I will not lie to you. The vibes are off today. I am feeling a little depressed. Is it because Tony La Russa didn’t stick with Joe Kelly as his closer and now there’s a closer controversy on the South Side? There’s no way to know the answer to that, but we’ll try addressing it and see where this goes.
Six days ago, when the skies were full of sunshine and nobody had told me it’s “concerning and dangerous” to see how many eggplants you can stack atop one another on the freeway before a car comes through and knocks them down (at which point you yell STRIKE!!!!! and make an X with your arms), we rang the bell jubilantly: Joe Kelly, we told you all, was the White Sox’ closer.
Yesterday, that title came into dispute.
The White Sox hadn’t had a save situation for a while. They almost did last Tuesday, but it was an extra-inning game, and save situations don’t happen for the home team in extra-inning games (this was not the situation with Buck Showalter and Zack Britton once upon a time, but it’s adjacent to that). They didn’t on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday because they lost all those games. They did yesterday. It went to…Kendall Graveman?
It’s unclear exactly what happened here. One “explanation” is that La Russa had Joe Kelly pitch the eighth because the White Sox were facing the turn of the Orioles’ order, but that very directly parallels how the Gravediggers (that’s Kendall Graveman’s stan club) spun last Monday, when Graveman faced the heart of the Blue Jays’ order in the eighth. Another “explanation” is that La Russa saw our guy give up that home run to the Biggio fellow on Monday and said, “Hmm, not my closer anymore,” but that neglects that Joe Kelly was just getting it out of his system. With no better explanation available, though, and with Joe Kelly the better performer between the two yesterday (in another direct parallel to Monday, the guy who got the save gave up two harmless runs), this would point towards our guy being the closer once more should another save opportunity arise before Liam Hendriks returns from the injured list, which could happen as soon as this week.
We’ll find out, I guess, but in the meantime, what a mess for a team struggling to stay afloat. Yet another foible by the skipper. Say what you will about the Cubs, but they aren’t having a closer controversy right now, and they also aren’t in the playoff picture. It’s not that hard to avoid at least one of “being bad” and “having a closer controversy.” Pretty shameful that the Sox have succumbed to both.
Well Done, AL West
I haven’t watched the Jomboy breakdown of the Mariners/Angels fight yet, but I’m linking to it anyway because I’m short on time and I trust that man to give you what you need to enjoy this.
If you aren’t going to spend the time watching it, the shortest explanation of what happened is that Andrew Wantz hit Jesse Winker in the leg after throwing a pitch behind Julio Rodríguez’s head, and this was one day after Mike Trout was almost hit in the head himself by an Erik Swanson fastball. So, lot of bad blood. Raisel Iglesias was among the most incensed. That, or he just had always wanted to throw a full tray of sunflower seeds onto a baseball field.
This is a great idea. As I think we’ve written somewhere before, a scrap is a great way to turn around a season, which is something both the Mariners and Angels really want to do. The Mariners now have cleared benches with both the Astros and the Angels in recent weeks, and if I’m the Rangers, I’m getting Ken Burns in the clubhouse to draw a nice map of the field of battle. Can’t be too prepared.
Oh, also: Old Cubs and White Sox friend Ryan Tepera, who was never shy about confrontation, was among those ejected. Who does he play for? I don’t know. I think the Angels but I don’t know. Hopefully he plays for the A’s and was just in the neighborhood looking to take some swings (with his fists).
They Didn’t MISS
Get it? ‘Cause Mississippi won the College World Series?
Happy for the folks from Oxford. Still can’t decide if they find having a town named after the dorkiest school in England an honor or an embarrassment. Do they know? How many University of Mississippi folks think the Oxford in England was named after their own?
Will the Senators Win the Offseason?
With the Stanley Cup Finals now behind us, the Stanley Cup Offseason is now underway, and the Sens are off to quite the start. In addition to winning their fight with the city of Ottawa to be allowed to stay in the city of Ottawa (you know you’re bad when the city’s basically trying to kick you out), which was a head start, the Sens now have a Hall of Fame victory lap to take after franchise icon Daniel Alfredsson was granted admission today. Sorry, Hall of Fame. You just got Sens’d.
Burnley Backed Out
Man, this is a powerful feeling.
Usually, when a transfer or free agent acquisition falls through, Burnley is the one stood up. This time, though, it’s Dan Ballard, and while I was thoroughly excited about Ballard a week ago, I’m now thrilled Burnley didn’t sign him. Must mean they can do better. Right? Right, guys? This isn’t a money thing, is it?
With Ballard off the table, Burnley’s reportedly now deep with Oxford United to sign Luke McNally, a 22-year-old Irish defender. They’ve also officially brought in Scott Twine from MK Dons (position? goal scorer), and everyone’s real excited about that, including this guy (that’s me—I’m pointing to myself, even if you can’t see it).
Busy offseason so far. Burnley’s so active. Getting so young. Do I like getting relegated? Or did I just not like Garlick?
Is NASCAR Rigging This?
NASCAR’s preferred driver of the future won NASCAR’s preferred race of the future in NASCAR’s self-constructed car of the future? Hm.
A fun thing about Chase Elliott is that anytime he wins, you can say, “This shit is rigged!” Another fun thing is that he’s pretty hard to dislike on a personal level, and him becoming more recognizable probably is good for NASCAR, especially with Ryan Blaney just not quite putting up the wins necessary to match his skills with the camera and become the face of the sport.
Anyway, Elliott’s first in the standings and first in playoff points, and with three road courses on the schedule before the playoffs (nine pre-playoff races left), he could turn this from a wide-open season to one very controlled by Chase Elliott. And if that happens, a lot of folks will say, “This shit is rigged!” even though I can think of few sports harder to actually rig than NASCAR.
**
Viewing schedule for the evening:
9:38 PM EDT: White Sox @ Angels (MLB TV)
You think you can hide under the cover of a West Coast start, Mr. La Russa? I’ve been watching The Office in bed and I’m way behind on work. I’ve got two routes to staying up to the end of this, you punk. I will outlive you!!!
