EXTRA: Enjoying while it lasts! White Sox in 1st AND better than Cubs

The baseball fan of Chicago in me couldn’t help but get a kick out of Saturday.

Dos jonrons against los Tigres de Detroit

The Chicago White Sox continued the winning streak they seemed to have slipped in and finished the day with a record of 13 wins, 9 losses. Which, by the way, puts them in first place in their American League division.

CERTAINLY NOT A place that some baseball pundits would have expected the White Sox to even experience a taste of this season. Particularly those who were determined to believe Chicago’s Sout’ Side ball club is the worst in the game.

Created a souvenir for Boston baseball fan

It also is a place that Chicago Cubs fans would despise, because it’s supposed to be their ballclub that is on the verge of a dynasty that will win championship after championship for Chicago. But on Saturday, following their win over the Boston Red Sox, the Cubs have a record of 13 wins, 10 losses.

It’s early in the season; nobody should be paying serious attention to standings until the Memorial Day weekend at the earliest. And yes, things could change drastically (and completely) by Monday.

But for the one day, those people who find Chicago Cubs fan braggadocio to be arrogant and annoying can take some joy in a White Sox team is superior. Though they should also note that, for the day at least, the New York Yankees at 15-7 are the best in the game.

AS FOR SATURDAY’S ballgames, I managed to watch both because I have a step-grandmother who, at 95, really shouldn’t be left alone anymore. She also has a new television (HD and all) and cable, and often likes to wile away her time with ballgames.

So I got to see Jose Abreu’s two home runs, and the extra inning shot by Melky Cabrera that gave the White Sox a 6-4 win, despite relief pitcher David Robertson’s best efforts to give away the game to the Detroit Tigers.

A fan in the stands

I also saw that Anthony Rizzo home run that I’m sure made Cubs fans happy despite the 469-foot home run hit by Hanley Ramirez -- the longest-ever at Fenway Park during the Statcast era of measuring such things. Which it turns out dates merely back to two years ago.

Although I have to admit to getting my kick from seeing one-time White Sox all-star Carlton Fisk sitting in the stands in Boston and watching as the other ball club that once employed him took on the allegedly high-and-mighty baby blue bears of the north lakefront!

  -30-

We made it through the 100-day mark; only 1,360 more to go for Trump

New York real estate mogul Donald J. Trump is no longer beginning his new venture as U.S. president; he has completed the time period during which he supposedly is filled with so much vim and vigor that he’s able to get things done.
 

TRUMP: He's no longer new, he's just incompetent

Of course, there is nothing typical about the way Trump has handled the political post to which a vocal minority of the electorate chose him to fill back in November.

SO TRUMP ISN’T exactly wrong when he says the 100-day standard is kind of trivial, and really shouldn’t mean much of anything.

But then again, he’s accomplished so little that the Trump presidency is bordering on truly pathetic – even though Trump’s view of the world claims he has achieved significant goals that will forevermore change mankind. There are those who say he has the worst presidential start ever – although most would have said that regardless of what Trump actually accomplished.

Then again, even Trump can’t really be specific about what those goals were!

The one thing we do have to credit the Trump administration for is that it managed to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court of the United States – one that had been open for more than a year.

THE NATION’S HIGH court is now up to a full compliment of nine justices, with a slight partisan lean toward the conservative ideologues of our society.

OBAMA: His health care reform still stands

That is a fact that has the more progressive segments of our society terrified, but then again some of them were among the lazy ones who didn’t bother to turn out to vote in the Great Lakes region – resulting in the Trump political victory by which 46 percent of the popular vote and 2 million fewer than his opponent was enough to win.

Of course, with both the Senate and House of Representatives containing Republican majorities filled with politicos who view the ideologues of our society as the only ones who matter, it would have been downright pathetic if Trump couldn’t get his nominee for the Supreme Court confirmed.

It is a rigged process of people who will benefit no matter how incompetent or crazy Trump behaves as president. That truly is the scary part about this era we’re now in.

LINCOLN: Now HE had a tough 1st 100 days

OF COURSE, TRUMP also can claim to have authorized a military action involving Syria – which may make his bloated ego feel particularly satisfied. In fact, I suspect Trump is eager to find a war that he can engage the United States military in.

Perhaps he thinks that being a war-time president is the one way in which his approval rating can shoot up to a majority standard.

Although the truly great leaders of our society are the ones who manage to figure out ways around armed conflict – acting like diplomats rather than armchair generals.

Heck, Abraham Lincoln’s presidency is acknowledged for the way it kept a country from splitting in two, but let’s be honest. Lincoln himself would eagerly have done whatever he could to avoid war – to the point where some of his thoughts cause the pundits of today to accuse him of being a closet bigot.

PERHAPS AS OPPOSED to Trump, who wants to publicly be thought of as someone sympathetic to those who want public policy set by their racial and ethnic hang-ups.

That’s what gets us talk about foreign travel restrictions, walls along the U.S./Mexico border and immigration restrictions in general, including the elimination of sanctuary cities and the erasing of the Affordable Care Act– all of which are among the failures Trump has achieved because he inherently is a political amateur outclassed by the public officials with whom he must deal. Which benefits our society as a whole.

Now water ringed?

Although personally, I think the most appalling aspect of Trump is the little news nugget that the Reuters wire service uncovered in a presidential interview – that red button rigged up on his desk that calls for a uniformed servant to bring him a Coke at his Oval Office desk.

That’s the famed Resolute desk that John F. Kennedy used to work at (and John John played under), and that Bill Clinton and Barack Obama also used as a tribute. I wonder if Trump has the sense to use coasters, or if he’s defiling that famed desk with little rings of water from his drinks?

  -30-

EXTRA: A Canine curse for Cubbies?

I ventured up to the Lake View neighborhood on Friday and spent some of my time checking out the construction taking place to turn Wrigley Field into a baseball-themed amusement park that allows them to justify the excessive ticket prices being charged these days.

New 'curse' source? Photograph by Gregory Tejeda

But what caught my attention about the park-like atmosphere of the grounds surrounding the ballpark itself were signs erected on grassy areas; informing people that pets aren’t a welcome part of the Chicago Cubs experience.

“NO DOGS ON The Grass,” we’re told.

Which to my mindset is virtually an invitation for a crackpot with a pet to let it do it’s business. Who knows, maybe some crotchety ol’ White Sox fan will venture up north to walk his (or her) dog outside the Cubbies’ home ballpark.

Could this be the invitation to the new curse that can afflict Cub-dom?

Somebody with a Chihuahua or a Cocker Spaniel, or maybe a Pit Bull, will claim they were denied their chance to enjoy the Chicago Cubs, similar to how “Billy Goat” Sianis got miffed that day in October 1945 when he couldn’t bring his goat into the ballpark for a World Series game.

CUBS FANS RETIRE the goat, only to bring on the Curse of the Canine, while also providing a contrary image to their crosstown baseball competition.

Goat curse lasted 71 years -- replaced in a single season?

Where the Chicago White Sox have made an annual promotion of its “Bark in the Park” event when fans are encouraged to bring their dogs – and where they claimed to have set a world’s record – the Most to Ever Attend a Sporting Event – in 2016 by having 1,122 dogs sitting in their seats during the third inning of a ballgame.

Set for Sept. 6 this season

Now I’m not seriously claiming to be some sort of pet fanatic who can’t envision not having a dog at my side when I’m at the ballpark. In my mind, there’s another reason why the Cubs deserve to be cursed.

Seriously, $155 for a single seat in the outfield bleachers (for one of next week's interleague games against the New York Yankees)? Isn’t the whole point of having bleachers to provide cheap seats – with the high prices charged for those seats right on top of the infield?

  -30-

Why do we have no Illinois budget? It’s the other guy’s fault, of course!

I get that Gov. Bruce Rauner has his politically-partisan hang-ups with organized labor and wants to use his time as a government official to try to undermine their influence.

Such thought offends me personally, but I get it. And if it were merely a matter of the governor trying to use his influence to alter the General Assembly’s composition following future elections to come up with a body more sympathetic to the ideas he tries to pass of as “reforms,” I’d say that’s his right.

EVEN THOUGH MOST likely I’d be voting against any Rauner-backed candidates.

But what I, and many other residents of the Land of Lincoln, find repulsive is the way that the governor is so inclined to interfere with the operations of state government – which does have responsibilities to fulfill.

Certain services to provide. Certain tasks that must be performed.

In that regard, thinking there is anything appropriate with going through two full fiscal years of government activity without a budget plan in place is totally absurd.

PERHAPS IT IS because I’m old enough to remember back a quarter-of-a-century to when Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and then-Gov. Jim Edgar got into a budget spat that saw the new fiscal year begin July 1 without a budget, and the two sides didn’t come together until the early hours of July 19.

 

In this fight, which one's Rocky...

Oh, the horrors! We went nearly three full weeks without the budget! I remember how ticked off people were that government was willing to ignore its responsibilities – just so the head Dem and GOPer could engage in a game of political chicken to see who would flinch first.

But by the standards we’re setting in the 21^st Century, that was chicken feed. A mere flesh wound. Just like the Black Knight from the “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” film claimed, even after both of his arms had been cut off by actor Graham Chapman’s comical take of Arthur, King of the Britons.

Which is to say the financial situation of this state – tempered by the fact that without a budget plan in place, there are portions of government that cannot operate – is becoming as absurd as any Monty Python film.

 

... which one comes off as Mr. T?

ONLY ABSURD IN a horrifying way. Not anything even mildly amusing like “the Lumberjack Song.”

Seeing news reports on Thursday about how Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s staff is relying on the sudden upsurge in revenue from people who recently paid their state income taxes to be able to pay state bills is terrifying.

Because the upsurge will soon be spent, but the expenses will not disappear.

And for those people who are now going to rant and rage that we should only spend what we have and do away with what we cannot afford, keep in mind the responsibility does not disappear. We need to figure out ways to come up with the income to cover our expenses.

JUST LIKE IF someone goes into personal debt, we’d say they need to get off their lazy arse and get a job or two. We wouldn’t excuse their debt! Just like we don't excuse Illinois now.

Who's who?

But I have to admit that this situation Illinois is in (and could well remain in beyond the November 2018 election cycle if there is no change in the current political structure) is one of stubbornness all around.

I couldn’t help but be repulsed by the statement put out by Madigan on Thursday – the one about the meeting the two had to talk about the state budget predicament. It came across as being little more than Madigan trying to absolve himself of any blame for the current situation. It’s Rauner’s fault – just as pathetic as all the Madigan-bashing that GOPers engage in as they desperately want to think their political gamesmanship makes them appear heroic, instead of negligent toward the state’s responsibilities.

About the only thing worse was the statement that Rauner felt compelled to release, the one where he tries to claim the delays are all Madigan's fault. Two men who truly are determined to make sure that history records the other guy to blame.

FOR THIS SITUATION to get dragged on this long with no end in sight is one caused by too many people willing to look the other way while the public was suffering.

And while Madigan says, “I ask the governor to turn his focus to the budget,” I’m sure there are those who could legitimately think that the state’s long-running “Mr. Speaker” ought to do the same.

Since I seem to have fallen into a Monty Python kick I feel the need to recall a personal favorite sketch of theirs -- the one with German versus Greek philosophers playing soccer as they ponder the notion of deep thought versus actual activity.

How would Confucius rule in a Rauner/Madigan match?

  -30-

EDITOR'S NOTE: The dueling statements Thursday by Illinois government’s “leaders” truly were meant to do nothing other than try to absolve themselves of blame.

First, from “Mr. Speaker”: “I requested a meeting with Governor Rauner to ensure he understood my desire to pass a full-year budget and discuss the urgent need for a resolution to the state budget impasse. Throughout the governor’s time in office, we have agreed to seven compromise budget bills when negotiations are allowed to focus on the budget. Schools, human service providers, rating agencies and thousands of others have asked us to do one thing – pass a budget.  I ask the governor to turn his focus to the budget.”

Then, the gubernatorial retort, whom we’re supposed to attribute to spokeswoman Eleni Demertzis (a person I must confess I’ve never actually met):  “For the first time in more than two years, Speaker Madigan today hinted that he may be willing to enact a truly balanced budget with changes that will help create jobs, properly fund our schools and lower property taxes. It's too soon to tell if the Speaker will ultimately agree to follow through, but the governor remains optimistic that all sides can work together to enact a balanced budget with changes that fix our broken system and restore balanced budgets for the long-term through strong economic growth."

EXTRA: Is United Airlines the Wizard of Oz in telling us to 'Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain?'

This is the image that we’re all expected to forget about.

Should we pretend it didn't happen?

The sight of David Dao, a Kentucky doctor, who didn’t want to be removed from the Chicago-to-Louisville flight he paid in full for, thereby causing the flight crew to call in the cops to have him forcibly removed.

MANY PEOPLE ON board that flight felt compelled to pull out the cheap video cameras installed on their portable telephones to record the moment back on April 9. Which is the only reason we have so much visual evidence of the way the doctor was roughed up. Although I wonder how many thought they were merely shooting some “crazy video” they could share with friends for a laugh.

Otherwise, I suspect that United Airlines, which had an agreement with the subcarrier that was actually running that particular flight from O’Hare International Airport to a lesser aviation market would not be so eager to “pay up.”

Dao suffered a broken nose, a concussion and had two teeth knocked out from the incident, but there are those people who want to believe he somehow brought this incident on himself. They are the ones who are going to be ranting and raging that it’s an injustice the airline paid Dao a cent and they should have fought for their “good name.”

Although I have trouble accepting that line of logic, largely because of the reality of the way these cases are settled.

FOR SURE ENOUGH, it was announced Thursday that the airline reached a legal settlement with Dao. His threat of a lawsuit will go away. He promises to not take any action that would be perceived as negative against United Airlines. In fact, he promises not to talk about the incident any more.

The airline won’t say how much money they wound up paying to him, and, of course, there is the obligatory statement by which the airline says it admits to no wrongdoing with regards to its conduct from the incident.

That really is what is most important to the airline. They don’t want any kind of written record being built up indicating they screwed up or did anything wrong.

They probably want the impression being created that Dao (or anyone who files a lawsuit) is just out for money, and that if they were really wronged, they would not have been so quick to take a cash settlement.

IF ANYTHING, THE most significant action out of this whole affair is that people now have a better idea of what airline policies are with regards to kicking people off of flights – which apparently is something they believe is their right to do.

You don’t have to be a threat or misbehaving to get the boot. I still think I’d probably react in a similar manner to Dao if I had been in his situation – needing to get somewhere by a certain time and paying good money for my ticket!

But I’m sure the airline thinks they are buying silence on the issue – which I’m sure they hope now fades away into the depths of our memories so that by year’s end, we’ll have forgotten that United ever did anything so crass. They’ll regard him the way the mighty Wizard of Oz wanted us to view that man behind the green curtain.

And if anybody takes the time to look up Dao, they’re more likely to find those sordid stories about his questionable practices as a doctor or his gambling habits than about anything that actually happened to him on board United Express flight 3411.

  -30-

Trump, ideologue allies suffer immigration defeat (for now, at least)

If Donald Trump were truly interested in “making America great again,” he’d never have tried becoming president. One can argue it is his combative nature on behalf of conservative ideologues that IS what’s wrong with our society these days.

Will Supreme Ct save us from Trump excesses?

Our inability to work together on issues despite our differences about the details is what ultimately will cause a chasm that splits our society beyond repair. Compromise is the “American Way,” even though many of the ideologues refuse to accept that notion.

IT IS BECAUSE of this that we’re going to have to turn to our court system to ensure that havoc is not wrecked upon us all. Which the ideologues will contend is unjust and evidence of unelected judges imposing their will upon us all.

Although it really is the way the system of checks and balances is supposed to work – Congress creates laws, the president approves them and the courts are there to ensure that if the politicos screw up, the damage will be repaired.

Which is what’s happening with regards to immigration and the concept of “sanctuary cities” – places where the local police don’t automatically share all the information they come across with federal Immigration officials.

Trump, in his bid to appease those individuals amongst us whose idea of immigration reform is a mass increase in the number of people deported from the United States, wanted his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, to crack down on the federal funding his office provides to police departments in such cities – including Chicago.

MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL (who as a former member of Congress and White House chief of staff has a few clues about how to manipulate the federal government process) made it clear earlier this week Chicago wasn’t going to do anything to change the way it conducts itself on this issue.

That now has the backing of a federal judge – U.S. District Judge William Orrick issued an order Tuesday preventing the federal government from cutting off such funding for police.

Ironic in that Trump always goes on about the crime rate in Chicago and the violence, but then would want to take a whack at the funding the Chicago Police Department has available to him.

ORRICK: Will his ruling stand?

Trump on Wednesday turned to his Twitter account and began tweeting like a twit – lambasting the U.S. Court of Appeals based in San Francisco. That court is the one that will wind up hearing whatever challenge is filed to Orrick’s injunction, but it hasn’t acted yet.

ALTHOUGH I SUSPECT that to Trump, one judge looks just like another judge – they’re all interchangeable and that, in his mind, they’re all supposed to rule in his favor.

But a part of me also thinks Trump is just more interested in being a grump. Complaining about sanctuary cities, complaining about courts, ranting about that wall he wants built along the U.S./Mexico border but which action will not occur until at least autumn.

Trump is of the political type that wants to tell you that everything you think is “wrong” (because it’s not exactly like yourself) is “somebody else’s fault,” Support him, and he’ll commiserate with you. On this issue, it's the fault of the "flakes" in Frisco who won't follow his commands!

But he certainly doesn’t have solutions to the problems that face society. That’s hard work – as evidenced by the lack of much significant activity during the president’s symbolic First 100 Days. The time in which we determine if he gets off to a good start.

ADMITTEDLY, TRUMP GOT a Supreme Court justice appointed to fill a long-festering vacancy on the nation’s high court. But with the current political circumstances, the process was geared in his favor. It would have been the ultimate evidence of incompetence on Trump’s part if he had failed.

Which be the key to comprehending whether anything of lasting significance will be accomplished in the next roughly 1,360 days.

BARRON: Will his dad behave?

A rigged Supreme Court that overturns any lower court that dares rule in ways contrary to the desires of The Donald may be the only way Trump can get government to do anything.

Then again, we may find that even those justices on the high court will turn out to surprise us and for that, we should be grateful, even though we’ll inevitably get reports emanating from the White House about all the temper tantrums being thrown by Barron’s dad!

  -30-

Would you live in the Trump Chgo?

Perhaps it shouldn’t be a shock that vacancies are on the rise at that gaudy tower erected on the banks of the Chicago River that stands as a focal point for all the local protest conducted against the name of one Donald J. Trump.

Space is available, if you want to live here

I could be pompous and arrogant and make a statement saying I would NEVER live there. But then again, the need to be honest overcomes me and I have to confess I’ll likely never have the kind of income that would make it possible for me to even think of living there.

TO BE HONEST, just walking past the Trump Tower Chicago feels like an alien experience – particularly when I recall the pudgy, tugboat-like building that once housed the Chicago Sun-Times on the very same site.

So the Chicago Tribune report Tuesday about how 11 percent of the building’s 486 residential units (scattered amongst its 98 stories) are for sale. The going price, depending on exactly which unit one buys and what kind of high-rise view it offers of Chicago and/or Lake Michigan is $1.5 million.

Generally, the kind of people who can afford that expect to have a certain exclusivity. Or perhaps it’s isolationism, from the riff-raff of life.

And I suspect that many of them view all the people who now feel compelled to have their pictures taken making obscene gestures in the presence of the Trump Tower Chicago as the ultimate in riff-raff.

Dodgers star won't stay here

WHO KNOWS, THEY may be right.

All I know is that I’m sure that when real estate developer Trump got involved in the idea of building one of his namesake structures in Chicago, the idea was that it would become some sort of prime address.

One that people would fight for the right to live in, and would consider it a sign of their arrival amongst the hoi polloi that they could live in something bearing those 40-foot-high letters spelling out Trump’s name for all of Chicago to see.

Which makes it impossible for anyone to possibly confuse the Trump Tower with any other high-rise building in Chicago.

LeBron won't stay at Trump N.Y. hotel

SO WHAT DOES it say about the fact that some tenants, according to the Chicago Tribune report, have been able to negotiate rent decreases (for those who didn’t buy their units), and that there are a significant number of units (36, according to the newspaper) that can be had if you’re looking for an apartment that will allow you to look down upon Chicago.

Just so you don’t mind the protesters who feel compelled to stroll by and show their contempt for your choice of a home address.

The condominiums in the building don’t sell well these days, and the apartment units for rent can be had. As for the portion of the building that’s a hotel, it seems like we’re constantly getting new reports of professional athletes who refuse to stay with their teams (Adrian Gonzalez of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the entire Milwaukee Bucks basketball team, to name just a few) at the Trump hotel here in Chicago.

Then again, this is Chicago, where we led a solid Electoral College opposition to Illinois going into the Trump column on Election Night – unlike certain other Great Lakes states where the rural portions of the population led a shift rightward.

EVEN NOW, A new poll by Personal PAC puts Trump’s “approval” rating in this state at 39 percent – with a majority 53 percent not approving.

Trump 'vibe' makes Marina 'corncob' look luxurious

Not the same impression as that cockamamie study that claims many people who voted for Hillary Clinton back in November now wish they could change their votes – enough that Trump could now win a popular vote, in addition to an Electoral College tally.

Which may make some out-of-towners want to think less of us Chicagoans. Not that many of us would particularly care, since we’re convinced the rest of the world isn’t lucky enough to call Chicago home.

And, I’m sure, many of those who eagerly backed Trump and are still among his most vociferous supporters will probably never be able to afford to live in his building either.

  -30-

Same stuff; different label? Or are we destined to shop at Piggly Wiggly?

I find it amusing the degree to which corporate interests own varieties of a product that might have the public think their competing with themselves. 

Is the high-end image of Whole Foods ...

One such example was when the Chicago White Sox last month announced they were going to have an official import beer to be served at the ballpark – that being Modelo Especial.

THERE ARE THOSE people who think that Mexican brand is some sort of exotic, high-end label. Particularly when they start playing with the lime and salt.

Although it turns out the corporate interest that owns the company that produces Modelo also is the one that several years ago bought out Anheuser-Busch. As in Budweiser.

Which may be why Modelo is one brand of Mexican beer I don’t consume. Actually, I just think the taste is unexceptional. Not even particularly lousy. Just kind of pointless. Much like I’d describe Budweiser beer products.

But the money that gets spent on both winds up in the same corporate wallet. I find that to be funny, particularly if there’s someone out there who thinks that drinking Modelo-brand cerveza somehow makes them a more discriminate consumer than someone who quenches their thirst with Bud Light.

THIS SAME REACTION is what I’m feeling Monday upon reading the reports about Whole Foods quite possibly being for sale, and one potential buyer being Albertson’s.

The Boise, Idaho-based company owns supermarkets all over the country, and they operate them under various brand names meant to create the impression of locally-based companies.

In the Chicago-area, Albertson’s is the corporate entity that gives us Jewel and Osco.

,,, destined to become a part of 'da Jewels?'

As in “We’re goin’ to da Jewel’s,” that would like for us all to think of itself as the quintessential Chicago food shopping experience – particularly now that Dominick’s is ancient history.

ALTHOUGH I SUSPECT most of us merely rant and rage about our neighborhood Jewel’s store being dirty or depressing or poorly stocked or whatever complaint we feel like making. I shop there because it’s close by; I literally used to live one block from one of their stores.

To people, it won’t matter what the quality is; we’ll want to believe there has to be something better somewhere else. In fact, I think that’s a large part of why Whole Foods (and Trader Joe’s, as well) achieve some success in the Chicago area.

You go in there and see allegedly high-end foodstuffs – even though many of them are merely more expensive versions of what it is you can buy at “da Jewels.”

Will 'Krogering' become a national concept?

Now, it seems Albertson’s is considering placing a bid to buy out Whole Foods. Whole Foods and Jewel could become sister stores. For all those people who are willing to indulge themselves (and clean out their wallets) by spending more for organic produce and other pseudo-sophisticated products, I can’t help but wonder how they’ll react to having to consider themselves as shopping at a Jewel partnership.

BECAUSE I CERTAINLY doubt that this means Jewel would go “high-end.” Although I have noticed some Jewel stores in select communities have gone out of their way to remodel themselves and create the impression that they’re carrying fancier food products so as to compete with the high-end supermarkets such as Whole Foods.

Personally, I wonder what happens if the day comes when all supermarkets wind up finding themselves under one entity and we get generic grocery stories from which to buy our edible products.

 

Will we all someday experience Piggly Wiggly sensation?

We’ll all wind up eating the same thing – and probably wind up paying more for it. Maybe it would even turn out that we’d take interest in which conglomerate winds up winning out as the dominant supermarket. Are we all destined to “go Krogering” for our food – regardless of where we live?

If that’s the case, I vote for the Piggly-Wiggly to prevail. I think it would serve the culinary snobs right to have to shop in one of their stores.

  -30-

Can Quintaña win when losing? Will White Sox benefit despite all the “L’s?”

There are those baseball fans who like to follow the game through the use of various statistics that supposedly tell us more about a ballplayer’s true worth than the traditional ones about batting average or wins.

An 0-4 ace pitcher?!?

For the Chicago White Sox’ sake, they had better hope such logic is applied. Because this is the team supposedly in a building mode that has made it clear their Number One pitcher these days is up for trade.

THEY’RE HOPING EVENTUALLY to find someone eager enough to acquire Jose Quintaña that they’ll give up a lot of talent. Perhaps a team that thinks one more quality pitcher will help them win a championship in 2017 – while the White Sox focus on what could take place in 2019 or 2020.

Until then, Quintaña pitches for the White Sox, taking the ball every fifth game and tries to do his best to pitch the White Sox to V-I-C-T-O-R-Y.

But while the White Sox as a team have managed thus far to win about half of their ballgames (making them mediocre rather than lousy), Quintaña has statistically been a flop. Unless you factor statistics other than “games won” into the equation.

For Quintaña in 2017 has a record of 0-4. In four starts (including the first game of the season against the Detroit Tigers), he has managed to be the losing pitcher of record. Not usually the kind of guy who’d get featured on Jimmy Fallon’s late night TV talk show (the two spoke in Spanish about who would pay for a thong)!

BUT IT’S GETTING to the point where some White Sox fans may start dreading the appearance of their alleged top pitcher because they’re figuring there will be enough losses in ’17 – we don’t need to give up on ballgames before they even start.

 

Jose will face pitchers like Kluber all season

Of course, it should be noted that Quintaña is facing a decades-old phenomenon of being a ball club’s top pitcher – he pitches in the rotation against the other ball club’s “ace.” How much better would one-time Chicago Cubs pitcher Ferguson Jenkins’ record be if he hadn’t always had to pitch against Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal or Bob Gibson – Hall of Famers all!

In Quintaña’s most recent ballgame on Friday, he pitched and lost to the defending American League champion Cleveland Indians, who had their own ace Corey Kluber pitching.

Quintana gave up three runs, and under different circumstances that might not have been so bad.

 

Too bad Fergie couldn't pitch against Cubs

BUT ON FRIDAY, it stunk because Kluber used the night game as an occasion to pitch shutout ball. 3-0 was the final score. But the CBS Sports account of the ballgame made a point of calling the game Quintaña’s second quality start of the season.

Even though the other two ballgames he pitched are to blame for that earned run average of over 6. Better for people to focus on the BABIP for this season of .293 – which is the batting average of balls hit in play while Quintaña pitches.

It actually is better than the .304 figure he has during the length of his professional ballplaying career.

He also has managed to strike out 20 batters during his four starts, where he lasted 23 1/3 innings in all.

THE SPORTING NEWS recently published a commentary arguing that “pitcher wins and losses are stupid stats” and that baseball fans should “banish” them from their discussions about the game.

As one who’d like to see Quintaña be turned over for something of quality to wear a White Sox uniform in coming seasons, I can only hope others take that line of logic seriously.

Some of the strangest stats ever seen!

Because the bottom line of "wins" and "losses can be deceptive. I still remember the Wilbur Wood of the early-to-mid 1970s White Sox, who had a three-season stretch where he lost 17, 20 and 19 games. But he also won 22, 24 and 24 and in one season also had the earned run average of 2.51. He was doing something right in order to keep being used to pitch despite so many losses.

Which likely is to be Quintaña’s fate for 2017 – he’ll keep throwing until he’s traded. But wouldn’t it be nice if he could get at least one “W” on his record before that moment. Perhaps his next start Wednesday against the Kansas City Royals before the Sox begin a road trip to Detroit, Kansas City and Baltimore?

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Obama outshines the Trumpster?

You have to admit that Barack Obama has kept a low profile since leaving the presidency some 91 days ago.

Obama to make a return trip. Does anyone think Trump would have something significant to say there?

I’m sure the ideological nitwits amongst us want to lambast the former president for being frivolous – what with his post-presidential vacation trips to Palm Springs, Calif.; a resort in French Polynesia and to the Caribbean with English billionaire Richard Branson.

BUT THEN, THEY’D have to acknowledge the constant weekend trips that President Donald Trump makes (at public expense) to the Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida that he owns.

As though Trump can’t stand the thought of traveling anywhere where he can’t stay in a place with his business brand on the marquee, or have somebody fired for serving him chicken salad rather than tuna.

And while Obama is spending time with people such as Branson, we’re getting the current White House occupant spending his time there with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her rock ‘n’ roll buddies.

Just a thought; how sad is it that we still refer to Palin for the political post she held for two years and gave up nearly a decade ago? Because she hasn’t done anything of significance since then that we could use to identify her.

BUT BACK TO Obama and Trump – with the former president expected to make his first post-presidential appearance in public in Chicago come Monday. He’ll be partaking in a forum of high school and college students – hoping to inspire our society’s future.

Rather than Trump, whose idea of our “future” is to turn back to elements of our society’s past that, frankly, we should be ashamed we ever tolerated to begin with.

How many pretending this image still relevant ...

Although not directly affiliated with the Obama Foundation, the program next week will be held in the Jackson Park neighborhood, and will create a sense of what we can expect to get from having that Obama presidential library and museum in our city.

These thoughts bop about my brain because of the constant efforts by the Trump administration to erase elements of our government that can be traced back to the Obama years. As though they want us to forget we were ever deluded enough to reject the idea of either John McCain or Mitt Romney as U.S. president.

OBAMA SEEMS TO exist in a separate realm – not getting dragged into the current president’s world. Which is probably a good thing, on account of the fact that Trump truly seems to live in his own world – and thinks the rest of us need to suffer there with him for his amusement.

... rather than the current occupant?

Such as when Trump talks of how successful his “first 100 days” (which have just over a week to go) have been, and thinks it is a media conspiracy that prevents the masses from realizing this fact!

Perhaps we’re just seeing how separate segments of our society have become; and why I’m not surprised that various polls show evidence that the people who DID vote for Trump aren’t showing any regrets – no matter how little is accomplished.

The rest of us may be following the lead of Simon and Garfunkel when they sang, “Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.” Obama probably will carry on a symbolism far greater than his actual accomplishments. Just as DiMaggio was called the “Greatest Living Player” even though others had more home runs or a better batting average!

HOPING THAT SOMEHOW, we can get something in the way of leadership from a man who at age 55 is retired from political life – unless he can somehow create a second segment of life for himself that could rival the post-presidency of Jimmy Carter. We’re probably going to spend the next few decades comparing the lives of Obama vs. Trump – and seeing which one matches up to our ideological sensibilities.

Such as when Obama appears May 25 in Germany at the Brandenburg Gate – recalling his 2008 speech that gave him international recognition and which the McCain campaign tried to use to mock him as an insubstantial “rock star” rather than a serious politician.

That didn’t work, and German Chancellor Angela Markel will be at Obama’s side. The same Markel whom Trump managed to offend when he wouldn’t publicly shake her hand during a visit to the White House.

KENNEDY: Fired? Or honored!

Or perhaps when Obama later this year receives the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, with Kennedy daughter, Caroline, whom Obama made his U.S. ambassador to Japan. And whom Trump insisted had to be fired from the post and leave that country the instant he became president back on Jan. 20.

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EXTRA: Well, that didn't take long

A U.S. Court of Appeals panel based in Chicago officially upheld the 14-year prison sentence that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich is serving. This ruling comes merely three days after attorneys for Blagojevich argued that the trial judge didn't take into account all the letters written by prison inmates who have encountered the former governor and say he has been a model inmate.

ZAGEL: His Blagojevich ruling upheld (again)

It's not the least bit surprising the appeals court would take such an attitude -- not wanting to overturn U.S. District Judge James Zagel unless he did something that was a blatant legal screw-up.

BUT THIS WAS a quick ruling. The argument was made Tuesday, and the written legal brief rejecting Milorod came out Friday morning. Not even the appearance of any real deliberation. It reminds me of when the Illinois Supreme Court considered the case of "Baby Richard," a child whose adoption was challenged by his father even though the mother willingly gave the boy up. It took that court four hours to come back with a ruling in the father's favor.

Blagojevich's attorneys can now take their case to the Supreme Court of the United States, although I can't envision that in this Age of Trump they'd be terribly sympathetic. The only real question is, 'How quickly will they refuse to even hear arguments?'

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