In an alternate universe, this could have been an incredible moment.
There’s an alternate universe where Luis Robert’s seventh inning home run on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field is an era-defining moment in Chicago sports. It could have been a symbolic ‘passing of the torch’ between a Cubs team that thrived in the second half of the 2010s — three straight NLCS appearances, one World Series championship — and a White Sox team poised to dominate the 2020s. It could have stamped Robert’s MVP candidacy*, minted the South Siders as a World Series threat, and asserted the Sox’s ascension over a Cubs team that’s already pretty good again.
Luis Robert’s seventh inning home run against the Cubs on Tuesday night did not mean any of that. It barely meant anything at all for a White Sox team in fourth place in the worst division in baseball, one that’s only made headlines this season for how embarrassing they’ve become. Even still: what a majestic homer.
Cubs fans are probably still trying to figure out why manager David Ross decided to pitch to Robert in a tie game with the bases empty and two outs. Robert was once hyped as the ‘Cuban Mike Trout,’ and he’s nearly fulfilled that promise this year by putting up incredible numbers on a horrible team. As soon as Robert connected, he turned around and had a few words for Cubs catcher Yan Gomes. It doesn’t get any better than this in a crosstown rivalry — at least if you forget the Sox are having a nightmare year.
The best part of Robert’s home run: telling some annoying Cubs fans who probably went to New Trier to shut the hell up.
Robert — already a 5.0 WAR player with a 140 OPS+ — is having one of the better seasons in White Sox franchise history. Too bad it’s wasted on a worthless team.
This was supposed to be the White Sox’s championship window, the reason they openly tanked after trading ace Chris Sale back in 2016. The Sox have failed in all of their classic ways since then. Ownership was too cheap to sign Bryce Harper or Manny Machado — it did not however stop the Sox from signing Machado’s brother-in-law in hopes of getting a discount. There was ownership interference from Jerry Reinsdorf, who made his GM hire his old friend Tony La Russa despite everyone knowing that was a terrible idea. There was an incompetent GM who couldn’t fill several massive holes in the lineup, and consistently tried to make DH/1Bs types play outfield. There was clubhouse disarray and a star player getting knocked out on the field. We’ve seen this all before on the South Side.
Robert’s homer in Wrigley could have been everything. Instead, it was mostly nothing but a fleeting reminder that this was supposed to be the White Sox’s time if they didn’t absolutely blow it.
* I guess Shohei Ohtani is in the NL in this alternate universe
