SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, breathe a sigh of relief that their joint prediction that the White Sox would go 3-3 vs. Houston and Toronto came true, and give a special thanks to Tuesday night plate umpire Dave Eddings’ incredibly badly-called game for making that possible — what with the stats showing he handed the Sox more than two runs in a one-run game.

No thanks, however, go to the HOFBP and the organization’s coaches at all levels, who apparently teach no baseball fundamentals whatsoever, leading to the constant onslaught of not just botched plays and generally horrible defense, but collisions such as the one Wednesday that resulted in Danny Mendick being helped off the field with a torn ACL.

Sure, other teams have the rare collision, but most ballplayers are taught about calling for a ball back around the age of eight, so why the White Sox can’t learn the trick is a mystery. Well, it would be a mystery if we didn’t know who the manager is.

On a related front, father and son are also at a loss to understand why the White Sox, alone among not just major league teams but hundreds of thousands of pro and amateur baseball and softball players at all skill and age levels, can’t run, or even jog, to first base without pulling up lame. Something is rotten in Denmark, or would be if Denmark was at 35th and Shields.

As for pitching, the mystery is, of course, Lucas Giolito. Well, Lucas and why the rest of the starters, even when having a very good game, can’t seem to get through an inning in fewer than 20 pitches. The White Sox were the least efficient staff in baseball last year, and this season seems no different.

Ah, well — the Orioles next. So thanks are to be given for that. We hope.

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