As long as Cub fans are going to be subjected to the blitherings and blatherings of former-ballplayer-turned-color-commentator Dave Otto all season, can someone please explain to him the difference between usage of the word “well” and the word “good”? While they’re at it, have this person instruct Otto on the correct pronunciation of the word “get.”
I watched the Sox play the Cubs in a preseason contest in which the South Siders ate the Cubs’ lunch, broke their bench . . . and caused what few fans were left remaining in the park to nod off. Though it may sound suspiciously like a favorite fairy tale of old, it was, in fact, a preview of the Cubs’ upcoming season. And here is how Otto described the (ahem) action, in a game the Sox led 16-3 in the sixth:
“Well, Chip, the Cubs just aren’t seeing the ball good. They aren’t pitching very good. When you start a new baseball season, you hope that things are going good for your ballclub. I just don’t know how they can expect, in the next three days, for the fielding to git good, the hitting to git good. And, mercy sakes alive, to win in this division, your hitters have to start hitting good from the git-go or your ballclub can find itself in big trouble.”
Must a city with a cultural heritage the likes of Chicago be forced to abide the syntactical sins of Otto’s ilk? This guy reflects poorly on the entire city, and if we’re not careful, he could become a major-league contributor to the illiteracy of the city’s youth. Losing the battle for a pennant is one thing. Losing the battle for the education of a community’s kids is something else altogether.
