What a sight, fans at games again. But it seems more that fans want to act out. Let’s not excuse this and say it’s just a few bad apples especially in the NBA. Not to get political but since the end of the elections and since so many people have been vaccinated thanks to Joe Biden and whatever state and local entities it has allowed people at sporting events close to what they were before Covid. What is bothering me is the number of bad behavior of the fans. From some fans in Atlanta wanting to fight Lebron James over some supposed slight to now players having objects particular food items being thrown at them. I thought this went out in the early two thousands with the big brawl in Detroit in 2004 where the former Ron Artest had a drink thrown at him and he charged into the stands. Now we have Trae Young getting spit on and Ja Morant having racist chants directed towards his family in Utah. Russell Westbrook had popcorn thrown at him And now a fan arrested in Boston for throwing a bottle of water at Kyrie Irving. I have to ask is it worth being banned from watching a game, team, sport you love for what is a minutes worth of chicanery? The answer is not to leave a massive player alone with the fan who committed the transgression as Charles Barkley suggests. And Kyrie Irving issuing an age old  statement that players are human too and not to be treated as if they are in a zoo.

Neither fans nor players would want any sort of barrier between them. And the more raucous the better. And no one knows when someone is going to lose their mind and start chanting racial epithets and throwing things. What is a good sight to see is that with the environment we’re in people are willing to point out the culprit and apprehension is swift. But we didn’t sit around waiting for sports to come back to have to deal with ignorant people. Understandably you have to take the good with the bad and the players are totally excited to be playing in front of fans. The owners are excited to have as many fans to fill their coffers. What happens however if a social justice situation comes up like last year when games are cancelled how are fans going to respond to that particularly during the playoffs (which is one of the most painful playoffs to follow)? It is still hard for fans to understand athletes are not automatons as if we didn’t always know that. But speaking of coming back from Covid, it is certain that we are not the same country prior to Covid. It’s possible these acts would’ve happened anyways. Whatever the reason there is no excuse for them happening. G©

 

 

CHICAGO — The 2005 season will always hold a special place in the heart of Chicago White Sox fans, but for the family of Loretta Micele, a World Series championship was just part of the allure of a magical year.

Micele had been a fixture at the Sox home ballpark since 1945 when she started working home games as a concessions worker. So, when Game 1 of the 2005 World Series rolled around, Micele never figured the Sox would honor her for 60 years of employment with the team. The anniversary celebration also included the Sox honoring Micele's years of service with a sign, naming a section of the 100-level concourse after her, “Loretta’s Lounge.”

But seven years after Loretta’s death in 2014, her little piece of the ballpark has been done away with and instead named after first-year manager Tony La Russa. But the rebranding of what is now considered “La Russa’s Lounge” hasn’t gone unnoticed and has Sox fans — and Micele’s family — who are unhappy with how the team handled the renaming of the space.

Much of this week’s firestorm started after Sox fan Tyrone Palmer tweeted out a photo of the new sign bearing the 76-year-old manager’s name.

“This legit pissed me off,” Palmer wrote in a tweet that has garnered more than 29,000 likes and more than 4,500 retweets in less than one day. “This was formerly named Loretta’s Lounge after Loretta Micele. She worked concessions for the Sox for 60 years….She gave so much to the organization and replacing her name to that of TLR is shameful.”

Lou Soto, Micele’s great-grandson, told Block Club Chicago that the family wasn’t even made aware that the change would be made. Soto’s mother still works for the team, and he said that when the family inquired about the sign that has been displayed on the 100-level concourse for nearly the past 16 years, they were told the sign had already been disposed of.

“They told my mother that they threw the sign out,” Soto said. “It was really disheartening. It meant a lot to our family. Every time we’d go to a game we’d take a picture in front of it.”

Soto did not immediately return a message left by Patch on Thursday.

 

LaRussa Right To Be Angry

Over the years I’ve been a huge fan of Tony LaRussa from his days in Chicago. Obviously those days didn’t end well and he moved on to Oakland and St. Louis leaving some to wonder if it was a good idea to let him go with what he was able to accomplish since leaving Chicago: 6 Pennants and Three World Series wins. So why not bring him back and see if there is any magic left in a 70 plus year old baseball genius. There must be some because they currently lead the American Lead Central.

Recently he got himself into a kerfuffle because one of his young hitters during a blowout hit a Homerun with a 3-0 count on a position player the Minnesota Twins threw out on the mound which is not something unusual. All in the mind of saving the bullpen for the next game where the score isn’t a lot to a little. Obviously a fielder cannot get a pitch up to the speed of a Major League pitcher. The game being a laugher by that point a number of times fielders have given up homeruns and no one gets their backs up over it. In this case LaRussa did because of an old school rule or rules, you don’t show up the other team, you never swing at pitch when you have a count of three balls and no strikes (tantamount to fouling a jump shooter in basketball). It looks bad and if it had been a close game you could have swung at ball 4.

When Yermin Mercedes hit a ninth inning homerun with two out in a 15-4 blowout he broke some rules that I can understand LaRussa being upset about. Swinging on the 3-0 count. Trying to add to an already large margin against a position player, not respecting the other team and just ending the misery. I wouldn’t have gone to the media and lambasted the kid but I would have said something. I wouldn’t have talked about punishing him especially with the exceptionally hot start he had to the season where he was hitting close to .400.

A number of players have come out about LaRussa being out of touch with today’s players and bringing up unwritten rules. Everyone has unwritten rules that logically tells you how to handle a situation without having to be told. It shows a level of respect for your comrade even if he happens to be on another team. Plenty of times those comrades become teammates and you have to relive the situation all over again. However you think it might be funny after a while it would make me think twice about trust. It’s great the White Sox clubhouse has Mercedes’ back and it seems if the White Sox do well this year it’ll be in spite of LaRussa rather than because of his tutelage. But how much can you argue with a Hall of Fame Manager?