By Woodrow Carroll
The Sunday, July 9 Major League Baseball (MLB) inter-league game between host Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals, was vital with the all-star game on the horizon.
The White Sox were 38-53 and the Cardinals 37-52, each 15 games under .500.
The game, which featured Eloy Jimenez of the Sox called out on strikes while not in the batter’s box, was its low point. Jimenez called for time when the pitcher went into his windup. No time was granted! The pitch was a called third strike.
The White Sox-Cardinals game was 10 innings and St. Louis emerged a 4-3 victor. St. Louis closed to within 14 games of .500, 38-52.
An interesting tidbit: No Cardinal fan born in 1902 or later has reached the age of 25 without seeing the Redbirds win a World Series championship! The Cardinals beat the New York Yankees in seven games to win the 1926 World Series. Since 1926, St. Louis has made many appearances in the World Series. The longest championship draught was1946 to 1964. The Cardinals last won the World Series in 2011.
The Chicago White Sox went 88 seasons, 1917-2005, between World Series championship. The Chicago Cubs went 108 years, 1908-2016.
A.500 record, 45-45, had Cleveland in first place in the American League Central at all-star time. Minnesota was 45-46.
The Boston Red Sox, with a record of 48-43 at the break, were still in fifth place, and last place in the AL East. The Red Sox have been playing well of late, but, it is difficult to gain ground in the same division as the Toronto Blue Jays, which swept three games from the White Sox last week.
The five teams in the AL Central are not among the MLB attendance leaders. Minnesota is in the 18th spot in attendance among 30 teams.
The Twins have the best attendance among the five franchises in the AL Central. Cleveland is 21 of 30 with the White Sox in the 24th position.
After 44 home games this season, the White Sox had drawn 920,949 fans to Guaranteed Rate Field for an average of 20,930 per game.
Last season, when the Sox ended with a 81-81 record, the Club averaged more than 24,000 per home game. The White Sox final season figure in 2022 was 2,009,359, that eighth among the 15 American League teams. The White Sox are 11th in attendance among the 15 AL teams Life gets no easier for the Sox. After the All-Star break, the Sox will play three games over weekend in Atlanta. The Braves, 60-29, at the break have the best record in MLB.