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Baseball quiz: Give your dad a hug and a quiz

Tomorrow is Father’s Day, and in honor of the day, I have a father/son quiz for you. I’m a dad to two great children, Elizabeth, and Jen, both of whom fill me with pride. My dad introduced me to baseball. It became our shared passion. And I’m sure there are tens of thousands of kids (and dads) who have had that same life experience.

If you have a chance, watch a baseball game with a kid or kids. Show them the little things that make the sport so wonderful. Share stories about players, plays, the joys of victory and the agony of defeat. Baseball gives you the time to converse like no other sport. And maybe someday you can do the weekly quiz together.

Have fun.

1. Gus Bell is the father of Buddy Bell, who is the father of David Bell and Mike Bell. None of them played for a Chicago team. But Ray Boone is the father of Bob Boone, who is the father of Aaron Boone and Bret Boone, and one of them played for Chicago. Welcome to “Name That Boonie!”

a. Ray (1,373 games played)

b. Bob (2,264 games played)

c. Aaron (1,152 games played)

d. Bret (1,780 games played)

2. Pitcher Joe Coleman (Sr.) was the father of pitcher Joe Coleman, who was the father of pitcher Casey Coleman. Two of the Colemans played for Chicago. Which ones?

a. Joe Coleman (Sr.)

b. Joe Coleman (the younger)

c. Casey Coleman (Sr.)

3. Sam Hairston was a Negro League All-Star and played all of four games in the majors. He was the father of Jerry Hairston, who played 14 years in the majors, and John Hairston, who played three games in the majors. Jerry is the father of Jerry Hairston Jr., who played 16 years in the majors, and Scott Hairston, who played 11 years in the majors. Which of the Hairstons played for a Chicago team (once again, there can be multiple answers)?

a. Sam Hairston

b. Jerry Hairston

c. John Hairston

d. Jerry Hairston Jr.

e. Scott Hairston

f. All of the above

4. I’m a big fan of Steve Stone, who has provided insightful radio and television color commentary for the Cubs and White Sox. There have been three Carays in broadcasting: Harry, his son Skip, and Skip’s son, Chip. Which of the Carays did Steve work with (there could be multiple answers)?

a. Harry

b. Skip

c. Chip

d. All of the above

5. We all know that Moises Alou played for the Cubs. But did his dad, Felipe, play for a Chicago team? What about his uncles, Matty and Jesus? You tell me, yes or no. Did any or all of these guys play for a Chicago team?

a. Felipe Alou

b. Matty Alou

c. Jesus Alou

d. All of them

e. None of them

6. Ken Griffey hit eight homers against the Cubs, one against the Sox and four at Wrigley Field. Ken Griffey Jr. hit 17 homers against the Cubs, 29 against the Sox and 10 at Wrigley. How many homers did they combine to hit at what was once called Comiskey Park?

a. 0

b. 10

c. 20

7. Randy Hundley was a catcher for 14 years in the majors, 10 with the Cubs. His son, Todd Hundley, was a catcher for 14 years in the majors, two with the Cubs. Randy made the All-Star team once, Todd twice. Which one had the higher lifetime batting average?

a. Randy Hundley

b. Todd Hundley

c. Same

8. Steve Swisher was a catcher, and his son, Nick Swisher, was a right fielder and first baseman. One was drafted by the White Sox and played for the Cubs. The other played for the White Sox? Which was which, and who played for whom?

9. Cecil Fielder and his son, Prince Fielder, were 500 pounds of hitting power. Each made the All-Star team numerous times, each hit over 300 homers and each drove in over 1,000 runs. To be exact, Cecil drove in 1,008 and Prince 1,028. But which one hit more homers?

a. Cecil Fielder

b. Prince Fielder

c. They hit the same

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Wolves carrying a little extra ‘MoJo’ into Calder Cup Finals

The Wolves have some mojo entering the Calder Cup Finals.

Well, more accurately, MoJo.

On April 13, Wolves star Andrew Poturalski and his wife, Haley, welcomed their first child, a son named Morrison John. The Poturalski family has taken to calling the newborn MoJo, and the Wolves haven’t lost a game he has attended at Allstate Arena.

“He’s brought some good mojo since he’s come to games,” Andrew Poturalski said. “We’re undefeated [at home] since he’s been at the games [in Rosemont]. It’s just awesome to have him there. We’ve got some cool pictures, and it’s definitely really special. It’ll also be really cool when he’s a little older and can appreciate it.”

Sunday will be Poturalski’s first Father’s Day as a dad, and his family will spend at least a part of it in Rosemont for Game 1 of the AHL’s Calder Cup Finals against the Springfield Thunderbirds. The Wolves, who had the best points percentage in the league during the regular season, have home-ice advantage in the series with a 2-3-2 format.

Poturalski, who had 28 goals and 73 assists, is trying to relish this moment.

“Right now, we’re super fortunate in our lives and life is pretty good, and we’ve got a lot of good things going for us,” Poturalski said. “I think people don’t appreciate stuff when you’re in the moment. It’s such a cool time in our lives, and you never know if you’re going to be back in a spot like this in the Calder Cup [Finals], so you’ve got to make the most of it as well.”

Poturalski and the Wolves have plenty of other things to enjoy.

With a roster loaded up by parent-club Carolina, the Wolves went 50-16-5-5 and cruised to a division title. Then in the playoffs, they swept the IceHogs in three games before dispatching Milwaukee in four.

The Wolves jumped ahead of the Stockton Heat 3-0 in the Western Conference finals and seemed primed for another short series. But Stockton responded with a pair of overtime wins, forcing a Game 6 in Rosemont which the Wolves won to finally put away the Heat.

“I thought that was a good thing to go through some adversity, to do it on the road, to be together and to kind of feel it and experience it all together,” coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “I think that’s all part of our journey and part of our story, is you need to go through some tough times, some tough losses, just so when you get back to certain situations you kind of understand the emotion and roller-coaster of the playoffs.”

The league itself also has gone through trying times.

For the first time since 2019 when Poturalski and Warsofsky, then a Charlotte assistant, beat the Wolves for the championship, the AHL is holding the Calder Cup Finals. The 2019-20 season was abandoned due to the pandemic and the 2020-21 campaign didn’t feature a complete postseason.

The Wolves know that if this series goes the distance, they’ll have home ice. Not that Poturalski wants the Cup to come down to a winner-take-all match, even if they have MoJo on their side.

“We’re hoping it doesn’t get to seven for sure,” a laughing Poturalski said.

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Jason Benetti, Steve Stone are your pick for the best baseball booth in Chicago

There’s a runaway favorite pair of baseball announcers in town, and many of you won’t be the least bit surprised at which pair it is.

In this week’s “Polling Place,” your home for Sun-Times sports polls on Twitter, we asked voters to pick a “best” between Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer (Cubs radio), Jon Sciambi and Jim Deshaies (Cubs TV), Len Kasper and Darrin Jackson (White Sox radio), and Jason Benetti and Steve Stone (Sox TV). Partners Benetti and Stone had a field day.

“The last-place finishers in this poll would be tops in a large number of markets,” @DavidLaurilaQA commented. “Chicago baseball fans are fortunate.”

No argument here.

We also pitted Cubs manager David Ross against Sox manager Tony La Russa — why not? — and asked voters to pick the most important thing when attending a baseball game. Is it the seats? The weather? The price? The outcome?

“A good game,” @a_gee_8 countered, “regardless of the seats, weather, price or who wins.”

That’s certainly one way of looking at it. On to the polls:

Poll No. 1: Which baseball booth is best?

Upshot: Benetti and Stone blend superstar quality with local authenticity, and the strength of their rapport is obvious and a huge plus. As long as Hughes has been at it, though, and as terrific as he is, it’s understandable that @mikewalsh4609 wishes he could pair him and Stone. Hey, what about sticking Kasper in a booth with Deshaies? Now there’s a wacky idea.

Poll No. 2: Your team has a chance to be good next year, but you have to pick David Ross or Tony La Russa to manage it. Who’s your guy?

Upshot: We cannot tell a lie — we are shocked by the size of the gap in these results. Is Hall-of-Famer La Russa really this poorly thought of? Asked @gprobst15, “Who is voting for Tony? Get help!” And @RVictory2020 took issue with the very premise, writing, “Not a fair question. By whose definition can you call what La Russa does ‘managing’?” Tough crowd.

Poll No. 3: What’s the most important thing at a baseball game?

Upshot: If you believe these results, watching your team lose on a beautiful day beats watching your team win in crummy conditions. For some serious sports fans, that might be hard to wrap the ol’ noggin around. Others might wonder how anything could top scoring sweet seats on the cheap (relatively speaking, of course). As for those of us who sit in the press box, disconnected from it all? We’re totally clueless.

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3 Patrick Kane trade packages with the Buffalo SabresVincent Pariseon June 18, 2022 at 12:00 pm

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The Chicago Blackhawks should be looking to rebuild their roster. That means that some tough decisions are going to be needed. That is going to include some big-time players being potentially moved as a result of these decisions.

Nobody in the history of the Chicago Blackhawks is as important as Patrick Kane. He has won everything there is to win and is one of the best players in franchise history. He is also the greatest American-born player who ever lived as well.

He has one more year left on his contract and then the future is unknown for him. As a result of this, they might decide to move on from him. If they traded him this offseason, they would get a lot in return. It would be a haul that is good enough to help their rebuild along.

The one team that makes sense for a variety of reasons is the Buffalo Sabres. They were a very exciting young team down the stretch in 2021-22 and will be looking to take another step in 2022-23. They don’t have Jack Eichel anymore so adding a star like Kane would really help.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Buffalo Sabres could pull off a big trade.

Kane might also consider resigning there as he is a native of Buffalo, New York. He fits in there both on and off the ice. They could really use a move like that as they have the longest playoff drought in the National Hockey League.

Buffalo has plenty of good players to play with Kane. They are loaded with young players and could give up something good in order to get him while keeping plenty of talent to compete on the ice. These three trade packages might get a deal like this done:

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3 overly ambitious trades for the Chicago Bulls to land Rudy GobertRyan Heckmanon June 18, 2022 at 11:00 am

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With the NBA Finals over and the 2022 NBA Draft just days away, the offseason is set to heat up in a hurry. For the Chicago Bulls, it has been anything but boring for the past few weeks.

The Bulls potentially have a lot going on this summer. The biggest storyline is and will continue to be the future of free agent Zach LaVine. Although, recently, there have been multiple reports saying LaVine will re-sign with the Bulls.

Other than LaVine’s future, the Bulls are continuing to monitor the immediate future of Lonzo Ball’s health. His knee is becoming worrisome, and Ball is crucial to the future success of this team.

But, maybe the hottest story linked to Chicago right now is the case of Rudy Gobert.

The Chicago Bulls are definitely in play for a Rudy Gobert trade, but the Utah Jazz may be asking for the world in return.

The Utah Jazz will likely end up trading Gobert this offseason, after it appears his relationship with Donovan Mitchell cannot be repaired. Now, the Bulls have become one of the top potential destinations for the defensive-minded big man.

The crucial question now becomes, just what exactly will the Jazz want in return? We’re talking about a 3-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and some reports state the Jazz will want ‘a haul’ for his services.

There is no doubt that the Bulls landing Gobert could completely change the face of the Eastern Conference. The man is a game-changing player.

But, if Utah wants a haul, should the Bulls be willing to give it up? They’re going to have to offer quite the package for the Jazz to make this happen, and one of these three packages would likely get it done. Now, the Bulls could be overpaying, but these three returns should be enough for Utah.

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Bears GM Ryan Poles looks for building blocks; Ryan Pace didn’t leave him much

At the moment, most of general manager Ryan Poles’ big dreams for the Bears are merely that: dreams.

The organization is betting big on making savvy selections once it finally has its full slate of draft picks again next year and fruitful free-agent signings with what is projected to be the most salary-cap space in the NFL in March. That’s all just imagination for now.

In the meantime, it could be a rough season on the field. But it’ll be productive for Poles and coach Matt Eberflus as they try to get a grasp of what long-term assets are already in the building. Coming off a 6-11 season that got everybody fired, there are very few sure things.

The two most pivotal players on the roster are 23-year-old quarterback Justin Fields and 25-year-old star inside linebacker Roquan Smith.

There’s no question about Smith, which is why Poles already has said publicly he intends to sign Smith to a contract extension before the season starts.

But there are plenty of questions for Fields to answer. His potential is through the roof, but it was hard to gauge his progress last season amid the dysfunction of Matt Nagy’s offense and limited personnel around him. Poles said in January those issues clouded his evaluation of Fields.

This is a conversation about certainties. Fields falls into the category of hope. Perhaps this season he’ll prove he’s part of the Bears’ foundation.

The list of players who have solidified their standing as part of the Bears’ future is limited to Smith, cornerback Jaylon Johnson and wide receiver Darnell Mooney. Everyone else needs to earn their way into that group.

As Eberflus and defensive coordinator Alan Williams set up the defense, Smith is essential. Few linebackers in the NFL are as versatile, and he has been everything the Bears wanted when they drafted him eighth overall in 2018.

After Colts star Darius Leonard and the 49ers’ Fred Warner signed five-year deals worth $99.2 million and $95.2 million, respectively, the Bears are going to have to pay something close to that to keep Smith from hitting free agency in the spring.

No problem.

“If he’s the guy that I think he is, that’s something we have to address,” Poles said. “In this defense with Matt and Alan, there’s a good chance he’s going to have a really good year. So … obviously the earlier you get to that [extension], the better.”

The only thing the Bears can’t seem to figure out about Smith is why he keeps getting left out of the Pro Bowl. He has topped 100 tackles every season, even in 2019, when he missed four games. He’s a hard hitter against the run, a quick and rangy defender in pass coverage and a scary threat as a blitzer.

Johnson, 23, isn’t on Smith’s level but has shown enough in his first two seasons for the Bears to know he needs to stick around. At a position where the Bears were alarmingly thin last season, he’s a long-term starter.

The defense is largely full of question marks other than Smith and Johnson.

Defensive end Robert Quinn set the franchise record with 18oe sacks last season, but he’s 32 and remains a trade candidate. Eddie Jackson was an All-Pro in 2018 but has declined since and faces a make-or-break season. The two second-round picks in the secondary — cornerback Kyler Gordon and safety Jaquan Brisker — are unknowns until they get live snaps.

The criticism of Mooney, 24, seems to keep coming, and he welcomes it. He has been good, but there’s prevalent doubt that he can be great. He can deliver, but can he dominate? He’ll always be a No. 2, never a No. 1.

Let’s be clear about something: The Bears have a lot of problems, but Mooney isn’t one of them. In his first two seasons, Mooney put up 142 catches, 1,686 yards and eight touchdowns despite playing in one of the NFL’s worst passing attacks.

From the day he arrived at Halas Hall as a fifth-round pick, Mooney has done everything right. He’ll continue to get better. Maybe he won’t be a game-changing No. 1 receiver like Davante Adams, but the Bears need to assemble at least three strong targets in the passing game — look at what the Rams and Bengals had in the Super Bowl — and Mooney can be one of those pieces.

Aside from Smith, Johnson and Mooney, the Bears hope others emerge — with none being more impactful than Fields. His trajectory will dictate the team’s.

Offensively, they’re also looking for tight end Cole Kmet to show he can do more after averaging 2.7 catches per game in his first two seasons. In a world where it’s hard to justify big paydays for running backs, David Montgomery needs to show more. Same goes for everyone on the Bears’ offensive line, especially when Poles figures to be a hard grader at that position.

Similarly, it’ll make a big difference if Jackson reclaims his standing as one of the NFL’s elite. Young defensive linemen Khyiris Tonga and Trevis Gipson could speed up the rebuild if they’re legitimate starters.

But those are all hopes until they materialize. For now, there aren’t many concrete pieces as Poles tries to clean up the mess Ryan Pace left behind.

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White Sox’ Yoan Moncada exits game with hamstring tightness

HOUSTON — White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada exited Friday’s game against the Astros with right hamstring tightness.

Moncada was hobbling slightly after running out a ground ball in the second inning. He played third base in the bottom of the inning but was replaced on defense by Josh Harrson in the third inning.

Moncada has had a difficult time staying on the field in 2022. He didn’t play his first game of the season until May 9 because of an oblique strain suffered at the end of spring training. He has dealt with right quad tightness and was limited to playing in 28 of 36 games since then.

Moncada has struggled offensively, finally breaking out Wednesday with five hits including a three-run homer and five RBI against the Tigers.

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White Sox’s Moncada exits with hamstring injuryon June 18, 2022 at 2:42 am

HOUSTON — Chicago White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada left a game Friday night against the Houston Astros in the third inning with tightness in his left hamstring.

Moncada pulled up after running to first base on a groundout in the second inning and was limping slightly as he returned to the dugout. He remained in the game at third base in the bottom of the inning before being replaced by Josh Harrison in the third.

The team announced his injury and said that he was being further evaluated.

Moncada missed the start of the season with a strained oblique and didn’t play until May 9.

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Listen to The Ben Joravsky Show

Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

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Listen to The Ben Joravsky ShowBen Joravskyon June 17, 2022 at 7:50 pm

Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

With support from our sponsors

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

Ben Joravsky brings you hours of incisive political commentary each week. Support Ben’s tireless dedication to Chicago and become a Ben Head today.

By becoming a Ben Head you will receive a new weekly newsletter from Ben with exclusive behind-the-scenes revelations, a roadmap to all things Joravsky, and a dedicated link to the latest podcast episodes. Don’t miss this chance to dive deep into Chicago politics, sports and culture, with our Captain of Commentary, Ben Joravsky. And don’t worry, there will be Ben Head merchandise!

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Avenue Become a Ben Head at the Avenue level and you’ll be subscribed to the new newsletter and a get a $10 discount on
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Join now at the Avenue level for just:

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