I was preparing the gamethread when I saw the news about Hall. And this was a bit cheerful. Cheerful left the room...
The Sox start their final spring training road trip today when they play the Giants in Scottsdale (3:05 p.m.). Like they did 5 days ago, Javier Vazquez starts for the Good Guys while Matt Cain starts for the Giants. There is no TV or radio broadcast. Here are the lineups (Live Boxscore; MLB Gameday):
Sox: Erstad, CF; Iguchi, 2B; Konerko, 1B; Dye, RF; Crede, 3B; Cintron, SS; Anderson, LF; Molina, C; Vazquez, P
Giants: Roberts, CF; Vizquel, SS; Bonds, LF; Durham, 2B; Klesko, 1B; Feliz, 3B; Molina, B, C; Winn, RF; Cain, P
At that time, Hank's 11-year-old son Paul was much more interested in playing for the Blackhawks than the White Sox. After spending the first five years of his life in Providence, R.I. and the next six a few stops down the East Coast in Connecticut, hockey was Paul Konerko's sport of choice, followed by baseball.
His eyes still gleam when he talks about the experience, especially the 4-0 victory over Cuba in the gold-medal game [in the 2000 Olympic baseball competition] in Sydney. Ben Sheets became an instant legend with his five-hit shutout that day. But it was Young's bases-loaded single on a 98-m.p.h. fastball from Cuban reliever Maels Rodriguez that broke open the game.