Game 1: Twins at White Sox

Time: 7:10 Central. Vegas Line: Even

Weather: 75° at first pitch, not NASTY like here

Opponent’s SB site: South Side Sox

TV: FSN. Radio: As of right now Gladden’s favorite bike rally is still “go” for 2020

White Sox starter Lucas Giolito finally solidified a place in the starting rotation last year, his fourth in the leagues majeure, after a rough 2018. His best pitches are a 94-ish fastball and changeup; he’ll mix in some breaking balls as well. 2019 digits:

(JohnFoley had a much more detailed statistical analysis of the White Sox here this morning. I’ll only add, if you don’t already know what José Berríos brings to this game then ARE YOU EVEN A TWINS FAN?)

Giolito’s a bit of an interesting chap. This recent interview shows him to be a tidge more thoughtful than the average jock (and also apparently a pretty good The Show player; he just edged by Twins gamer supreme Trevor May in MLB’s virtual tourney). Giolito comes from a creative family; his mom acted in several network TV shows, his uncle co-created Twin Peaks, and his granddad played a memorable role on Seinfeld. (George’s fiancee Susan’s dad who hated George.)

He’s spent time listening to and learning from teammates who had less comfortable backgrounds — such as a fellow breakout 2019 Sox star, shortstop Tim Anderson. Anderson’s dad spent 16 years in prison for a first-time drug offense, which Tim Brown wrote poignantly about in this Yahoo Sports article. These are definitely two Sox players I can root for (just so long as their team does terribly, along with every other AL Central opponent).

Just because it’s Opening Day, and I’ll probably never get to cover another one again, how about we celebrate: No Fans In Stands Cooking Recipes!

That’s right, it’s about “duplicate ballpark food best you can from what you have on hand, since you rarely go grocery shopping anymore.”

Today, I’ll be attempting to make a Chicago Dog, and here’s what I got:

(You need the green food coloring for that weird radioactive-looking relish.)

Yeah, it’s not ideal, but at least it doesn’t have ketchup. As the late Chicago columnist Mike Rokyo once wrote:

“No, I won’t condemn anyone for putting ketchup on a hot dog. This is the land of the free. And if someone wants to put ketchup on a hot dog and actually eat the awful thing, that is their right. It is also their right to put mayo or chocolate syrup or toenail clippings or cat hair on a hot dog. Sure, it would be disgusting and perverted, and they would be shaming themselves and their loved ones. But under our system of government, it is their right to be barbarians.”

Hey, remember when a power outage hit Chicago’s Sears Tower (or whatever it’s called now) back in May causing a Killer Creepy Robot face? That was cool. Anyhoo, lineups: