since the All-Star break was implemented in 1933. Their production in that span trailed only the California Angels’ 161 runs in 1995, according to Stats Perform.
The wins have followed the offensive outburst. The Cubs’ 16-7 record (.696 winning percentage) in the second half is tied with the Orioles for the best in baseball.
- Monday: at Mets, 6:10 p.m., Marquee
- Tuesday: at Mets, 6:10 p.m., Marquee
- Wednesday: at Mets, 6:10 p.m., Marquee
- Thursday: off
- Friday: at Blue Jays, 6:07 p.m., Apple TV+
- Saturday: at Blue Jays, 2:07 p.m., Marquee
- Sunday: at Blue Jays, 12:37 p.m., Marquee
Week ahead: White Sox
The Sox awaited word Sunday on possible discipline from Major League Baseball after Saturday’s brawl with the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field.
Sox shortstop Tim Anderson and Guardians third baseman José Ramírez and closer Emmanuel Clase were ejected after the sixth-inning skirmish, as were both managers and Guardians third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh.
It took 14 minutes before order was restored and the game continued.
“It’s not the first time I’ve been part of that,” Sox infielder Elvis Andrus said Saturday. “Boys are going to be boys and we go to battle every night to the extreme, 100%. Sometimes things like this happen and there’s nothing you can do. It’s in the past and you move on and get ready for the game tomorrow.”
Anderson was not in the starting lineup — manager Pedro Grifol said it was a scheduled day off — while Ramírez was the designated hitter in Sunday’s series finale, the teams’ last meeting this season. Andrus played shortstop Sunday and had the go-ahead two-run single in the ninth inning of a 5-3 Sox victory.
Grifol said if suspensions come from MLB, “we have to adjust and it will be business as usual again.”
- Monday: vs. Yankees, 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Tuesday: vs. Yankees, 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Wednesday: vs. Yankees, 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Thursday: off
- Friday: vs. Brewers, 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH
- Saturday: vs. Brewers, 6:15 p.m., Fox-32
- Sunday: vs. Brewers, 1:10 p.m., NBCSCH
This week in Chicago baseball
Aug. 7, 2004: Cubs’ Greg Maddux wins his 300th game
After it was over and Greg Maddux had earned his 300th major-league victory, he reflected on a career that no one could have envisioned when he threw his first professional pitch at Class A Pikesville in 1984.
An 8-4 victory over the Giants put Maddux on a plateau that only 21 others had reached since Jim Galvin became the first in 1889. But Maddux appeared more satisfied with his longevity than his milestone.
“It feels good just to be able to play this game as long as I have,” he said. “It’s a good gig when you can pitch every fifth game and have four days off in between. Trust me — it’s good. Just to be in the game as long as I have is pretty special. That’s what it’s all about.”
He pitched five-plus innings, yielding four runs on seven hits to improve to 11-7. The fact that it was over and done with was a relief to the 38-year-old veteran, who wanted no part of the hype.
It took two attempts and a comeback from a three-run deficit for Maddux to reach No. 300, making it difficult for his family to stay calm.
“I was so nervous and so excited,” Dave Maddux, Greg’s father, told the Tribune. “I saw him after the game and asked him if he was nervous. He said, ‘No, not really.’ One of us had to be nervous. It’s probably best that it was me.
“It was a great win and a great team effort because he didn’t pitch real well. But the bullpen came in and, boy, I got so nervous then. Every time they’d get runners on base, I’d say, ‘Oh, that’s the tying run. If they tie it up, we’ve got to go somewhere else to get the “W.” ‘ ”
Aug. 8, 1976: White Sox wear shorts in a game for the first time
As any respectable major-league team might do, White Sox players put on their shorts one leg at a time.
Sure, there were some snickers, grumbles and complaints in the clubhouse. But they were comfortable and former Sox owner Bill Veeck needed another gimmick to draw fans to Comiskey Park.
During an introductory news conference in 1976, Veeck quipped, “You will be awed. … Comiskey Park will replace Paris and New York as the fashion center of the world.”
Holding court at Miller’s Pub, Veeck went on to say: “We are adding elegance to baseball styles. We may not be the greatest team in baseball, at least not for a few years, but we’ll immediately be the most stylish team in the game.”
The shorts, however, were short-lived. The players wore them in just three games in 1976, including the first game of a doubleheader on Aug. 8 against the Royals. The players refused to wear them for the nightcap.
On July 4, 1976, former Tribune sportswriter Bob Verdi elicited reactions about the prospect of wearing shorts.
“They don’t have to get a pair for me. I’ll just use (teammate) Jack Brohamer’s regular pants and they’ll look like shorts,” Sox pitcher Bart Johnson said.
Lamar Johnson said: “I got the nicest thighs you ever saw. I can’t wait.”
Catcher Jim Essian quipped: “I’ll just shave my legs. When we slide in those things and get all cut up, we’ll need to shave before we put the bandages on anyway, right?”
Aug. 8, 1988: First scheduled night game in the 74-year history of Wrigley Field
Well, almost — it wasn’t official after a downpour postponed the game with the Cubs leading the Phillies 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning.
The first word on the historic “Let there be lights” game at Wrigley Field goes to Bill Murray, who threw on some shades and stuck out his tongue moments before he joined Harry Caray for a pregame spot on WGN-9.
The first game with lights drew far more attention than normally accorded a Monday matchup between fourth- and fifth-place teams. Dignitaries in the sellout crowd included Mayor Eugene Sawyer, Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson, MLB Commissioner Peter Ueberroth and National League President A. Bartlett Giamatti. A resident-only parking ordinance also took effect around the ballpark.
Starting pitcher Rick Sutcliffe was nearly blinded by the thousands of flashbulbs that went off as he delivered the first pitch. Perhaps that was why Phillies outfielder Phil Bradley deposited Sutcliffe’s fourth pitch into the bleachers.
After a two-hour rain delay, the game was called, obliterating it from the record books.
“This proves that the Cubs are cursed,” one fan said as she ran from the ballpark. The Tribune editorialized, “Someone up there seems to take day baseball seriously.”
Aug. 9, 1988: Cubs win first night game at Wrigley Field
After a rainout the previous night, Mike Bielecki fired a called strike to Lenny Dykstra to start the game, and the Cubs went on to beat the Mets as night baseball, at long last, had reached Clark and Addison.
In the first night game in Wrigley Field history that actually counted, the Cubs hit the Mets with four runs in the seventh inning, then held on for a 6-4 victory before 36,399 very noisy people.
“It might have been louder last night,” said Mark Grace, who drove in one of the runs in the decisive seventh. “But that’s the loudest for a complete game that I’ve ever been associated with.”
Aug. 12, 2021: White Sox win the first Field of Dreams game
The diamond where the movie “Field of Dreams” was filmed was a long relay throw away from the temporary 8,000-seat ballpark on the Dyersville, Iowa, farm. So of course the inaugural Field of Dreams game featuring the White Sox and Yankees ended in dramatic fashion.
Tim Anderson provided the heroics, hitting a walk-off, two-run home run into the cornfield beyond the right-field wall with one out in the bottom of the ninth to give the Sox a 9-8 victory — a thrilling game that would have amazed Ray Kinsella.
“It was our first time here in the Field of Dreams and to be able to make a memory like this is definitely leaving a mark,” Anderson said. “The fans came to see a show and we gave them a show.”
The night started with players from both teams following actor Kevin Costner onto the diamond after walking through a cornfield in right. The night ended with a ball landing close to that area.
Before the game, players gathered in the outfield for team photos. They walked on a path through a cornfield from the park to the movie set.
“My camera reel is pretty much full right now,” Sox closer Liam Hendriks said. “I walked through the bullpen. There’s no fence right behind the bullpen, so I ran through the cornfields there.
Costner walked through the cornfield to the park, followed by Sox and Yankees players as the “Field of Dreams” score played minutes before the first pitch.
“It blew me away,” pitcher Lucas Giolito said of his first reaction to the field. “I was expecting to see a lot of corn in the outfield, but I wasn’t expecting these kinds of attention to detail in the dugout.
()
