It was all going so well in April, wasn’t it? I’m referring to the Sox and Cubs, not the spring cleaning that was quickly a failure. I’ll show you what I mean. Let’s take a random date in April, like the 18th (I admit, it’s not random).

On April 18, the first-place White Sox were 6-3 with a two-game lead. The Cubs were 6-4 in a virtual tie for first with the Cardinals. The month ended with the Sox at 8-12, in third place, 3 1/2 games back, and the Cubs at 8-13, in 4th place, 6 1/2 games back.

You don’t need to be a scientist to figure out that to make the postseason, you first have to win games, then win series, take the week and win the month. Each team needs to be better in the months ahead, or all you’ll have is the joy of doing well on my weekly quiz. Do well.

1. In the 2021 season, how many losing months (under .500) did the White Sox have?

a. 0

b. 1

c. 2

d. 3

2. In April 2022, the Cubs scored 94 runs for the month. Looking at the National League Central, this was . . .

a. More, less or the same as the Reds.

b. More, less or the same as the Pirates.

c. More, less or the same as the Cardinals.

d. More, less or the same as the Brewers.

3. In April 2022, the Sox scored 64 runs for the month. Looking at the American League Central, this was . . .

a. More, less or the same as the Twins.

b. More, less or the same as the Guardians.

c. More, less or the same as the Royals.

d. More, less or the same as the Tigers.

4. In April, Corbin Burnes of the Brewers and Max Scherzer of the Mets each had two games in which they recorded 10-plus strikeouts. Combined, how many 10-plus strikeout games did Cubs and Sox pitchers have? Bonus points if you can name the pitcher(s).

a. 0

b. 1

c. 2

d. 3

5. Do you remember Anthony Rizzo? You know, the first baseman? He hit nine home runs in April for the Yankees. You know, the team in New York? His homer total was . . .

a. Less than the Tigers.

b. More than the Tigers.

c. The same as the Tigers.

6. This was the first month of a designated hitter in the National League. Last season, the last season of pitchers hitting, NL pitchers hit .109 in April, with the Cubs’ pitchers hitting .073. This April, the NL DHs hit .220. How did the Cubs’ DHs do?

a. They hit for a higher average than the league.

b. They hit for a lower average than the league.

c. They hit for about the same average (within 10 points) as the league.

7. Who had Chicago’s longest hitting streak in April?

a. Frank Schwindel

b. Luis Robert

c. Yasmani Grandal

d. Seiya Suzuki

8. Dylan Cease led all Chicago pitchers in April in strikeouts. Patrick Wisdom led all Chicago batters in April in striking out. Who had more Ks for the month?

a. Dylan Cease

b. Patrick Wisdom

c. Cease and Wisdom had the same amount of whiffs

9. On May 7, 1999, Carlos Lee did something that no other Sox player had ever done before. What was it?

a. Hit four homers in a game.

b. Strike out five times in a game.

c. Homer in his first MLB at-bat.

d. Get hit by four pitches.

ANSWERS

1. None. Zippo. Nil. Nada.

2. The Reds scored 66 runs. The Pirates scored 78. The Cardinals scored 82. And the Brewers, like the Cubs, scored 94 runs.

3. The Twins scored 85 runs. The Guardians scored 94. The Royals scored 59. And the Tigers, like the Sox, scored 64 runs.

4. None. Zippo. Nil. Nada. Dylan Cease and Lucas Giolito each had a nine-strikeout game. Marcus Stroman and Kyle Hendricks each had a seven-strikeout game.

5. The Tigers hit eight in the entire month.

6. The Cubs’ DHs hit .162 with one homer and two RBI in 74 at-bats.

7. From April 12 to 20, Frank Schwindel hit in nine straight games, going 10-for-36 for a .278 batting average.

8. They each had 28 strikeouts.

9. In the bottom of the second, on his fifth big-league pitch, Carlos Lee homered in his first MLB at-bat off Tom Candiotti. A first for him and a first for the Sox. While it wasn’t the Cubs’ first time, on May 7, 2010, Starlin Castro also homered in his first at-bat.

Have a great week, and don’t forget to drop me a line at [email protected] and follow me on Twitter @BillyBall. Send me a question, and you can be included in the weekly quiz.

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During his introductory news conference Tuesday, Fire designated player Jairo Torres made it very clear his goal is to play in Europe. Like new teammate Jhon Duran – also a highly coveted prospect with options when he signed – Torres sees the Fire and MLS as the right team and league to propel him across the Atlantic Ocean.

But why?

Torres, 21, left Liga MX club Atlas to come to Chicago, departing from the reigning Mexican champion and a team in contention to retain that title. The Fire, meanwhile, haven’t won a major trophy since 2006, experienced their last postseason victory in 2009 and as of Tuesday had a 28% chance to make the playoffs, according to FiveThirtyEight. Their attack has been dull so far, and the Fire’s last goal through open play in an MLS match came 458 minutes ago.

The Fire hope Torres and fellow arrival Chris Mueller can help them start producing some offense.

“He’s a player that can really change the fate of a team,” coach Ezra Hendrickson said Tuesday about Torres, before th Mueller signing was official. “So we’re very happy to have him and looking forward to seeing great things from him on the pitch.”

MLS thinks it’s on the verge of becoming great, and is undoubtedly on the upswing with ambitious new owners and fancy soccer-specific stadiums popping up around the league. Still, Liga MX is still generally considered a higher level, and its teams have historically dominated North American club competitions, even with the Seattle Sounders becoming the first MLS club to claim the Concacaf Champions League.

Yet none of that deterred Torres, a player who also aspires to represent Mexico in major international tournaments. He said MLS is watched a lot in Europe, and mentioned that Atlas is experiencing a “really good time” after past struggles.

“I put it upon myself as one of my goals to come here and do good things here and basically do the things here that I did over there,” Torres said through a translator.

Fire technical director Sebastian Pelzer said the club’s pitch to Torres was about his potential fit on the team and how eager the coaching staff was to add him to the roster. The city of Chicago, with a large Mexican population, was also a selling point.

Pelzer also stressed that Torres made a sporting decision to join MLS.

“The league is also getting better and better and we feel it ourselves,” Pelzer said. “Every year [the league] gets better. And also the Europeans, they see it now as a better league. It’s growing and you see also the number of transfers being made in the past. They speak for themselves, and that’s why it is an attractive league to come maybe before taking a step to Europe.”

Torres echoed that sentiment. He said the league has been growing for “many, many” years and wants to continue an increasingly busy pipeline from MLS to Europe.

“At the end of the day, that’s everyone’s dream, to be able to go to Europe,” Torres said. “So it was really attractive for me, and the project that they showed me when they presented it to me was also one that I really liked and really enjoyed. And hopefully we’ll be able to put it through and see it through to the end.”

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Growing up in Compton, few rep Los Angeles harder than DeMar DeRozan.

That includes its basketball legends.

In DeRozan’s world it’s everything Kobe Bryant and then the rest can go stand in line. “Air,” Bron, Shaq, doesn’t matter. Bryant was DeRozan’s sensei, from teaching him to understand the importance of the mid-range game to an offseason training program that would make most NBA players puke.

That’s why DeRozan was such a good guest in the latest “Interrogation Room.” The veteran wasn’t worried about how his takes would be received, but at the same time he was well thought out in how he wanted to respond.

So turn on the bright light and pour a cup of day-old coffee, as the Bulls’ best player this season pulls up a chair in the “Interrogation Room.”

Joe Cowley: “OK, you good?”

DeMar DeRozan: “Always.”

JC: “Alright, most underrated player in the NBA right now?”

DD: “Wow, that’s a great one … most underrated … most underrated from my opinion and one of my favorite players to watch I would say is Jrue Holiday, yeah, Jrue Holiday.”

JC: “Best logo in the NBA, and you can’t pick Bulls.”

DD: “Toronto.”

JC: “Best uniform in the NBA … it can be any from any era?”

DD: “OK, this is a surprise one, but I like the old school, and this will probably sound crazy, but the San Antonio … the white ones. I like those.”

JC: “Best coach not named Billy Donovan that you played for? It can be at any level, high school, college …?”

DD: “Easy … Pop [Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.”

JC: “One coach you wish you could have played for at any level?”

DD: “Phil Jackson.”

JC: “You’ve had your share of dust-ups in your career, out of these three guys which one that you had to be separated from was actually a fight you would have welcomed?Was it [Mo] Wagner, [Enes] Kanter or [Goran] Dragic?”

DD: “Kanter.”

JC: “Details?”

DD: “None needed … it was obvious.”

JC: “Best player you know, whether it was on the playgrounds, college, high school, that didn’t make the NBA?”

DD: “Ohhhh, best player … there was a guy named David Hamilton that went to my high school. He was older than me … David Hamilton. He was kind of like the neighborhood hero that went to Compton High.”

JC: “Put in order these three guys to take the game-winning shot in a Game 7 – MJ [Michael Jordan], Kobe, Bron [LeBron James]?”

DD: “Kobe, then MJ, Bron.”

JC: “Wow, really?”

DD: “Yep, Kobe one.”

JC: “OK, who did more as far as putting Compton rap on the map? Cube, Dre, Eazy, Ren or Yella?”

DD: “There wouldn’t be none of them if it wasn’t for Eazy. Gotta say Eazy.”

JC: “I know how much USC means to you … one of your daughters comes up to you and tells you she wants to play for UCLA, what do you say?”

DD: “Ohhh, ohhh, [laughs]. I’m going to give her a week notice to re-evaluate and see if that’s for sure what she wants to do. And she has to give me the pros and cons of it. Then we’ll have to weigh it out together.”

JC: “Team plane goes down on a deserted island – and we have to keep it players only since Zach [LaVine] said a few years ago that the first person eaten would be [broadcaster] Stacey King – survival at its finest, who is the first player on the team eaten and who is the lone survivor?”

DD: “Wait, so we’re stuck on an island, food is obviously limited, who is the last survivor?”

JC: “Who is first eaten, because somebody is getting’ eaten, and then who is last survivor?

DD: “First person eaten? Tony Bradley [then lets out an evil laugh].”

JC: “Sounds like there’s a story there.”

DD: “Someday.”

JC: “And who is last survivor?”

DD: “Me.”

JC: “Why?”

DD: “Cause I’ve been on that deserted island [more laughing].”

JC: “I think I know what that means, and I like it!”

DD: “Yep [More laughing].”

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The Bill Masterton Trophy, given annually to the NHL player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey,” has evolved into essentially an “overcoming hardship” award.

Its winner has typically dealt with a major injury or health issue (like 2021 winner Oskar Lindblom, a cancer survivor), shed light on a personal struggle (like 2020 winner Bobby Ryan about his alcohol abuse) or championed an important cause (like 2019 winner Robin Lehner with mental health awareness).

Dylan Strome fits none of those categories. It’s why he was “taken aback” when told he was nominated for the Masterton this year, as voted by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association. Frankly, it’s also why he probably won’t win with candidates like Carey Price and Jack Eichel in the field.

But absent any monumental off-ice story, Strome’s case is as worthy as any.

It would certainly be difficult to find any player around the league who encountered as much on-ice adversity — cast permanently into one coach’s dog house and a healthy scratch in nine of the first 26 games — as Strome did, who handled it with as admirable an attitude as Strome did and who persevered through it to succeed as much as Strome did.

“It’s an honor, for sure,” Strome told the Sun-Times recently. “I’m nowhere near comparing myself to those guys, guys that have beat cancer or battled through the mental battles they’ve gone through. [But] everyone is fighting their own battles. You never really know what someone’s going through completely.

“When you’re in the public eye so much, you’ve got to answer the questions. When things are going well or aren’t going well, you’ve got to answer the questions either way. I just try to be a positive guy, a good teammate, fun to be around, and you get rewarded when you do things like that. I’m proud of myself for the way I’ve handled this season, and hopefully it’s a sign of good things to come.”

The 25-year-old center tallied 41 points in his last 47 games this season, good for a 72-point pace over a full season.

He surged for 11 points in nine games between Jan. 4-28, then 10 goals and 17 points in 11 games between March 5-26 — he accurately noted he “scored almost half my goals in one month” — and finished off his excellent second half with a goal in the season finale against the Sabres.

Furthermore, his chemistry on the first line with Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane kept the Hawks afloat offensively many nights and helped DeBrincat and Kane both enjoy prolific years. Back in December, when Strome was barely able to squeak into the lineup many nights, that sentence would’ve sounded ridiculous.

“[It was a] roller coaster of a season,” he said. “I started out not in the lineup and just worked my way back in. Obviously, everything happened — coaching change-wise — and I started playing a bit better and getting more opportunity. That’s where it all came from: getting that opportunity.”

In the end, his belief in himself was completely validated, something he admits felt gratifying. He earned a moment to toot his own horn.

“You’ve just got to stick with it, like I said earlier on in the season,” he said. “If you try to be someone else or do something else on the ice that’s not your game, that’s when things can go really wrong. I just tried to stick to who I am and play the same way I have. I’ve proven I can produce before, and I feel like I did it again.

“You’ve just got to trust yourself, believe in yourself, and when you get put in position, you’ve got to take your chances and run with it. That’s the big thing. Lots of guys get chances to play with some good players, but it’s the guys who take advantage of it [who] work out best in the long run.”

Strome plans to head back home to the Toronto suburbs this summer to train with his brothers — at least once Ryan Strome’s playoff run with the Rangers ends. (The Hawks have rooting interests in the Western Conference playoffs, too, since deep runs by the Wild and Oilers could improve their draft positions.)

His biggest summer plan of all is scheduled for August: his wedding with his fiancee, Tayler. But before then, Strome will become a restricted free agent — with arbitration rights — and learn whether he’s returning to Chicago in 2022-23 or joining a new team. It’s all up in the air and difficult to predict at the moment; Strome hasn’t had any “real conversations” yet with the Hawks.

After grinding through this chaotic season, though, he’s content to accept the temporary uncertainty and turn his brain off for a while.

“I’m very happy with the fact I haven’t been thinking about [my contract situation] a lot this year,” he said. “I haven’t been asked about it a lot, to be honest, which is nice. My first go-around, in my [2019-20] contract year, I was questioned about it a lot, which made me think about it a lot more, and it was constantly on my mind.

“This year, I just wasn’t really thinking about it a lot of the season — because I was just trying to get in the lineup and worry about playing and let the rest take care of itself.”

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