Gamethread: Brewers at White Sox

Finally, after the long hard winter of our discontent, real, live baseball. With a real, theoretically not quite so live as the juiced absurdity of the last two years’ baseball — a claim we can all believe when routine fly balls quit landing in Row Q and batters decide they might as well try for line drives instead of pop-ups.

It’s the first game of Spring Training 2021, Chicago White Sox vs. Milwaukee Brewers of Cheeseheadland, Tony La Russa’s first chance to make sure anything any member of the team says or does is said or done “sincerely.”

Not that we’re really likely to see much of the Chicago White Sox or Milwaukee Brewers of Cheeseheadland if usual spring patterns are followed. Unless tradition is broken, today will be more Charlotte Knights vs. Nashville Sounds or Birmingham Barons vs. Biloxi Shuckers — that last name being one you shouldn’t try after a few beers. The list of pitchers the Sox announced is not likely to terrify even any Single-A batters the Brews may send to the plate.

If you want to see who the Brewers are running out in the opener — some familiar faces in that lineup, for sure — here is the Olde English lineup card in the White Sox dugout:

But I digress. There is a game at 2:05 p.m. Central, and it’s even on TV, on NBC Sports Chicago, so we can all watch in awe as dozens of players we’ve never heard of take to the mound or the batter’s box. And if you see all the people in short sleeves and wish you could be there, note that the White Sox spring home games are sold out and Stub Hub would like around $40 of your hard-earned money to let you sit on the lawn and ruin your back for months.

So fire up the tube, sit back, and unleash comments at will. Or at Rick Hahn.