It’s rare to find a single image, GIF, snippet of video, or audio clip that perfectly sums up the way a team is playing at any given moment, but when it comes to the Chicago White Sox, Twitter has gifted us exactly that.
And look, I’m not one of those old heads who insists that players give 100 percent in late April. The weather in Chicago is abysmal and plenty of players wind up with nagging injuries that last all season thanks to bone-headed, overly-enthusiastic plays early on that wind up screwing their teams in September. So I’m team “Players know enough to decide when to go all out and when not to.”
Except for the lack of hustle from Luis Robert on the above should-have-been-closer play in yesterday’s 12-3 pounding by the Rays. And before you say, “It was a blowout, anyway,” you should know that the score bug shows the game was 0-0 at that point. It was the top of the first inning! Robert is literally the leadoff hitter! Bring back the days of twitchy, manic leadoff hitters who would do anything to get on base, à la Ricky Henderson and Kenny Lofton. Actually, I would love someone to ask Ricky Henderson what he thinks about this effort.
What is happening on the South Side of Chicago?
Tomorrow is May 1, and the White Sox are currently hanging out with a 7-21 record and are nine games behind Minnesota. It takes actual effort to be nearly double digits out of first before the calendar even turns to May. What are they doing at 35th and Shields? Because a few years ago, our minds were boggled by how stacked the Sox were.
In case you’re wondering, Robert was benched by manager Pedro Grifol for his...uh...suboptimal effort, and the White Sox losing streak hit 10. Fans at the ballpark chanted “Sell the Team” on Saturday.
How did it ever come to this? Maybe there was a reason Tony LaRussa took naps during games.