South Side Sox Player of the Week (August 4-10): Andrew Vaughn

The Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak this week, and bursts of light streak far above Chicago’s amber glow. It’s time for White Sox fans to count their baseball blessings.

I, for one, am grateful for the hearty smell of onions and sausage on a hot griddle. I’m grateful for the milk and cookies voice of Gene Honda echoing from the loudspeakers. I’m grateful that we play in the worst division in professional sports, because it makes even our abysmal performance seem mediocre by comparison.

Most of all, it’s a damned blessing that we have Andrew Vaughn, whose quiet leadership and steady performance have helped make a bad season better.

Andy, hitting a rock-steady .250, helped the Good Guys in two ways over the past week.

The first was in Cleveland, where Tim Anderson and José Ramírez exchanged blows to nationwide amusement and local embarrassment. Vaughn picked up the semi-lucid Anderson and carried him off the field like a jumbo sack of birdseed, demonstrating his willingness to jump in and help his teammates. While avoiding drama, Vaughn has parkour-ed around the leadership vacuum in the Sox clubhouse and has silently become a dependable teammate on and off the field.

Vaughn’s second shining moment came against the Yankees last week when his two-run homer gave the Sox an early lead. The Yankees replied by loading up the bases, and a smacked ball up the first base line would’ve tied things up if not for a brilliant dive by Vaughn, who snagged the heater and made the out at first. The Sox ended up victorious, putting down the Bronx, 5-1.

When times are tough, it’s your teammates that get you through. The Sox are in flux, morphing from “contenders” to “Rebuild 2.0” or whatever, and Vaughn could become the veteran first baseman that anchors this lineup and lead it to future success.

I’m grateful for the South Siders, as tough as they can be to watch. I’m grateful for summer nights and dog days.

With a month-and-a-half of baseball yet to play, there’s nowhere to go but up.

2023 South Side Sox Players of the Week

Oscar Colás (February 25-March 2)
Andrew Vaughn (March 3-8)
Carlos Pérez (March 9-16)
Oscar Colás (March 17-22)
Cactus League MVP: Oscar Colás
Dylan Cease (March 30-April 5)
Luis Robert Jr. (April 6-12)
Lucas Giolito (April 13-20)
Jake Burger (April 21-27)
Lucas Giolito (April 28- May 4)
Hanser Alberto (May 5-11)
Luis Robert Jr. (May 12-18)
Michael Kopech (May 19-25)
Liam Hendriks (May 26-31)
Andrew Benintendi (June 1-8)
Lucas Giolito (June 9-14)
Zach Remillard (June 15-22)
Luis Robert Jr. (June 23-29)
Lance Lynn (June 30-July 6)
Andrew Benintendi (July 7-21)
Jake Burger (July 22-27)
Jesse Scholtens (July 28-August 3)
Andrew Vaughn (August 4-10)

If you’re interested in seeing more of Mitch’s work, or if you’d like to purchase original drawings or prints, contact him via Twitter (@soxsketcher), Instagram (@southsidesharpie), or by e-mail at southsidesharpie@gmail.com. Thanks for supporting local artists!