Batting practice at White Sox Park last Saturday took place under a high, bleached sky–until black clouds suddenly blew in on a wind that howled through the fencing at the back of the upper deck. As the rain came down in sheets–and Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle did belly slides on the tarp like an otter–I went through my notebook, hoping to fix the images there in my head before they washed away.
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The Bandits began play last Thursday with a game against the Australian national team at Lisle’s Benedictine University. The Sun-Times treated it as little more than a girl-power curiosity, while the Tribune buried it in a notes column. (DePaul’s softball team, by contrast, got full coverage in the Women’s College World Series.) On TV, however, Comcast SportsNet Chicago gave the game the full treatment, and I paid rapt attention. There are plenty of other fine players on the Bandits, but Finch dominated, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning and pitching a complete-game victory, plus batting cleanup. Glaring fiercely from behind the eyeliner and mascara, she seemed transformed from Wrigley.
When Derrek Lee first arrived at Wrigley with the Florida Marlins, he was a gangly first baseman with prodigious power. Over the last two years with the Cubs he’s acquired a fluid grace. I was studying his swing one day at batting practice, and in his long, level follow-through, punctuated by a slight tilt of the head, I saw a mirror image of old photos of Ted Williams, a similarly tall, thin player whose elegant left-handed swing helped make him one of baseball’s greatest hitters. As Lee went on to take the National League lead in each of the Triple Crown categories–batting average, homers, and runs batted in–Jimmy Piersall was asked last week on WSCR if he’d ever seen a batter as hot for such an extended period.
In the bottom of the first, Aaron Rowand came up with two on and two out, and I commented on his erect, formal batting stance, elbows wide. Kate said it gave him a classic look and called for a handlebar mustache. Rowand socked a two-run double that right fielder Jody Gerut got his glove on but couldn’t catch, and from there the Sox kept tacking on runs. Pitcher Jon Garland, challenging the Cleveland hitters, gave a few of them back but didn’t surrender the lead.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Steve Foster.
