A popular question I get asked as someone whose job it is to watch the White Sox every day is whether or not it’s hard to watch a struggling team.
I always respond by saying, “I watch baseball every day. Even my worst days are good.”
I have a quote from Emmy Award-winning sportscaster Ernie Johnson taped to my desk that says, “I’ve got a job to get to.” It helps keep bad days in perspective. Most people have a job to do. I have one that I have to do.
That perspective is rarely as clear as when the White Sox play Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani.
In the three games before Thursday’s 9-7 series-clinching victory over the Angels in Anaheim, Ohtani shut down the White Sox both on the mound and at the plate.
In Monday’s 2-1 win over the White Sox, he homered 448 feet off Dylan Cease. In the bottom of the ninth, he helped push in the winning run by walking and then running into a double steal that allowed Mike Trout to score on a wild pitch.
On Tuesday, he struck out 10 batters and hit two home runs, the first AL player to do so since Pedro Ramos in 1963. The Angels won that game 4-2 on a rocky performance by Michael Kopech.
On Wednesday, the White Sox kept Ohtani in the ballpark in an 11-5 win, but he had three hits, including a triple, and two runs scored.
Through eight innings Thursday, the White Sox looked capable of holding Ohtani to a fairly blank stat line. 0-for-2 with two walks (one of which was intentional) came to the plate with two outs and drove Kendall Graveman deep on a 1-2 slider. The Angels lost by just two runs instead of four. His 14th home run in the month of June broke Babe Ruth’s record for most by a pitcher who also started a game that month.
On Thursday, Ohtani was named an American League All-Star starter for the third consecutive season, a fitting end to a historic and record-setting streak against the White Sox.
As the White Sox head to Oakland for a three-game set against the A’s, I imagine I’ll need a good look at this quote taped to my desk.
But when the White Sox play the Angels, the reminder to be thankful is right there.
I can see Shohei Ohtani. We all do it.
