RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from Yahoo Sports — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 2 sourcesHead groundskeeper Roger Bossard helped save the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees from playing a doubleheader on Tuesday.
All hail the Sodfather.
After Monday’s storms in Chicago , which flooded viaducts, uprooted trees and led to extensive damage across the city and the suburbs, Bossard and his crew squeegeed over 480,000 gallons of water off the field at Sox Park to get it ready for the opener of the four-game series.
It all went into Bossard’s patented drainage system, and the start of the game was delayed by only 20 minutes. Both teams were also spared from using up their bullpens in a crucial stretch right before Monday’s trade deadline.
Bossard said Tuesday it was the hardest rain he’d seen at a ballpark in his six decades.
Now in his 60th season as Sox groundskeeper, Bossard was inducted into the Groundskeeper Hall of Fame over the winter, where his father, grandfather and uncle are already members. Of the 12 members in the Hall, one-third are Bossards. They might as well call it the Sodfather Family Hall of Fame.
Why did it take so long to get in?
“They haven’t put anybody into the Hall of Fame until they retire, and I’ve never retired,” Bossard said. ”They told me ‘We can’t wait too much longer … we’ve got to get him in there.’”
The Sodfather said he has the intention of retiring soon, and informed Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf of that last year.
“In 10 years he has to sell, and he said ‘Roger, I plan on being there when I’m 99, are you with me?’” Bossard said. “I said I’m sure going to try.”
Bossard hopes to be around to help put in the field at the next ballpark, which hasn’t been talked about much since Reinsdorf floated the idea two years ago and got a tepid response from lawmakers. If it does happen, it probably won’t happen until Justin Ishbia takes over the Sox.
Organic conversations
The MLB trade deadline is Monday, and the Sox remain a cautious buyer with several holes to fill, including starting pitching and catching. Edgar Quero’s defensive play since returning from Triple-A Charlotte has been concerning, after he went down to the minors to work on his hitting. Monday’s game could push the Sox closer to acquiring a stopgap catcher while Kyle Teel rehabs.
Does manager Will Venable have conversations with general manager Chris Getz to voice his areas of concern?
“No … I think, yes,” he replied. “But those conversations have really been more organic, and we have a really good relationship, we’re often talking about our club and how we can get better. There wasn’t like a sit-down meeting where we’d discuss things.”
Noah Schultz’s struggles also could force the Sox to upgrade. He didn’t last the fourth inning in his start on Monday , after throwing three shutout innings.
“Was really good early in the game and felt gassed out in the fourth a little bit,” Schultz said. “It’s unfortunate.”
Unfortunate for Schultz maybe. Untenable is a more appropriate choice of words if the Sox hope to make it to October.
Venable said he “thought he did a nice job,” despite the early exit. That doesn’t mean he’ll stick with Schultz another turn in the rotation, but his options are limited until after the deadline. Schultz’s slot comes up again on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Playoff mind games
While baseball etiquette says no game is more important than any other, there’s no downplaying the significance of this week’s Sox-Yankees series, since the two teams could easily meet in the postseason. Colson Montgomery said after Monday’s loss that the Sox understand it’s big and are treating it that way.
“One of the biggest things we can do is think of these as playoff games,” Montgomery said. “These are the types of teams that we have coming up. The Yankees and the (Tampa Bay) Rays, teams that are going to be in the playoffs. We can shift our mind of thinking it’s a playoff game, especially if it’s a little gauntlet with the teams we face.”
Venable is a proponent of the “all games are equal” philosophy, but said Tuesday he was OK with the players tricking themselves into thinking it’s October.
Photos: New York Yankees 9, Chicago White Sox 5
“That’s all Colson,” he said. “That’s all them. We haven’t really addressed kind of those bigger-picture things as far as the upcoming schedule. We have a schedule, we know who we are playing, these guys have done such a good job of focusing on today’s challenge. That’s what we are trying to support. They are aware of it. Whenever they need to think to themselves about how to get mentally locked in, I’m all about it.”
Venable doesn’t call meetings with his players after bad losses, but he does have a “state of the Sox” meeting at the end of every month. He got the idea with the Cubs when he was a coach under Joe Maddon.
“Joe Maddon would meet with the guys three times a year,” he said. “We would never ever do other kinds of meetings. There’s something that I like, being proactive. At the same time, I realize sometimes in between those you do have to have a meeting with the guys. I’m not rigid about it but want to have a routine where they know we’re going to get together and talk and it’s not that big of a deal.”
Players are given an opportunity to speak, but Venable said they seldom chime in.
Questionable call
If Monday was a playoff game, third-base coach Justin Jirschele’s ears would still be ringing from fans criticizing his questionable decision to send Montgomery home from first base on Chase Meidroth’s hit off the left-field wall in the seventh inning. There were two out and the Sox trailed 5-4.
Montgomery, coming off a shin injury that forced him to sit out Sunday and DH on Monday, was easily thrown out at the plate , and the Yankees we...
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.