Chicago Sports

The Chicago White Sox canceled their postgame fireworks celebration on Monday in the wake of a mass shooting at an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago that left at least six people dead and wounded 24 others.

A moment of silence will be held before the start of Chicago’s game against Minnesota, which will proceed as scheduled at 7:10 p.m. CT from Guaranteed Rate Field.

“Our hearts are with the Highland Park community. The entire Chicago White Sox organization expresses our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the innocent victims of today’s horrific shooting and all of those who have been affected by this tragedy,” the team said in a statement.

Authorities said a gunman opened fire around 10:15 a.m. local time, when the parade was about three-quarters through, sending hundreds of marchers, parents with strollers and children on bicycles fleeing in terror.

The shooter, who had apparently fired from a concealed spot on a rooftop, remained on the loose hours later as authorities scoured the area. Highland Park police commander Chris O’Neill, the incident commander on scene, urged people to shelter in place as authorities search for the suspect.

Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli said “several of the deceased victims” died at the scene, and one was taken to a hospital and died there. Police have not released details about the victims or wounded. Covelli said at a news conference that the gunman apparently used a “high-powered rifle” to fire from a spot atop a building where he was “very difficult to see.” He said the rifle was recovered at the scene.

Several nearby cities canceled events including parades and fireworks, some of them noting that the Highland Park shooter was still at large.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The Chicago White Sox canceled their postgame fireworks celebration on Monday in the wake of a mass shooting at an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago that left at least six people dead and wounded 24 others.

A moment of silence will be held before the start of Chicago’s game against Minnesota, which will proceed as scheduled at 7:10 p.m. CT from Guaranteed Rate Field.

“Our hearts are with the Highland Park community. The entire Chicago White Sox organization expresses our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the innocent victims of today’s horrific shooting and all of those who have been affected by this tragedy,” the team said in a statement.

Authorities said a gunman opened fire around 10:15 a.m. local time, when the parade was about three-quarters through, sending hundreds of marchers, parents with strollers and children on bicycles fleeing in terror.

The shooter, who had apparently fired from a concealed spot on a rooftop, remained on the loose hours later as authorities scoured the area. Highland Park police commander Chris O’Neill, the incident commander on scene, urged people to shelter in place as authorities search for the suspect.

Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli said “several of the deceased victims” died at the scene, and one was taken to a hospital and died there. Police have not released details about the victims or wounded. Covelli said at a news conference that the gunman apparently used a “high-powered rifle” to fire from a spot atop a building where he was “very difficult to see.” He said the rifle was recovered at the scene.

Several nearby cities canceled events including parades and fireworks, some of them noting that the Highland Park shooter was still at large.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Fans who have hoped baseball would reduce its reliance on home runs, take note: Through Sunday, 39.7% of runs have been driven in by home runs, down from 42.7% in 2021.

But for those who hoped for more base hits and action on the bases to take up any scoring slack, no such luck. Runs per game are down from 4.53 per team to 4.33, and a small rise in singles per game is no more than could have been expected from the National League’s adoption of the designated hitter.

Halfway through the season, it’s time to check out some trends:

Home runs: Teams are averaging 1.08 homers per game, the fewest since 1.01 in 2014. The average was 1.22 last season after 1.28 in 2020 and an all-time high of 1.39 in 2019.

A home-run dip doesn’t have to be a bad thing if there is enough diversity in offense that runs stay around 4.5 per game to hold fan interest. In 2000, when runs hit a post-World War II high of 5.14 per team per game, the home-run average was 1.17, but only 36.8% of runs scored on homers.

This season, the Cubs (one homer per game) and White Sox (.79) are below the major-league average. They’re also less homer-reliant than others, with the Cubs scoring 33.4% of their runs on homers and the Sox 32%.

Prime Chicago power sources have been Cubs third baseman Patrick Wisdom, who is tied for 15th in the majors with 17 homers, Cubs catcher Willson Contreras with 13 and White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu with nine.

Strikeouts: After an all-time high of 8.81 strikeouts per team per game in 2019, there was a dip to 8.68 in 2020 and 2021.

Strikeouts have fallen to 8.34 per team per game this season, the lowest since 8.25 in 2017. The drop is almost entirely because of the NL using DHs.

Not including pitcher plate appearances, strikeouts in 2021 were at 8.24 per game. A final number would have been higher because of DH strikeouts, but you get the idea. Part of the strikeout drop this season is just a difference in conditions.

Sox right-hander Dylan Cease, at 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings, continues to lead American League qualifiers and trails only the Brewers’ Corbin Burns (12.6) in the majors.

Sacrifice bunts: Only to be expected, sacrifice bunts have been cut by more than half to .07 per team per game after .16 last season. They also stood at .07 in the 60-game 2020 season, when NL teams used DHs.

Sacrifices by non-pitchers have fallen out of favor except in the late innings of close games. Numbers have been declining since .34 per team per game in 2011.

Singles: The 5.27 singles per team per game are up from 5.15 last season and 5.06 in 2020, but that’s still the third-lowest in history.

The 13 lowest singles averages in major-league history are the most recent seasons, 2010-22, as power-based offenses have taken over.

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The Chicago White Sox canceled their postgame fireworks celebration on Monday in the wake of a mass shooting at an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago that left at least six people dead and wounded 24 others.

A moment of silence will be held before the start of Chicago’s game against Minnesota, which will proceed as scheduled at 7:10 p.m. CT from Guaranteed Rate Field.

“Our hearts are with the Highland Park community. The entire Chicago White Sox organization expresses our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the innocent victims of today’s horrific shooting and all of those who have been affected by this tragedy,” the team said in a statement.

Authorities said a gunman opened fire around 10:15 a.m. local time, when the parade was about three-quarters through, sending hundreds of marchers, parents with strollers and children on bicycles fleeing in terror.

The shooter, who had apparently fired from a concealed spot on a rooftop, remained on the loose hours later as authorities scoured the area. Highland Park police commander Chris O’Neill, the incident commander on scene, urged people to shelter in place as authorities search for the suspect.

Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli said “several of the deceased victims” died at the scene, and one was taken to a hospital and died there. Police have not released details about the victims or wounded. Covelli said at a news conference that the gunman apparently used a “high-powered rifle” to fire from a spot atop a building where he was “very difficult to see.” He said the rifle was recovered at the scene.

Several nearby cities canceled events including parades and fireworks, some of them noting that the Highland Park shooter was still at large.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read More

The Chicago White Sox canceled their postgame fireworks celebration on Monday in the wake of a mass shooting at an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago that left at least six people dead and wounded 24 others.

A moment of silence will be held before the start of Chicago’s game against Minnesota, which will proceed as scheduled at 7:10 p.m. CT from Guaranteed Rate Field.

“Our hearts are with the Highland Park community. The entire Chicago White Sox organization expresses our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the innocent victims of today’s horrific shooting and all of those who have been affected by this tragedy,” the team said in a statement.

Authorities said a gunman opened fire around 10:15 a.m. local time, when the parade was about three-quarters through, sending hundreds of marchers, parents with strollers and children on bicycles fleeing in terror.

The shooter, who had apparently fired from a concealed spot on a rooftop, remained on the loose hours later as authorities scoured the area. Highland Park police commander Chris O’Neill, the incident commander on scene, urged people to shelter in place as authorities search for the suspect.

Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli said “several of the deceased victims” died at the scene, and one was taken to a hospital and died there. Police have not released details about the victims or wounded. Covelli said at a news conference that the gunman apparently used a “high-powered rifle” to fire from a spot atop a building where he was “very difficult to see.” He said the rifle was recovered at the scene.

Several nearby cities canceled events including parades and fireworks, some of them noting that the Highland Park shooter was still at large.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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As expected, the White Sox activated closer Liam Hendriks (right forearm strain)off the 15-day injured list before Monday’s game against the Twins. Outfielder Adam Engel (strained right hamstring) was also activated.

In corresponding moves, the Sox optioned outfielder Adam Haseley and right-hander Jimmy Lambert to Triple-A Charlotte.

Getting Hendriks back now is a positive for the Sox, who enter perhaps the most crucial stretch of the season. Monday is the start of a 15-game stretch of 14 days against AL Central foes, including matchups with the first-place Twins and second-place Guardians.

Johnny Cueto starts Monday for the Sox against Minnesota’s Dylan Bundy. As of 3 p.m., the tarp was on the grass at Guaranteed Rate Field.

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MILWAUKEE – Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki’s teammates welcomed him back Monday with shouts, hugs and talk of his rehab-assignment home run.

The Cubs activated Suzuki after over five weeks on the 10-day injured list with a sprained left ring finger. Cubs manger David Ross wrote Suzuki into Monday’s lineup playing right field and batting fourth against the Brewers.

“It’s nice,” Ross said. “Getting him back and back in that lineup deepens everything, pushes some guys down [in the lineup]. … When you get a guy like Seiya back who has a real track record, when he’s hot he’s as good of a player as we have.”

In a three-game rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa, Suzuki went 4-for-9 with a home run and two doubles.

“This guys a workaholic, so he picked [his timing] up pretty quick,” Ross said. “We’ll see how it transitions to the best competition in the world.”

In a corresponding move, the Cubs optioned outfielder Narciso Crook to Triple-A Iowa. Crook made his MLB debut with the Cubs last week, logging an RBI double as his first major-league hit.

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Seventy-five years ago, on a cloudy day in Comiskey Park, Larry Doby stepped out of the shadows into an exclusionary world.On that day — July 5, 1947 –the unassuming 22-year-old Paterson, New Jersey native joined the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians).

Only 24 hours earlier, Doby had hit a home run in his last at-bat for the Newark Eagles in the Negro Leagues, whose plucky existence emanated from apartheid in America’s pastime.

Doby’s contract had been unexpectedly sold for $10,000 by Newark owner Effa Manley to Bill Veeck, Cleveland’s maverick owner.With no clue what lay ahead,Doby took a cab to Comiskey with Veeck.He started the game on the bench, surrounded by Chicago plainclothes policemen. In the seventh inning, Doby was called to pinch-hit, and struck out.

So began his enduring niche in history as the first Black player to integrate the American Leagues. Yet his legacy remains in the shadows, if not near-obscurity.

Eleven weeks before Doby’s debut, Jackie Robinson had broken baseball’s color barrier when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, the first Black player to compete in the modern major leagues. Robinsonwould emerge into a civil rights icon, a larger-than-life hero whose No. 42 is now retired by every major league team.

Yet Doby, who died at 79 in 2003, is baseball’s forgotten racial pioneer. If Robinson’s “great experiment” made integration a fact, Doby’s profile in courage made it a sure thing. It’s time Major League Baseball finally recognizes — as it belatedly recognized the Negro League as a major league one year ago — Doby’s immeasurable contributions in forging racial equality.

Every American League player should wear his No. 14every July 5.

Robinson’sbook “I Never Had It Made” could’ve easily been about Doby. He endured the same pressures and vulgar racism, also barred from his team’s hotels and restaurants. When Doby joined Cleveland, several teammates refused to shake his hand. Opponents spat on him.Veeck received 20,000 hate letters for signing Doby, who played in segregated Washington, D.C. and St. Louis, and throughout the South during spring training games.

Doby remembered bench jockeys yelling, “You’re not supposed to be in this league. You’re supposed to be in that bush league with that other n–.” The racism even extended to his wife, Helyn, who could not get her newborn baby a drink of water in a Tucson hotel.

Robinson and Doby had strikingly similar backgrounds. Both were four-sport standouts, served during World War II, attended college, played briefly in the Negro Leagues. They spoke often during their first year in the majors. Yet Doby’s travailswere significantly overshadowed by Robinson’s, who played in New York City, the epicenter of baseball during the post-war era. Doby was a quiet man, a marked contrast to Robinson’s brash outspokenness.

Yet his graceand dignity impacted racial progress almost a decade before the Civil Rights Movement. As Ebony magazine noted in its May 1949 issue, “Although Robinson pioneered in the majors, probably Doby has been a more important factor in sending club owners into the chase for Negro talent.”

Doby — who was also the second Black manager in baseball history, for the Chicago White Sox–scarcely received proper acclaim as a racial pioneer or for his on-field excellence. He was a seven-time All-Star who averaged 27 homers a year over a decade in Cleveland. Still, it took nearly three decades before he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

One of Doby’s proudest moments in baseball came in 1948,the same year President Harry Truman banned segregation in the armed forces.After becoming the first Black player to hit a home run (and win) a World Series for Cleveland,Doby was joyously embracedby teammate and winning pitcher Steve Gromek. The photo of a white man hugging a Black man appeared in newspapers across the country, sparking outrage in many quarters. To Doby it was a picture of acceptance.

“That’s what America is all about, or what it’s supposed to be about,” hesaid years later. “I think I feel as good about that photograph as anything.”

Doby was born in the segregated south, but his worldview emerged growing up in a mixed neighborhood in Paterson in the late 1930s and ’40s.He captained his integrated high school teams, where his fondest athletic memories came playing at nearby Hinchliffe Stadium.

An original Negro Leagues ballpark built in 1932, Hinchliffe is now undergoing a major renovation to restore its former communal glory.The project will also include a small museum to honor Doby, the city’s hometown hero.

Long overdue, Major League Baseball should do the same, to indelibly honor Jackie Robinson’s partner in the integration of baseball.

Dave Kaplan,the founding director of the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center, is an adjunct professor at Montclair State (New Jersey) University. Joseph Thomas Moore is an emeritus professor in history at Montclair State and the author of Larry Doby’s biography, “Pride Against Prejudice.”

The Sun-Times welcomes letters to the editor and op-eds from readers. See our guidelines.

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We take a look at five mid-level exception targets fro the Chicago Bulls left in free agency

After seeing the largest names in NBA free agency sign league-altering contracts over the past week, the market has hit somewhat of a halt since the self-introduction of All-Star Forward Kevin Durant into the trade market. As teams across the league gather trade packages, bigger named free agents such as Deandre Ayton and Collin Sexton remain unsigned so that teams have their full salary cap space to identify possible paths to acquiring the Brooklyn Nets’ superstar.

As the Bulls continue their off-season, mainly resigning Zach Lavine to a massive 5-year, $215 million contract, there is hope that Chicago is one of many franchises making a realistic offer to acquire Durant. However, while teams want to reserve cap space for this potential trade, there is still work that the Bulls’ front office can continue to do in the free agent market to make the 2022-23 roster deeper than last season. While signing a big-name contributor would be difficult to imagine, both in the salary cap and on the floor, there is certainly still room for improvements and additions.

Most notably, the Bulls still possess their 2022-23 Mid-Level Exception (MLE), a salary cap exception that allows teams to go over the cap to acquire a contributing veteran without destroying the already in-tact roster. The NBA’s salary cap is certainly a bit confusing at times, but the MLE is actually a very common roster tool used annually during free agency. In fact, during the 2021-22 NBA season, 28 out of 30 teams used a MLE of some form, and many teams showed the importance of the players that often take these deals.

Last season, for example, MLEs were used across the league for players such as P.J. Tucker, JaVale McGee, Patty Mills, Reggie Bullock, and the Bulls’ own Alex Caruso. While it is apparent from this list that these players aren’t necessarily superstars, many were integral to their respective teams last season, including the playoffs (Bullock averaged 11 ppg and 5 rpg on 40% 3-pt shooting and Tucker averaged 8 ppg and 6 rpg on 45% 3-pt shooting). In fact, the New Orleans Pelicans split their MLE last year amongst two players, forward Herb Jones and guard Jose Alvarado, two players who were crucial in taking the eight seeded Pelicans to a game six against the one seeded Phoenix Suns.

This season, the MLE is roughly $10 million, so while the Bulls continue to try to improve and deepen their current roster, this exception will likely come into play at some point this season. Here are my top 5 Mid-Level Exception candidates for the 2022 roster.

Taj Gibson (37-year-old forward)

Admittedly, this hypothetical contract may be closer to a veteran minimum, but despite the age and limited minutes, there is still a lot of value in the former Bulls veteran. After following former Head Coach Tom Thibodeau around the NBA, from Chicago to Minnesota to New York, Gibson is still playing a relatively high number of minutes for his age. Just last season, Gibson averaged 4.4 ppg and 4.4 rpg in a little over 18 mpg. Nothing spectacular from the looks of it, but a deeper dive shows that Gibson was in fact nearly a 50/40/80 player last year and a total +43 +/- for the season.

However, Gibson’s impact would likely be greater than his on-court statistics. Last season, the Bulls were in the bottom third of age across the league and had only a few players with legitimate playoff experience (DeRozan had made the playoffs several times in Toronto with little success and Caruso won a championship with the Lakers in the bubble). Adding a player like Gibson who has been in the NBA for a very long time, has made the playoffs numerous times, and most importantly, understands the importance of Bulls basketball in the city of Chicago could be a good beacon of light for many of the younger players currently on the roster.

Carmelo Anthony (38-year-old forward)

Fresh off a disappointing season all around in Los Angeles, adding Anthony could do a couple of things for the Bulls roster. First, even at his age, Anthony is still a reliable player and scorer. Last season, Anthony played 69 games for the Lakers, and while he only started in three of them, only Russell Westbrook and the recently departed Malik Monk played in more contests for the purple and gold. In this time, Anthony averaged over 13 ppg with 4 rpg in 26 mpg. Additionally, his shooting splits were relatively effective at 44/38/83.

Coming off the bench in Chicago, Anthony would likely be focused on perimeter scoring, but given the athleticism in the second unit with Dosunmu, Caruso, and Jones Jr, Antony could compliment some of these players’ shooting woes as a veteran, 3-pt scorer.

Blake Griffin (33-year-old forward)

After spending two years (really one and a half) with the up-and-down Brooklyn Nets, the former Rookie of the Year and Slam Dunk Contest champion still has some quality basketball left in the tank. Griffin, a traditional power forward, would fit in nicely and bring another dimension the Bulls, who often run lineups with only one big. With as much value as a scorer that Griffin can bring, especially as a dunker alongside like-minded athletes in Lavine, Caruso, Green, Jones Jr, and frankly the whole roster at this point, the former All-Star’s value may be most obvious on the defensive side of the ball.

Despite the addition of Andre Drummond in free agency, low post defense is still an area of concern for the Bulls heading into the season, and an athletic, big body such as Griffin alongside any of our centers, especially Vucevic, could really take some of the defensive pressure of these players.

Hassan Whiteside (33-year-old center)

Mentioned above, the interior defense is one of the greatest areas of concern for next season, and again, despite adding Drummond, the Bulls still have a relatively small center rotation. Vucevic, Drummond, and backup Tony Bradley all sit around 6’10”, with Mario Simonovic being the tallest on the roster at about 6’11”. First and foremost, adding Whiteside would provide the team with a true 7’0” player, who can be utilized specifically in many different situations, such as closing with a lead. Despite his 63% FT average last season, Whiteside accounted for about 8 ppg with nearly 8 rpg in just under 18 mpg.

Most notably, however, Whiteside totaled 103 blocks in 65 games, and as a relatively effective rim-protector, there is a lot of value to add him into the center rotation. Frankly, to compete in the Eastern Conference, teams need to have a solution for bigger scorers such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid. Whiteside probably is not the answer to stopping these forces, but he’s likely a step in the right direction and could be effective in limited minutes, more so than Vucevic or even Drummond.

T.J. Warren (28-year-old forward)

Certainly, the player on this list with the biggest on-court potential, Warren seems like an obvious candidate for many teams to spend an MLE on for the 2022 season. Warren pulled the attention of many NBA fans during the 2020 NBA bubble, where in ten games, the forward averaged nearly 27 ppg with 6 rpg including a 53-point night where he shot 9/12 from deep. The only problem with Warren is that the bubble was the last time he was healthy, and after playing in only four games since then, there is a lot of concern around the player’s durability and availability.

In his last significant season, the 2019-20 campaign, Warren averaged 15 ppg on 54/40/82 splits. As a relatively effective scorer, there is hope that Warren could become a primary bench scorer on the Bulls and would have significantly less pressure to stay healthy. In many ways, signing Warren to the MLE would be an accessory of sorts, the cherry on top. We know that the Bulls have a solid roster without him, so anytime we could play with him healthy would simply provide another scorer that opposing teams would have to focus on.

This would be a riskier signing, as the forward started for his team in his last full season but has essentially missed two seasons since then. It is nearly impossible to predict whether he will return to his bubble form, or would simply be an addition off the bench, but with the MLE, it seems like a worthy risk to add him to the roster.

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