Chicago Sports Exchange: Justin Fields' Quick Start Has Clock Ticking On Dalton’s Already Borrowed Time
Shine stays on Sox despite losing series against Yanks
Could you blame Andy Dalton if he was in his feelings?
If the cold shoulders that greeted his one-year deal with the Chicago Bears this off-season weren’t reason enough, the former three-time Pro Bowler has, without question, taken on more of a chopped liver quality thanks to franchise hero-in-wait Justin Fields leaving the Bears fan base (as well as Ohio State football junkie and Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James) straining at the leash Saturday.
To his credit, the 10-year pro has taken everything—including being the last resort for a front office that both struck out in its effort to trade for Russell Wilson and whiffed on a host of free-agent quarterbacks it was rumored to have interest in before settling on Dalton—in stride.
At least from outward appearances.
But the “Red Rifle” couldn’t have felt any more warm and fuzzy during his five-question post-game presser, which began with a pair of questions about Fields, than he did during his chilly reception from fans back in March.
Thank goodness he’s got that $10 million contract to cuddle up to this season.
BUY — Current Rough Patch Just A Blip In Sox’s Captivating Season
Last Thursday settled it.
Whatever comes of the next three months—be it the sweet taste of World Series victory or the bitter pill of defeat—I’m over the moon for these White Sox.
And there’s not a thing blown saves or unnecessarily stowed-away replay challenges can do about it.
It’s not only about Tim Anderson driving the very first pitch he saw in the bottom of the ninth inning of the Field of Dreams game into a shroud of cornstalks.
It’s about how Seby Zavala won a tug-of-war with Zack Britton to take first base and put Anderson in a position to hit his two-run, walk-off homer in the first place.
It’s about Liam Hendriks failing to protect a three-run lead a half-inning earlier and his teammates not batting an eyelid.
It’s about the White Sox co-starring alongside an immortal Yankees franchise in an instant classic fit for the famously fictitious hallowed ground it was played near, in front of the 7,832 live spectators who squeezed into the pop-up ballpark and the largest national television audience to watch a regular-season baseball game in nearly two decades.
For the third time in five days the entire country got to lay eyes on the team that’s built a commanding lead in the American League Central on the back of its pitching staff and stiff upper lip. For a ball club that existed more than a country mile away from the spotlight until last season, that’s nothing to sneeze at.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t things to fret about. (The Sox having won just three series since the All-Star break, their 16-21 record against winning teams, and the start of an 11-game stretch Monday that includes the AL’s other division leaders, Oakland and Tampa Bay, comes to mind.)
But from Yermín Mercedes mania, to Carlos Rodón’s revival, to Andrew Vaughn’s emergence, to the contributions from thirty-something journeymen Brian Goodwin and Billy Hamilton, to Zavala becoming the first big leaguer to hit the first three homers of his career all in the same game, to Anderson’s dreamy dinger in Dyersville, this season is bursting at the seams with way too many unforgettable moments and memories to be reduced to atoms.
To see the Sox take another step—or three—this postseason is still the endgame. It just won’t erase my affinity for them if they don’t.
HOLD — Sky Outlast Storm, Yet To Earn Benefit Of Doubt
Ok, it’s not nothing.
The Sky eking out a two-point overtime victory in the teeth of uneven ball handling, unusually poor free-throw shooting, and an unrelenting Jewell Loyd in their first game since July 10 is something to get excited about.
But the fact that five-time gold medalist Sue Bird and reigning Finals MVP Breanna Stewart watched from Seattle’s bench as it happened acts as a wet blanket to a win that pulled the fifth-place Sky (11-10) within four games of Connecticut and Las Vegas for second place Sunday.
Maybe it’s unfair to nitpick. The Sky are 10-3 when completely healthy, after all, and looking to boost their playoff seeding one way or another.
There just would’ve been more to latch on to had their first test against one of the two best teams in the league hadn’t come with so many loopholes.