117

On June 11 and June 15, 1938, Johnny Vander Meer tossed consecutive no-hitters, setting a baseball record that will never be broken. (To break the record, a pitcher would have to throw three No-No's in a row.) The fast-balling rookie lefthander for the Cincinnati Reds set down first the visiting Boston Braves in Crosley Field and then the Brooklyn Dodgers in Ebbetts Field without a safety. What does this have to do with the White Sox you ask? Well in those two games, the opposing teams made 54 outs without a hit. The Sox yesterday finally ended their streak of 61 at bats without a hit against opposing relievers. Not quite the same thing, but illustrative of the problems they're experiencing. (By the way, Vander Meer went 21.2 innings in a row without giving up a hit, so the Sox fell short of his record for that, but not by much.) On the other hand, Sox relievers have been horrific. Kenny Williams is thinking about roster moves and let's hope it helps.

The Sox are 7.5 games behind the first-place Indians and 5.0 games back of the Wild Card-leading Tigers. The Magic Number is down to 117, but the reduction is more due to Cleveland finally losing some games than the Sox winning. Since the Good Guys start a stretch tonight against teams with losing records, maybe they'll turn it around. Go Sox!