White Sox pitcher Jonathan Stiever warms up prior to a spring training baseball game against the Seattle Mariners Friday, March 5, 2021, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) | Ross D. Franklin, AP Photos
Right-hander could start Game 2 of split doubleader against Red Sox
BOSTON — The White Sox recalled right-hander Jonathan Stiever from the Schaumburg training facility to serve as the 27th man for their split doubleheader against the Red Sox Sunday.
Manager Tony La Russa wouldn’t commit to Stiever as the starter for the second game. Left-hander Dallas Keuchel starts Game 1, and the Game 2 starter is listed as TBA.
“The priority is just to watch the first game and do whatever it takes to win with the ‘pen behind Dallas, if it’s necessary,” La Russa said. “And then we’ll sort out the second game. But Jonathan would be one of the guys that you would consider.”
Stiever, 23, was the Sox’ fifth-round draft pick in 2018 and is rated by Baseball America as the Sox’ No. 7 prospect. He made two starts last season, going 0-1 with a 9.95 ERA (seven earned runs over 7 1⁄3 innings). He combined to go 10-10 with a 3.48 ERA and 154 strikeouts in 154 innings over over 26 starts between Class A Kannapolis and advanced A Winston-Salem in 2019.
Stiever traveled with the team as part of the five-man taxi squad. The other pitcher is Alex McRae, who is not on the 40-man roster. La Russa said prospect Jimmy Lambert was also considered.
“Jonathan, he’s an outstanding prospect,” La Russa said. “I wouldn’t hesitate to use him in either one of these two games. The first priority is Game 1, and you don’t want to be saving something for Game 2 when you have a real chance to win Game 1. That’s why you’ve got to be not playing any games with the Red Sox, because it’s going to depend on who we need to get the first win the first game we play.”
In 2017, Luis Gutiérrez wipes away a tear as he announces he will retire from congress at the end of his term. The longtime congressman also became emotional talking about the death of Adam Toledo. | Scott Olson, Getty
Former Congressman Luis Gutierrez speaks out about the Adam Toledo shooting.
“I grew up in a gang-infested neighborhood. I don’t know a Latino who didn’t,” said Luis Gutierrez, the former congressman and long-ago alderman. “We all grew up together. It wasn’t like ‘West Side Story.’ We didn’t dance around each other.
“I remember the manipulation, the cruelty, the exploitive nature of gang members. People like to think of them as the protectors of the neighborhood. I get that. I was the the alderman of the 26th Ward. It’s no different than Little Village. None.”
We were talking over the weekend about what everybody in Chicago has been talking about since Thursday, when the body-cam video of Little Village 13-year-old Adam Toledo being shot by a police officer was released.
The footage makes for sickening viewing: the jumpy chase through an alley; the barked, ignored commands; the boy’s hands going up followed instantly by the gunshot. The red blood. Watching it once, I can’t imagine ever watching it again. Once is too much.
I had just read the upbeat update about Gutierrez that Mark Brown wrote last week; he’s returned to Chicago to welcome his second grandchild — his daughter Jessica’s baby shower was Saturday — and to promote Puerto Rican causes.
So I almost shook off Gutierrez’s suggestion that we speak about the shooting. My job isn’t to echo Mark. Yet why not see what Gutierrez has to say? My first question was whether he truly wants to plunge into this emotional maelstrom. Or as I put it: “Do you really want to jam your hand into this spinning fan?”
“I understand that,” he said. “But at some point you have to stop and say something. I feel that what is happening to Adam is a second demonization process.”
Some Latino politicians are dismissing Toledo as just another gangbanger who got what gangbangers get.
“One thing is irrefutable: He was 13 years old,” said Gutierrez. “He was a child. All of this, ‘What was he doing out in 2:30 in the morning?’ I guess that’s a death sentence in Chicago. When I see this young man, I say to myself, ‘Wow, once again he’s being exploited and manipulated by adult gang members who basically trafficked him.’”
Gutierrez issued a letter condemning Ald. Ray Lopez (15th), who went on Fox News and lauded the “amazing restraint” of the police officer who shot Toledo. Lopez didn’t explain exactly how that “restraint” manifested itself; maybe by not shooting him in the back as he ran, maybe by firing only once and not the 16 times that is traditional.
“What kind of internalized self-loathing and self-hatred who you are and who you pretend to represent exists in that alderman?” Gutierrez asked. “Because that’s the only way I could figure it out.”
I observed that the adult with Toledo certainly managed to allow himself to be arrested without harm.
“The 21-year-old is smart,” Gutierrez replied. “He said to himself, ‘Give the gun to the 13-year-old kid.’ That’s what they do, an act of cowardice; he gives the gun to the child, puts the child directly in the line of fire. Those are gangs, it’s what they do.
“There is little or no difference what I’ve seen in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala. People flee to come here, to get their children here. What their mothers go through, to get their children out of Central America. I’m not going to say it’s exactly the same. This is not a Third World country. But there are many of the same attributes. The gang infestation. Let’s not sugarcoat what’s going on here.”
Even though the bar of ineptness and deceit has been set pretty low, I was still surprised by the City Hall spin over the two weeks leading up to the video release. The video obviously was going to be jarring, or it would have been released immediately.
Yet there was Mayor Lori Lightfoot pretending it was going to be exculpatory out of one corner of her mouth while talking about amending foot chase policy out of the other. As horrible as the video was, she found a way to make it worse.
“It accentuates the shock to me,” Gutierrez agreed. “I don’t look much toward the mayor.”
You, me and everybody else. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx also did what Kim Foxx does: botched the situation.
“I look at the prosecutor as someone who could have said something much earlier,” he continued. “That’s why I stayed quiet, didn’t join in. I said to myself, ‘We don’t know all the facts.’ The prosecutor certainly would not say this is an armed confrontation unless he had a gun in his hand. It silenced me,and said ‘Shut up, don’t say anything.’ Then I saw it and realized they LIED to us. Clearly, they lied to us.”
Gutierrez described the shooting as “an execution.” Did he really believe the officer deliberately killed Toledo? That it wasn’t a split second mistake?
“Here’s what I believe: He didn’t give a shit,” Gutierrez said. “This cop didn’t give a shit about this kid. He just didn’t. He didn’t see the value, the humanity, of this unarmed 13-year-old CHILD … He’s a little brown boy, so he gets turned into a man, he gets turned into a gun, his life becomes reduced.”
Now that we’ve gone over what happened, the hard question: What to do?
“What we really need is a very energetic, a very robust conversation among ourselves,” he said, tearing up. “Let’s use our leadership. We have to make sure there’s not another Adam Toledo.
“We can protest. We can condemn. We can praise, as Ald. Lopez did, the actions of the police. But in the end, don’t we need to end this? Don’t we need them to become peace officers rather than police officers? Keepers of the peace.
“I’m proud I represented Little Village for 26 years, so proud,” Gutierrez said. “They’re doing what they have to do. Having their voices heard in a peaceful, nonviolent manner that is going to gain us broader trust and broader support and a solution.”
Lauri Markkanen and Coby White have each been dealing with inconsistency this season, but with just 16 games left and so much on the line, the hope is Saturday was another learning block in winning basketball.
All Billy Donovan is hoping for is lessons have been learned.
With just 16 regular-season games left for the Bulls, they better be.
Guard Coby White had just eight points in the Saturday win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, but had nine assists and was plus-eight in the plus/minus category.
Lauri Markkanen was finally a factor off the bench, not only scoring 16 points and grabbing six rebounds, but was a plus-14 in plus/minus.
“The two guys I’m really, really proud [of] is Lauri and Coby,’’ the coach said after the five-game losing streak was finally ended. “Not one more than the other, but in particular the fact that Coby, I think he had 27 points [in the loss to Memphis on Friday], and then he comes back against the [Cavs] and he can’t make a shot – I think he goes 2-for-10 – but I thought he played winning basketball. He did a good job running the team, he got us in and out of stuff. I thought he competed like crazy on the ball [defensively].
“And I think for Lauri, coming off the bench and doing what he did … this to me is development. They need to understand how to impact winning, and I felt like both guys hopefully took a step in that direction that whether or not they’re making shots or missing shots, they still can have an impact on the game.’’
That’s the mode the Bulls find themselves these days – doing whatever it takes to impact winning, because if they want to play a meaningful game in May, winning has to be done.
And with Zach LaVine testing positive for the coronavirus, it has to be done without an All-Star and arguably one of the elite scorers in the Eastern Conference.
That’s why Donovan took some hope from the win over Cleveland. Yes, it was the slumping Cavs, but the fact that White looked like a capable point guard and Markkanen looked like a player the coach could close a game with, that has staying power.
How long it stays is now up to both players.
“Those two guys are really important pieces to our team and they’re two really good young players,’’ Donovan said. “But they haven’t won at a very significant level. And I’m not blaming either one of them for that.
“They need to learn how to [win games] and what goes into that. Whatever Lauri’s minutes are, whether it’s 15 or 27, what kind of impact does he make where he’s saying, ‘You know what, they’re going to have to keep me on the floor? I do too much. I rebound. I run the floor. I defend. I protect the rim. If I’m not shooting, I do other things.’ ‘’
He checked a lot of those boxes in the Cavs win, and that’s why he did get closing duties. The problem with both, however, is they have shown these moments before, but then they’ve inexplicably slipped back into bad habits.
Sometimes it just takes one game for something to click. That’s what Donovan is hanging onto. And while Markkanen was saying the right things, because he’s so laid back it’s hard to guess what sticks with him and what doesn’t.
“I think a lot of guys have sacrificed,’’ Markkanen said of the current situation for himself and White. “I’m not going to do anything that jeopardizes the team. I’m going to play my role as well as I can. I think in the last games, I could’ve done a better job. I’m just trying to focus on staying positive and bringing the energy off the bench. The opportunity is going to be there.’’
He’s right, the opportunity will be there. The big question is will he grab it and hang onto it?
A person was hurt in a fire April 18, 2021, in Streamwood. | Adobe Stock Photo
The residents were at home when the fire started but escaped before firefighters arrived, officials said.
A person was injured after a fire broke out at a home Sunday in suburban Streamwood.
Crews responded to a blaze about 6:20 a.m. at a two-story home in the 700 block of Lacy Avenue and extinguished the fire on the home’s rear deck, Streamwood fire officials said.
The residents were at home when the fire started but escaped before firefighters arrived, officials said.
One resident suffered burn injuries and was taken to St. Alexius Medical Center, officials said. Firefighters also rescued a cat from the home.
The home sustained $200,000 in damage, officials said.
Two people were hurt in a shooting Sunday on Interstate 94 on the Far South Side.
The incident happened about 2:15 a.m. in the northbound lanes of I-94 at 120th Street, according to Illinois State Police.
A female driver and her female passenger were hospitalized with injuries not considered life-threatening, state police said. It wasn’t immediately clear if both suffered gunshot wounds.
All northbound lanes were closed until 6:15 a.m. for an investigation.
As the ChicagoBears get set for the 2021 NFL Draft, fans have to remember that absolutely anything is possible. Going into the 2017 NFL Draft, general manager Ryan Pace tried to fool us all into thinking Mike Glennon was his starting quarterback before moving up to select Mitchell Trubisky at no. 2 overall. This […]
Mike Hardman scored 44 points in 58 games over two seasons at Boston College. | Courtesy of Alastair Ingram/Boston College Athletics
Hardman, a physical wing who signed with the Hawks on March 31, entered Boston College as an overlooked recruit. But his success on a line with first-rounders — and close friends — Alex Newhook and Matthew Boldy helped elevate his profile.
Most hockey coaches stir their lines as often as their team chefs stir the spaghetti dinners.
But in January 2020, when Boston College coach Jerry York saw the chemistry three of his freshman forwards — Matthew Boldy, Alex Newhook and Mike Hardman — had together, he made them a permanent line.
“They all complemented each other,” York said. “All three brought something different to the table.”
Hardman wasn’t as decorated as his teammates. Boldy and Newhook were highly touted recruits and first-round picks in the 2019 NHL Draft. Boldy went 12th to the Wild and Newhook 16th to the Avalanche.
Hardman, who signed with the Blackhawks last month, was never drafted, already two years out of high school and generally “not considered [to be] in that group,” York said. But the Boston-area native quickly proved he deserved to be.
“The biggest thing for us three is we were really close on and off the ice,” Hardman said. “ ‘Bolds’ and ‘Newy’ were two of my best friends. I talked to them on a day-to-day basis. When we got on a line together, I got a lot more confidence through my freshman year.”
In 2019-20, Newhook led BC with 42 points in 34 games, but Hardman nearly matched Boldy by unexpectedly breaking out for 25 points, sixth on the team.
With Newhook missing a large chunk of the 2020-21 season, Hardman rose to third on the team in scoring, tallying 19 points in 24 games.
“They knew I had a shoot-first mentality, and both of them are really good passers,” Hardman said. “Being able to play with them and learn from each other what to do [was great].”
After the Eagles’ season ended March 28, Newhook and Boldy signed with their rights-holding teams. Hardman, approached by numerous NHL suitors as an undrafted free agent, also decided to forego his final two years of college eligibility to sign with the Hawks.
The 6-2, 205-pound winger has been practicing with the Hawks since April 7 and is expected to make at least a few appearances during the final games of the regular season.
“Chicago was one of the first teams I talked to,” he said. “It was the perfect fit, looking at the [depth chart] picture and opportunity here.”
“Being an unrestricted free agent, he had some real power over which organization he’d go to,” York said. “The Blackhawks said, ‘Come right to our big-league club and stay with us.’ ”
For Hardman to make it to the NHL is an accomplishment in itself. A late bloomer, he wouldn’t have even been ranked as one of the top-50 players in Massachusetts as a high school senior, York said.
He didn’t go directly to college after graduating high school, either, spending one season with Des Moines of the USHL and another season with West Kelowna of the BCHL — a second-tier Canadian junior league — before returning to Boston.
“For him to do what he’s done, achieve what he has, it’s remarkable,” York said. “He was a third-line, second-line player in high school, and he just got better and better. He almost willed himself to be a player.”
He has immensely improved his skating — long considered his biggest weakness — in recent years, devoting many hours to edgework and first-three-strides explosiveness.
Hardman safely projects as a bottom-six grinder who can provide physicality and a decent shot at the pro level, even if he’s unlikely to grow into more than that. The Hawks consider that type of player underrepresented among their current forward prospect corps.
And once the NHL divisions revert back to normal, Hardman, Newhook and Boldy will find -themselves all rivals in the Central Division.
“[I want to] just have fun with it all,” Hardman said. “The biggest thing for me is I get to go to the rink every day and try to get better at it. That’s my job.”
The Chicago Cubs are a team that, for the most part, struggles to hit. They aren’t a team that looks locked and loaded to go on a deep run here in 2021. They look more like a team that will bottom out and starts selling pieces before the trade deadline. There are plenty of players that might be considered by other teams that the Cubs can try and move. There are three players that stick out as players that are “likely gone” by the All-Star break.
The Chicago Cubs should sell high on Kris Bryant before the All-Star break.
Kris Bryant has had a very good career up to this point. Outside of a few tough seasons, he has really been an all-star caliber player. Year after year, he is considered one of the best players on the Chicago Cubs roster. He can play both third base and outfield which makes him an incredibly useful player to a team looking to win the World Series.
Bryant would bring any team looking to take the next step a lot of different experiences. He has won the MVP, a World Series, and has had a lot of individual success statistically. Someone might pay a premium for a player like that via trade.
Bryant is one of Chicago’s big three that are on expiring contracts. Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez are all in danger of being gone after 2021 as well but Bryant feels the least likely to stay via extension. If they moved him before the all-star break (or at least before the trade deadline), they would probably get something good for him, especially if he continues to hit well.
Four people were hurt in a crash April 17, 2021, on Lake Shore Drive. | Adobe Stock Photo
Four people were hospitalized, including a 1-year-old and 3-year-old child, following a crash in the 3300 block of South Lake Shore Drive.
Four people were hurt, including a 1-year-old and 3-year-old child, in a three-car accident that happened late Saturday on Lake Shore Drive near 33rd Street.
About 11:55 p.m., a Mazda SUV traveling south in the 3300 block of South Lake Shore Drive struck a Cadillac sedan which hit a Ford sedan, Chicago police said.
Two children, 1 and 3, who were traveling in the Ford were transported to Comers Children’s Hospital, Chicago fire officials said. One child was listed in fair to serious condition and the other in serious to critical condition, fire officials said.
After the initial collision, two adults were standing near the Cadillac exchanging information when they were struck by the Mazda, police said.
The two adults were transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center, one in fair to serious condition and the other in serious to critical condition, fire officials said.
The driver of the Ford was issued a citation for not having a driver’s license, police said. No other citations were issued.
