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And so the long journey to Cooperstown begins. If you start now, Chicago Cubs fans, you will be there in time for Javier Baez’s induction. OK, you don’t have to depart just yet. But there no doubt are some out there in cyberspace who have the foresight for such an event in 20 years or so. What other conclusion can you draw after his performance Thursday at Coors Field in a 6-2 victory vs. the Colorado Rockies with a single, two home runs and four runs batted in?
Model Chrissy Teigen has fun at a Dodgers game this week.
* Speaking of Baez, he is in rarefied air (not to be confused with the air in Colorado where baseballs fly farther). Only Joe Cunningham of the 1954 St. Louis Cardinals hit three home runs in his first three big-league games. Some of us remember watching Cunningham — who played for the Chicago White Sox– perform. As entertaining as he was, he did not become a Hall of Famer. Not to say Baez might not be one some day. But three games do not constitute a sufficient sample size to draw conclusions — other than perhaps some fans will show up at Wrigley Field to watch him.
* Still speaking of Baez, the Cubs (49-64) have won two of three games with him on the team. If the Cubs went two-thirds of their games for the rest of the season, they will finish 82-80. If they play at their current .434 rate, they will finish 70-92. You can figure out which is more likely.
* If nothing else, by taking two of three series in their series in Denver, the Cubs showed the Rockies who the better last-place team was. For the season, the Cubs are 5-2 vs. Colorado.
* Given the Cubs performance in Los Angeles vs. the Dodgers and at Colorado, the Cubs might want to think about starting their home games based on Pacifi Coast and Mountain times zones.
Here is Chrissy Teigen away from Dodger Stadium.
* Speaking of the West Coast, that is where the White Sox were for their game against Seattle. For those of us who stayed up to watch the game, how disappointing was it that Sox manager Robin Ventura didn’t bring in Adam Dunn to pitch the eighth inning of what became a 13-3 loss. Maybe Dunn’s arm hadn’t recovered from his pitching performance on Tuesday. Or maybe Dunn’s contract has an incentive clause if he pitches more than one inning in a season.
* Speaking of the Sox, their opponents have scored at least 13 runs in three of the last five games. Or, to put it more optimistically, Sox opponents have not scored at least 13 runs in two of the last five games. OK, so that doesn’t sound all that optimistic, does it? Hey, that means Dunn’s 9.00 earned-run average would be an improvement (well, provided that he could limit teams to nine runs in nine innings) over what the actual pitching staff has been doing lately.
* The Bears open their exhibition season Friday against Philadelphia. Much to the delight of football-loving fans, especially those who think by knocking other sports, that somehow makes football better. Hey, people, enjoy your favorite sport — whether it football, baseball, basketball, rugby or whatever. And don’t worry about sports that you deem are somehow beneath you and/or your sport. There’s enough negativity in the world. No need to pile on.
* They don’t give points for playing hard, so the Chicago Sky’s 74-64 road loss to the Minnesota Lynx will go down as nothing more than a defeat. That said (or in this case, typed), the Sky (13-17) did make a game of it against Minnesota, which won its 11th in a row. The Sky had won three in a row. In her fourth game back from being sidelined by Lyme disease, Elena Delle Donne came off the bench and had two points (1-of-7 from the field) in 16 minutes for the Sky, which is home Sunday against Atlantat at 5 p.m. at Allstate Arena in Rosemont.
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