According to reporters from The Athletic, Luka Doncic is unhappy with the management situation with the Dallas Mavericks. Could the Chicago Bulls swoop in for a trade?
Makes 4 servings
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: less than 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
2 chicken breasts (8 to 10 ounces each)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup flour
1 cup white wine
1/2 cup unsalted chicken stock
2 lemons, one juiced, one thinly sliced for garnish
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons chopped parsley
Place chicken on cutting board. Place hand flat on top of breast. Use a sharp knife to slice into one side of breast, starting at thicker end and ending at thin point. (Be careful not to cut all the way through to other side.) Open breast so it looks like a butterfly. Cover breast with plastic wrap and pound with meat pounder or rolling pin to create even thickness. Slice in half lengthwise to create two equal pieces of chicken breast. Repeat with second breast.
Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium high. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Coat chicken in flour, shaking off excess. Cook breasts 2 to 3 minutes per side, until chicken is browned.
Transfer chicken to plate. (You may have to cook in batches to prevent crowding in skillet.) After removing chicken, add wine and bring to a boil, scraping browned bits from bottom of pan.
When wine has reduced by half, add stock, lemon juice and capers. Return chicken to pan, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Transfer chicken to serving platter. Whisk butter and parsley into skillet sauce. Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with lemon slices.
Per serving: 325 calories, 26 grams protein, 16 grams fat (44% calories from fat), 5.3 grams saturated fat, 14 grams carbohydrate, 88 milligrams cholesterol, 509 milligrams sodium, 1 gram fiber.
Carb count: 1.
Makes 4 servings
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes; standing time: 5 minutes
INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon coarse salt
2 medium zucchini, cut into 1 1/2- to 2-inch chunks (about 3 cups)
4 ears corn on the cob, cut into 1 1/2- to 2-inch pieces
1 pound uncooked shrimp, shelled and deveined
8 thin slices lemon
Heat oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, combine oil, garlic, thyme and salt. Add zucchini, corn and shrimp; toss. On each of four (14-by-18-inch) sheets of heavy-duty foil, place one-fourth of the shrimp mixture in center. Top with lemon slices. Bring long sides together and fold, leaving room for steam to circulate; seal ends. Place packets in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes; remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before opening. Serve immediately.
Per serving: 295 calories, 27 grams protein, 12 grams fat (36% calories from fat), 1.9 grams saturated fat, 23 grams carbohydrate, 183 milligrams cholesterol, 639 milligrams sodium, 3 grams fiber.
Carb count: 1.5.
Makes about 8 cups
Preparation time: about 15 minutes
Cooking time: 9 to 10 hours on low
INGREDIENTS
1 (1-pound) boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 to 2 teaspoons black pepper
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
Pinch crushed red pepper
2 (4-ounce) cans chopped green chilies, drained
1/4 cup minced fresh jalapeno peppers
1 pound dried navy beans, rinsed
5 cups unsalted chicken broth, heated
3/4 cup chopped onion
Coarse salt and pepper to taste
6 ounces cilantro, chopped and divided
In a 4-quart or larger slow cooker, toss the chicken with the flour until evenly coated. In a small bowl, mix together the garlic, cumin, oregano and black, white and red peppers; add to slow cooker and mix well. Add the green chilies, jalapeno peppers, beans, hot broth and onion. Cover and cook on low 8 to 9 hours or until beans are tender. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir in half the cilantro. Ladle into bowls and garnish with remaining cilantro.
Per cup: 296 calories, 26 grams protein, 2 grams fat (8% calories from fat), 0.5 grams saturated fat, 41 grams carbohydrate, 36 milligrams cholesterol, 258 milligrams sodium, 15 grams fiber.
Carb count: 3.
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Heat a large nonstick skillet on medium. Cook 1 pound 93% to 95% lean ground beef 6 minutes or until no longer pink; drain. Stir in 1 package sloppy Joe seasoning mix, 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste and 1 cup water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in 1 cup frozen corn (thawed). Place 1 (12-inch) ready-to-heat pizza crust on a baking sheet. Spoon beef mixture over top. Sprinkle with 2 cups shredded colby-jack cheese. Bake 12 to 15 minutes until hot and cheese melts. Serve with celery sticks. Enjoy mangoes for dessert.
Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a 7-by-11-inch baking dish, spoon 1/2 cup fire-roasted diced tomatoes from 1 (28-ounce) can. Arrange three 6-inch corn tortillas (of 10 total) over tomatoes, overlapping slightly. (Tear tortillas to fit dish.) Sprinkle with 1/2 cup (of 2 cups total) shredded Monterey jack cheese; top with one-third of two (15-ounce) cans rinsed reduced-sodium black beans. Spread 1 cup more tomatoes over beans. Repeat layers twice, ending with tomatoes; sprinkle 1 cup cheese on top. Cover loosely with nonstick foil; bake 35 minutes or until bubbly.
Coat both sides of 8 slices rustic or sourdough bread with cooking spray or softened butter. Layer 1 slice provolone or mozzarella cheese over each of 4 of the slices; top with olive spread or tapenade, thinly sliced deli ham, mortadella, Genoa salami and another slice of cheese. Top with remaining 4 slices bread. Cook sandwiches in a preheated panini maker about 3 minutes or until golden and cheese is melted.
TIP: Sandwiches may be cooked in a preheated ridged grill pan or skillet over medium heat. Place heavy skillet on top of sandwiches to flatten; cook 3 minutes. Turn; continue to cook 3 to 4 minutes or until golden.
Menu planner: Easy chicken piccata is quick and simpleon June 15, 2021 at 10:00 am Read More »
For 15 months, the stately Palmer House has been closed, laid low by the pandemic and the precarious state of its ownership. For a lot of places so expensive to maintain, that would mean neglect. Not so for this regal fixture of Chicago.
The Palmer House has been scrubbed, groomed, repaired and renovated while otherwise at rest. It has put plumbers, roofers and tuckpointers to work, giving the landmark its own spa treatment worth more than $4 million.
And now, this highborn citizen of Chicago hospitality and heritage is ready for its closeup. The hotel at 17 E. Monroe St. reopens Thursday, an event that should mark a checkpoint in Chicago’s gradual reopening.
“I never could get used to seeing the Palmer House totally empty,” said General Manager Dean Lane, as he stood on the mezzanine overlooking the grand lobby, usually bustling with reunions, celebrations and business negotiations. He’s looking forward to Thursday, when it will come alive with patrons dining from a small-plate menu and crowding the bar, perhaps toasting the repeal of pandemic restrictions like their forebears handled the end of Prohibition.
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Lane awaits the “cascade effect” of it all. “When we open, restaurants will open, stores will open. When the Palmer House opens in the Loop, State Street starts activating,” he said.
He and a crew of about 50 kept on to manage the place during the suspension used the break to get serious work done. Windows were cleaned, inefficient old light bulbs changed. The ceilings on the Grand and State ballrooms were fixed and, right above them, the hotel arranged for $2.2 million to improve a swimming pool installed in 1963.
Lane said he’s brought back 200 members from a pre-pandemic staff of about 900 and looks forward to more callbacks as business picks up in the fall. The rehires fall under terms negotiated with Local 1 of the hotel workers’ union, Unite Here.
While some hotels have had trouble with restaffing, Lane said the Palmer House has many long-tenured employees eager to return. “It was as if they won the lottery when I would call them. You’d hear them jumping around and telling their loves ones on the phone, ‘I’m going back. I’m going back.'”
Lane said he’d had to remind employees to take it slow. “Many of them haven’t worked for months, and they’ll be tired. So I tell them, ‘Take it easy, check your body, keep hydrated.'” A lot of people don’t realize how physical the work can be,” he said.
Accordingly, the hotel is planning a phased reopening. About half of the 1,641 rooms will be available at the start, and room service will be limited to “grab and go” pickups from a new lobby-level outlet, a nod to the demand for convenience from today’s travelers.
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The owner of the Palmer House, New York-based Thor Equities, was among the most prominent business victims of the pandemic. Thor was accused last year of defaulting on a $333.2 million mortgage on the Palmer House as the shutdown hurt the value of the property. A receiver is handling ownership decisions for the Palmer House, which Hilton operates under a management contract.
Lane said the matter has caused no difficulties for Hilton and that the receiver approved financing for work during the closure. The company has been associated with the Palmer House since Conrad Hilton bought it in 1945, and Lane said he expects the relationship to continue for decades more. Thor, which reports an interest in more than 200 properties, did not return a message seeking comment about the foreclosure.
The Palmer House is the second largest hotel in Chicago, after the Hyatt Regency, and its prosperity depends on conventions and business meetings coming back in abundance. Gene Hare, area director of sales and marketing at Hilton, said the signs of a comeback are strong, with brides who want a wedding in the Palmer House’s Empire Room patiently rescheduling once or twice and tours of the property continuing throughout the shutdown.
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Many hotels see the Chicago Auto Show in July and Lollapalooza later that month kicking off a heavier demand for lodging. Hare said another test will be the Fabtech show for the metalworking industry, an event still on McCormick Place’s September calendar.
Meanwhile, Lane is just glad the hotel can look ahead to its 150th anniversary on Sept. 26. It marks the date when the first Palmer House opened on the property in 1871, an unfortunate wedding present Potter Palmer devised for his wife, Bertha. The Great Chicago Fire consumed it 13 days later. A replacement opened in 1875 and the current version dates from 1925 in a staged construction that allowed the hotel to operate without interruption.
The Palmer House claimed the title of the nation’s oldest continuously operated hotel, but the COVID-19 closure calls that into question.
To draw leisure travelers, the hotel is quoting rates of about $170 a night. There are cheaper places to stay, but none so layered in Chicago history. The Palmer House includes an archive and museum available for small-group visits.
“It’s not as much about pricing. It’s still about the experience,” Hare said.
Yes, the Palmer House is back, and with some swagger.
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Four people were killed, and forty-three others were wounded in shootings last weekend citywide.
Twenty-one people were shot, three of them fatally, Monday in Chicago, including a man who was killed, and two women who were wounded, in a shooting in Back of the Yards on the South Side.
About 11:05 p.m., they were outside at a party in the 5200 block of South Lowe Street, when shots were fired, Chicago police said. A 24-year-old man was shot in the head and rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. A 25-year-old woman was struck in the leg and a 43-year-old woman was struck in the ankle. They were both taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where they are in good condition.
A person was fatally shot in Roseland on the South Side. Few details were released on the shooting, which happened about 1:25 p.m. in the 11000 block of South Wentworth Avenue, police said. A male, whose age was not immediately known, suffered a gunshot wound to his chest and was pronounced dead at Roseland Community Hospital.
A man was shot and killed while driving in Englewood on the South Side. The man, 42, was shot around 4:20 a.m. and crashed into a fence at Periwinkle Park in the 6500 block of South Perry Avenue, police said. The man, shot five times, was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center and pronounced dead. His name hasn’t been released. Before he died, the man said a woman he knew had shot him. No one was in custody.
In non-fatal shootings, a man was critically wounded after he was caught in the crossfire of a drive-by in Austin on the West Side. About 11:45 p.m., the 36-year-old was sitting in his parked van in the 300 block of South Cicero Avenue, when someone in a passing Dodge Charger fired shots in his direction, striking him in the head, police said. The man was rushed to Stroger Hospital for treatment. Police believe the person who fired the shots was aiming for a group of people inside a passing black sedan and the 36-year-old was not the intended target. A bullet struck the windshield of a second vehicle, a passing red Toyota, causing it to crash into a light pole. No one was injured.
A 21-year-old man was wounded in a drive-by in Marquette Park on the Southwest Side. About 10:30 p.m., he was driving in the 7300 block of South Mozart Street, when someone inside a black SUV fired shots at him, police said. The man was struck in the left side of his body and taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where his condition was stabilized.
Two people, including a 17-year-old boy, were wounded in a shooting in Englewood on the South Side. The teen boy and a 27-year-old man were sitting in a silver Chrysler van about 8:40 p.m. in the 700 block of West 66th Street when they got into a verbal argument with a group standing near their vehicle, police said. The teen was struck twice in the leg and was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where his condition was stable. The man was shot in the hip and shoulder and was transported to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where his condition was stable.
Twelve others were wounded in shootings citywide.
Four people were killed, and forty-three others were wounded in shootings last weekend citywide.
A man was critically wounded Monday night after he was caught in the crossfire of a drive-by in Austin on the West Side.
About 11:45 p.m., the 36-year-old was sitting in his parked van in the 300 block of South Cicero Avenue, when someone in a passing Dodge Charger fired shots in his direction, striking him in the head, Chicago police said. The man was rushed to Stroger Hospital for treatment.
Police believe the person who fired the shots was aiming for a group of people inside a passing black sedan and the 36-year-old was not the intended target, police said.
A bullet struck the windshield of a second vehicle, a passing red Toyota, causing it to crash into a light pole, police said. No one was injured.
There is no one in custody as Area Four detectives investigate.
About 11:05 p.m., they were outside at a party in the 5200 block of South Lowe Street, when shots were fired.
A man was killed, and two women were wounded, in a shooting Monday night in Back of the Yards on the South Side.
About 11:05 p.m., they were outside at a party in the 5200 block of South Lowe Street, when shots were fired, Chicago police said.
A 24-year-old man was shot in the head and rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, police said. He has not yet been identified.
A 25-year-old woman was struck in the leg and a 43-year-old woman was struck in the ankle, police said. They were both taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where they are in good condition.
The circumstances of the shooting remain unknown. Area One detectives are investigating.
Avoid shopping or making important decisions from noon until 10:15 p.m. Chicago time. After that, the moon moves from Leo into Virgo.
This is a creative, playful, fun-loving day! However, most of this day is a moon alert; therefore, restrict your spending to food and gas. Write down your clever, original ideas. Enjoy socializing, sports and fun times with kids.
You might want to cocoon at home and have a let-your-hair-down conversation with a relative. This might be a good idea. However, note the moon alert and agree to nothing. Don’t volunteer for anything or agree to anything important.
You’re excited about ideas, which means you might agree to something or make a big decision. Not good! Check the moon alert times. Don’t agree to anything important. Don’t shop. (Except for food.) However, it’s a creative day!
There is a Moon Alert for most of the day and it takes place in one of your Money Houses, which means don’t spend money on anything other than food or gas. Do not make important decisions, especially financial ones. Just cruise.
For most of this day, the moon is in your sign; however, it is a moon alert. This means you might feel loosey-goosey and indecisive. However, you will also be creative because your mind is free to think outside of the box and come up with original concepts and ideas. Clever you!
Today, you might have a vague feeling that things are getting away from you. You can’t put your finger on it but everything is nebulous and fuzzy. That’s because most of this day is a moon alert. Be smart and restrict spending to food and gas. Forewarned is forearmed.
Today you might have a confidential, heart-to-heart talk with someone, probably a friend or a member of a group. This discussion might relate to creative, artistic stuff. Great! Kick around ideas and build on them; however, wait until tomorrow to act.
This is a tricky day because you are high visibility, which means people notice you more than usual. Nevertheless, because most of this day is a moon alert, you might feel indecisive or unsure about something, which is OK. Do not act today. Postpone shopping until tomorrow.
This is a creative day if you are working on a paper or writing anything that requires an imagination. However, it’s a poor day for important legal decisions or important decisions related to medicine. Explore ideas, but wait until tomorrow to act on them. Ditto for making travel plans.
Today a moon alert is taking place in one of your Money Houses, which means this is an especially poor day to make important decisions about loans, mortgages, banking matters, shared property, inheritances or insurance issues. Don’t do it. Wait until tomorrow.
Today the moon is opposite your sign, which means you have to go more than halfway when dealing with others. This is not a big deal. It simply requires courtesy, patience and accommodation. (Admittedly, easier than it sounds.) Don’t volunteer for anything. Wait until tomorrow.
You have a strong focus on home, plus this is also a creative, fun-loving time for you. Enjoy socializing and playful activities with kids. Know that your efficiency at work will suffer today because of the moon alert, which is fuzzy and prone to shortages.
Actor Neil Patrick Harris (1973) shares your birthday. People love you. And you love to entertain. You are fast, witty and a caring person. You function best (personally and professionally) in a partnership. In a nine-year cycle this is an eight year for you, which is a wonderful time of achievement, kudos and material gain. This is a power year! It’s your time of harvest.
Horoscope for Tuesday, June 15, 2021Georgia Nicolson June 15, 2021 at 5:01 am Read More »
Arrieta allowed four runs in five innings. He has a 6.53 ERA over his last five starts.
NEW YORK — Jake Arrieta has had a difficult time trying to duplicate the success he had during the first month of the season.
He showed signs of getting back there in his last start Wednesday against the Padres, mostly quieting one of baseball’s best offenses, but wasn’t able to keep it going Monday in the Cubs’ 5-2 loss to the Mets.
Arrieta (5-7, 5.14 ERA) had things under control early, getting through the first three innings without allowing much hard contact, and not so much as a base hit. But the fourth inning was a different story. Arrieta started to fall behind hitters, and the Mets made him pay for the loss in command. He allowed his first hit with one out in the inning, and the Mets had three runs before it was over.
“I had multiple opportunities to get out of the fourth unscathed,” Arrieta said. “The damage was done with two outs, and some of it was self-inflicted.”
After Dominic Smith singled, Arrieta proceeded to walk Billy McKinney before James McCann’s soft single up the middle sneaked through the infield to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Arrieta fell behind 3-1 in the count against the next batter, Kevin Pillar, who hit a two-run double off the wall.
“Started out really sharp,” Arri-eta said. “Felt great and felt good throughout the game. A couple walks in there were unnecessary, and the McCann single wasn’t hard contact. Just wasn’t a well-located fastball, and he was able to sneak the ball up middle, and then the Pillar double obviously kind of broke it open.”
Smith added some two-out magic of his own in the fifth, crushing a 433-foot solo shot off Arrieta to make it 4-0. Manager David Ross then went to his bullpen.
Arrieta finished allowing four runs and four hits, striking out three and walking four to tie his season high.
“Timing was good, and I liked all that,” Arrieta said. “I liked everything going into the start. It just really came down to not executing, especially with two outs and the opportunity to get out of that inning with at most one run. . . . Just have to execute a little bit better in those situations to keep it at either a 0-0 game or 1-0.”
After easily being the Cubs’ most consistent starter in April, Arrieta has had a hard time pitching consistently since.
“Sometimes that stuff creeps back to get you,” Ross said. “And you’ve got to work a little bit harder — and he did. I just think some of that command stuff and that bite later on in the game that he had early on [this season] seemed to be missing there on the back end of [this] start.”
Arrieta hasn’t reached the sixth inning since May 14, when he came off the injured list with a cut on his right thumb. He’s now 1-3 over his last five starts with a 6.53 ERA.
Lance Lynn wasn’t at his very best but logged a workmanlike six innings, allowing three runs on a pair of homers and leaving with the Sox trailing by a run.
The White Sox hosted the Rays in an anticipated matchup of teams owning the best records in baseball Monday night.
They tried to minimize the meaning of a 5-2 loss, especially with 96 games to play.
“I mean, it was 60 games [66th of the season], so we’ll leave it at that,” said Sox right-hander Lance Lynn, who allowed three runs on a pair of early homers. “But they are a really good team. We knew that coming in, and they were able to get some runs early, and then they were able to add on late. That’s what we aspire to be.
“It’s June, nobody gives a s—.”
Lynn smiled after he said it, matter-of-factly. Perhaps, but he also knows the Sox will have to be better against the better teams than they were Monday. The Rays (43-24), the defending American League champions, won for the seventh time in eight games and snapped the Sox’ four-game winning streak.
“We have some guys seeing what a team that was in the World Series looks like,” Lynn said. “They have some talent top to bottom, guys who can pitch and who give you all kind of different looks coming out of the bullpen. It was a good challenge for us overall.”
Rays right-hander Tyler Glasnow allowed two runs and left after four innings with a tight elbow. But the Rays’ bullpen strung together five zeros. The Sox (41-25) had five hits, including Tim Anderson’s single leading off the eighth that put the tying run at the plate, but right-hander Diego Castillo picked him off for the first out.
“Well, I’d like to see the move,” manager Tony La Russa said, “but, yes, he had a green light to go, and he’s got excellent judgment. He got picked. It’s not a bad baseball play when you’re trying to steal a base to get picked off. It’s better to be picked off than to be thrown out at second.
“He didn’t do anything wrong.”
The matchup before 18,024 fans at Guaranteed Rate Field marked the first Sox game since July 20, 2006, at Detroit in which both teams owned the top two records in baseball.
The Rays were aggressive early in counts against Lynn (7-2, 1.66 ERA), who wasn’t at his very best but logged a workmanlike six innings, leaving with the Sox trailing by a run. Lynn served up a two-run homer to cleanup man Austin Meadows in the first and a solo shot to leadoff man Brandon Lowe in the third, putting the Sox in a 3-0 hole.
“I made two mistakes,” Lynn said. “One was a decent pitch, and he made a good swing and kept it fair. The other one was a bad sinker down and in, especially with two outs. You can’t make that pitch right there.”
The Sox flashed some speed, scoring two in the third. Leury Garcia doubled, advanced on Danny Mendick’s fly to right and scored on a wild pitch that didn’t bounce far away from catcher Mike Zunino. But Garcia got a good read on it and a quick jump. After Anderson’s hustle double with two outs, Brian Goodwin poked a single to left, scoring Anderson.
Randy Arozarena’s homer against left-hander Garrett Crochet in the eighth, the first allowed by the rookie, ended Crochet’s scoreless-innings streak at 16 and gave the Rays a 4-2 lead. An error on Sox reliever Jose Ruiz covering first allowed the Rays’ fifth run to score in the ninth.
“It was an even-steven game that got away from us at the end,” La Russa said. “We had a couple of chances. I liked the way we competed.
“I am impressed [by the Rays], but I’m also impressed by the White Sox. We were a one-run game [until the eighth inning]. So I was impressed with both teams.”
Rays snap White Sox’ winning streak at fourDaryl Van Schouwenon June 15, 2021 at 3:16 am Read More »
A 2021 Fall Classic held at Wrigley and Guaranteed Rate would be amazing.
Stop me if you’ve heard this fantasy before, but . . .
White Sox vs. Cubs in the World Series.
I’ve lived my whole life — as have you — dreaming of such a thing.
The last time it happened was in 1906. You weren’t alive, and neither was even a wizened old sports scribe like, say, Rick Morrissey.
But 115 years later? We’re all here, salivating.
And it could happen. OK, maybe it’s like imagining Jeff Bezos paying more than 1% on his billions, but it’s possible.
Consider both of Chicago’s teams were in first place (Sox) or tied for first (Cubs) in their respective divisions going into Monday. And the logical progression of such success is winning the playoffs and moving on to the 2021 World Series.
Call it wrong even to fantasize about such a thing. Call me light-headed, spring crazy.
But would you have canceled the ludicrous thoughts of Johannes Gutenberg, Charles Darwin, the Wright brothers?
I think not.
Back in 1906, the Sox — a k a the ‘‘Hitless Wonders’’ — beat the heavily favored Cubs in six games. The crafty, anemic Pale Hose batted only .198. But the mighty Cubs (winners of 116 regular-season games) hit only .196.
I’m not sure how the celebration went on the South Side after that, or the despair on the North Side, but the city is still standing.
Think of a crosstown matchup happening again. Think of unicorns and cotton candy and puffy clouds with cherubs lounging. Dream the impossible dream.
After all, much is already ludicrous about both Chicago teams and their winning.
The Sox built a young, strong squad, true, but they lost star outfielders Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert to injuries early on.
Since then, right-hander Michael Kopech and second baseman Nick Madrigal also have gone out with injuries.
Yet the Sox rage on unimpeded. Replacements have picked up where the stars left off, and the Sox had a 41-24 record, better than any team in the rival National League.
Oh, and there’s Sox manager Tony La Russa, a fellow the critics might as well call the Sleepy Joe Biden of the American League. From all the nasty noise out there, you’d think La Russa, 76, were Methuselah with a Model T Ford parked in his space.
Maybe the hair dye he chose isn’t the greatest, but La Russa once led his old Athletics and Cardinals teams to a lot of postseason success, and the game hasn’t changed so much that he can’t lead the young Sox to the promised land.
Yes, the guy will turn 77 during this year’s World Series, but, remember, according to the Bible, Methuselah stayed sharp and lived to 969. Seventy-seven, I’m thinking, is the new 800.
The Cubs, on the other hand, were shocked to see their allegedly fading team doing so well. In a dogfight with the Brewers for the NL Central lead, the Cubs now have to wonder how far they can go.
Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javy Baez, Willson Contreras and Kyle Hendricks are performing as well as ever. Closer Craig Kimbrel is back to being the door-slammer he was with the Braves, Padres and Red Sox.
Team president Jed Hoyer actually has to marvel at this magical team and soon make the decision to buy or sell talent. Fans obviously want him to buy, to go all in. Such are fans.
They also can dream of a showdown with the Sox. And they should.
A little more magic? Take the ridiculous and heroic efforts — no matter how brief — of the previously unknown Yermin Mercedes and Patrick Wisdom. Both are fill-ins getting close to 30, and both hit the tar out of the ball.
Mercedes is the 28-year-old rookie who got eight hits in his first eight at-bats to start the season. And Wisdom, 29, is the wise old man (78 at-bats before joining the Cubs) who hit eight homers in his first 10 starts.
That’s the kind of rare, nutty stuff you don’t want to waste, that you want to ride to the prize.
Imagine Chicago in the midst of an internecine baseball war. Well, not a war. A friendly — if intense — ‘‘Red Line Royale,’’ from Wrigley Field to Guaranteed Rate Field, Addison Street to 35th Street.
Wouldn’t we love that?
Didn’t your mother tell you to dream big?
I know she did.
