By Roger Wallenstein
By the time Nick Swisher hit the blast halfway up the right-field bleachers off Addison Reed around 12:30 a.m. early Saturday morning, there were no f-bombs, airborne shoes, groans or moans in my man cave. I’ll admit maybe to a grimace, but then laughter. What else could you do?
In 137 years of major league baseball, no two teams had ever played as long as the White Sox and Indians on Friday night and continuing into the wee hours of Saturday morning.
While doubleheaders are pretty much a part of baseball history – this one only was necessary because of an earlier rain-out – there have been thousands of them over the decades. The seven hours, 37 minutes – featuring 46 runs, 59 hits, 18 pitching changes, and, of course, two Sox losses – wound up just before 1 a.m., factoring in a 25-minute rain delay added to the scheduled half-hour break between games.
The attendance of 28,628 no doubt included some of the revelers who made their way to the South Side after joining almost two million of their closest friends for the rally to honor the Blackhawks. Possibly others simply wanted to witness this sorry bunch of White Sox create new, innovative ways to blow a ballgame.
Posted on July 1, 2013