It doesn`t get any worse than this. Four White Sox errors Wednesday night:
– Third baseman Robin Ventura unleashing high and low throws.
– Left-fielder Ivan Calderon overrunning a harmless single.
– First baseman Carlos Martinez overthrowing third.
It was the second time this season the Sox had been charged with four errors in a game. But on the previous occasion, they were spread over nine innings. This time they came in near succession-all in the second inning. The Twins obliged with four runs, batted around and were off and running to a 6-1 victory.
The pennant hopes of the White Sox are flickering after they lost their fifth game in a row and remained 6 1/2 games behind the A`s in the American League West.
Unlike Marc Antony, I had come here to praise the Sox, not to bury them. I am a believer in the wisdom of Yogi Berra, who insisted: ”It isn`t over until it`s over.” Still, I must admit that if given a shovel, I might have begun digging.
The scenario, however, was one of cheerful optimism during my pregame rounds when I asked some of the principals if it was over. This was before word had arrived that the runaway Oakland A`s had strengthened themselves with the acquisition of veteran slugger Harold Baines in a three-player waiver deal with the Texas Rangers.
”Is what over?” said batting coach Walt Hriniak, pretending ignorance.
”You bet your (deleted) it`s not over,” Hriniak said, his voice rising in anger. ”We`re still in it. These guys aren`t going to quit. They haven`t quit yet. Too many things can happen. Nothing`s over.”
Lance Johnson, the fleet-footed center-fielder, was seated next to Hriniak on a folding chair, adjacent to the Sox dugout.
I asked Johnson if it was over.
He answered the question with a question.
”What do you think?”
I told him the White Sox`s chances were diminishing rapidly, but that I learned long ago it`s never over until a club is mathematically eliminated.
”I think how you think,” Johnson said, pleased.
”They were saying we were finished before the season started, that we`d finish at the bottom. Everyone told us, `You`ve got no chance.` Look at us today. We`re in second place.”
Manager Jeff Torborg was in the corner of the dugout, on a house phone.
”Larry Himes is calling from Chicago,” Torborg told a platoon of Chicago baseball writers. ”I`ve got to go inside to take the call.”
It was three hours before gametime. Several Minnesota players were engaging in extra batting practice. Andy MacPhail, the Twins` general manager, was at the batting cage. When I walked over to say hello, he asked what was going on with Himes.
”I can`t believe Himes is going to get fired,” MacPhail said. ”Not after the job he`s done.”
I told MacPhail it probably was 50-50, that Himes had been and apparently continues to make a serious mistake. Ever since early July, when the Cubs rehired manager Don Zimmer and General Manager Jim Frey, Himes has been
”negotiating” through the press for a contract extension.
In effect, Himes has been criticizing his boss, Sox Board Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, with the repeated complaint that Reinsdorf has been remiss in not offering him a new contract. And the indications are that Reinsdorf doesn`t like to be publicly criticized or pressured by an employee, no matter how successful the employee has been.
Immediately, MacPhail understood.
”I`ve learned the hardest thing to do is keep your mouth shut,”
MacPhail said. ”Sometimes it takes every bit of strength to remain silent.” Back in the Sox clubhouse, Torborg was still waiting for Himes` call.
Torborg was asked if the miracle was over.
”To start with, I don`t think it is or was a miracle,” Torborg said.
”It`s been hard work. But these last 35 games-they`ll be the toughest 35 games we`ve had all year. All I and the coaches can do is not add to the pressure. We have to be supportive.
”We have a young team. A lot of these guys have never played into September. And September is the toughest and longest month. Not only are they playing an extra month for the first time, but they`re in a pennant race to boot.”
Himes was on the phone.
I walked back into the main portion of the clubhouse. There was no indication a pennant was being won or lost. Some of the Latin players-Sammy Sosa, Melido Perez, Ivan Calderon and Martinez-were laughing and carrying on in Spanish. Ozzie Guillen was listening but not participating.
Ron Karkovice and Ventura were at a picnic table playing cards. Ken Patterson was working a newspaper crossword puzzle, with scout Joe Nossek and Steve Lyons offering occasional assistance. Barry Jones and Bobby Thigpen were at their lockers, reading. In all, a normal pregame clubhouse scene.
When Torborg was finished with Himes, I returned to the small dressing room he shares with his coaches.
As I entered, bullpen catcher Barry Foote, in an effort to relieve the tension, announced, ”We might not lose another game.”
How did he figure that?
”We just had a high-level meeting,” Foote replied. ”We`re going to go 35-0.”
High up in the press box, George Brophy, now a Houston scout but for many years the Twins` farm director, was reminding a sportswriter of the difficulty in predicting pennant races.
”In `67, it looked like we were dead,” Brophy said. ”We had no chance. Joe Trimble, a New York sportswriter, told me, `You guys are out of it.` I bet him a steak dinner. I had to pay off, but we didn`t lose until the last day of the season.”
Whatever, Foote will have to revise his prediction. The Sox will go only 34-0.
