Cup o’ Joe, side o’ dough: a new malady, foot-in-mouth disease

Sorting out Governor Pritzker’s remarks on MLB player salaries
Vinnie Duber, NBC Sports Chicago

"I must say," Pritzker said, "I'm disappointed in many ways that players are holding out for these very, very high salaries and payments during a time when I think everybody is sacrificing."

That’s the quote we all saw tweeted, and Duber points out it was part of longer remarks that did provide more context. However, the quote’s the quote, and no amount of tap-dancing can drown out the fact that is was a tone-deaf statement to make. Let’s [clap] make [clap] it [clap] clear [clap] the [clap] players [clap] aren’t [clap] talking [clap] about [clap] money [clap] the [clap] owners [clap] are.

MLB, players discuss health issues while money remains hurdle for 2020 season
Vinnie Duber, NBC Sports Chicago

Much of the day’s conversations were said to have focused on health and safety concerns from players being asked to return to work in the middle of a pandemic.

This Duber double-dip addresses the first-stage conversations between ownership and the MLBPA, where the mettle of the convo concerned player safety and public health, not how much teams could and should dicker down their player compensation.

Ranking the 10 Most Unique Batting Stances in Recent MLB History
Jacob Shafer, Bleacher Report

Some of these stances produced Hall of Fame careers, and every player on this list was at least a productive hitter. We aren't knocking their unorthodox approaches. If anything, this is the kind of stuff that makes baseball fun.

Three White Sox make the Top 10 unique stances list, and I gave the least obvious one away in the art for this piece. So the two others should be gimmes.

2020 OOTP sim: White Sox rally, upend Padres, 5-3
Brett Ballantini, South Side Hit Pen at Sports Illustrated

After a frustrating run of losses with absent offense, inconsistent pitching, and even the occasional lost fly ball to spur an extra-innings defeat, things finally broke Chicago’s way in a come-from-behind, 5-3 win at MLB-best San Diego.

Eloy Jiménez was the hero, with a big blast in the eighth inning bringing the White Sox up to 20-22 on the season.

Coronavirus pandemic continues to endanger minor league sports
Associated Press

“There’s no future for minor-league sports with empty stadiums. There’s zero,” said Gary Green, who owns Triple-A and Double-A baseball teams and an expansion franchise in the United Soccer League.

With attention focused on the major sports leagues, it’s easy to forget — and tragic to digest — that baseball’s minor leagues are going to be far more damaged by this pandemic than the big boys.

Where Were They Then? Part 2
John Gorlewski, South Side Hit Pen at Sports Illustrated

Moving up the list of Top 10 White Sox prospects from this key 1958-59 offseason, we look at two players that came from groups that were strengths of the White Sox in the late 50's: Sundry corner hitters who could be moved around the diamond, and loose arms who could shuffle in and out of the bullpen.

Both were relatively new to the system, Joe Hoerner being signed in 1957 and Jerry McNertney in 1958. Both would cross paths in Class-C Duluth-Superior of the Northern League in 1959, one quickly ascending the system ladder, the other finding himself stalled out. Both would need to choose a different path forward, however.

John continues detailing a time in White Sox history where they didn’t have to tank to build a rich, deep farm system.

Morning Music
I saw Wilco come up yesterday, and whenever I think of Wilco, I think of Beulah, who with just a smidge of luck could have been Wilco:

The Coast is Never Clear is a fabulous record.