Had to be another Veeck trick
The bug attack on Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain during the AL Division Series game in Cleveland on Friday night reminded longtime White Sox fans of a 1959 night at old Comiskey Park when Hoyt Wilhelm, then pitching for the Baltimore Orioles, was attacked by gnats. Wilhelm was nearly engulfed by the swarm and later complained that bugs had gone into his eyes, his mouth and his uniform. Bill Veeck, the Sox’s owner at the timer, figured his rival owners would suspect him of instigating a typical bit of mischief, so he got out ahead of the story and claimed responsibility for the attack, saying he’d kept the gnats in a jar and “trained them” to attack at just the right moment.
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D’backs’ good-luck charm
Former White Sox executive Roland Hemond, a baseball fixture on the South Side, was back in Chicago for the first time since leaving the Sox for the Diamondbacks in July. Hemond is a special assistant to D’backs President Derrick Hall, and the organization considers him a good-luck charm. He was a front-office executive when Arizona won the World Series in 2001, and the D’backs’ rise through the NL West this year coincided with his return to the desert. Hemond is heading Sunday to a previous commitment: He will be off to Boston to be inducted into the Boston Braves Historical Association Hall of Fame. The Braves gave him his start in baseball in 1951.
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Lou’s view drawn to Drew
A postgame questioner sought Lou Piniella’s opinion of Arizona closer Jose Valverde, and the Cubs manager immediately veered off into a discussion of the player on the D’backs who most impressed him: Stephen Drew. “You want to talk about their team, start talking about their shortstop, what a job he did,” Piniella said of the 24-year-old second-year man, who hit two homers, a double and a triple, drove in four runs and fielded spectacularly in the series. “That Drew kid — what a job he did. He made some great plays, hit some home runs — what did he hit, about .500 (7-for-14) in the series? Pretty impressive.” Drew is the younger brother of Red Sox outfielder J.D. Drew.
