{"id":1041601,"date":"2026-09-03T22:02:27","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T22:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1041601\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T22:02:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T22:02:27","slug":"column-a-must-wand-game-for-the-chicago-white-sox-dansby-swanson-goes-stir-crazy-and-other-takeaways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1041601\/","title":{"rendered":"Column: A must wand game for the Chicago White Sox, Dansby Swanson goes stir crazy and other takeaways"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mike Vasil\u2019s Magic Wand night is here, Pope Leo XIV is tuning into games at the Vatican<\/a> and all the invoices for playoff tickets have been emailed to season ticket holders.<\/p>\n

These are strange times for fans of the Chicago White Sox, a team coming off three straight seasons of 100-plus losses and five years removed from their last postseason appearance.<\/p>\n

The Sox are three games ahead of the second-place Cleveland Guardians after Thursday\u2019s 6-2 loss to the Houston Astros, and 20,000 magic wands will be handed out Friday night in the opener of a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins at Rate Field.<\/p>\n

Is it a must-win game?<\/p>\n

No, but it\u2019s must wand after losing three of four in Houston.<\/p>\n

Many Sox fans this week received an email they didn\u2019t expect to see when spring training began in February \u2014 an invoice for October tickets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis season highlighted emerging stars like Miguel Vargas, Tristan Peters, Sam Antonacci and Munetaka Murakami, thrilling walk-off victories, key AL Central wins, and a resurgence into playoff contention,\u201d the email to season ticket holders said.<\/p>\n

True enough, though maybe if the Sox had more room they would\u2019ve included Colson Montgomery, Sean Burke and Grant Taylor as emerging stars. They\u2019ve all been instrumental in the team\u2019s success, along with many other young players.<\/p>\n

But one of the great things about this Sox saga has been the fact they\u2019ve done it without a true superstar. Murakami appeared to be headed that way but has been in a long slump that continued in Houston.<\/p>\n

The Sox are a team of grinders that thrives on having different heroes every day. Andrew Benintendi hasn\u2019t exactly excelled since signing his deal in 2023, but he has been one of their best clutch hitters this season. Erick Fedde has been reduced to a bulk pitcher at times, but he has been one of their best pitchers down the stretch and provides leadership in a young clubhouse \u2014 not to mention getting players together after work for turtle races.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"ChicagoWhite Sox outfielder Tristan Peters (29) is congratulated by manager Will Venable after hitting a two-run home run against the Rangers on Aug. 26, 2026, at Rate Field. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

The ball is in their hands, and if the Sox can just hang on in the American League Central and secure the No. 2 seed, the playoff road isn\u2019t as rocky as it could be.<\/p>\n

The American League West winner will get a playoff spot, even as no team is likely to have a positive run differential. The closest are the first-place Astros at minus-38 after Thursday\u2019s win over the Sox. It would be the first time in history a division had no team with a positive run differential.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, that AL West winner will get home-field advantage in the first round. The Astros are 1\u00bd games behind the Sox for the No. 2 seed, which will be another important race to watch.<\/p>\n

If the Sox win the division and finish with a better record, they would start the AL Division Series at home, possibly against the Astros. Though the Astros handled the Sox this season, winning five of seven games, they\u2019re not nearly as scary as facing the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox.<\/p>\n

Everyone knows the magic wand and the pope\u2019s faith in them won\u2019t mean much come October.<\/p>\n

But after the last four seasons of misery, the Sox will take all the help they can get.<\/p>\n

Stir crazy at Wrigley
\n\"CubsCubs shortstop Dansby Swanson works out before a game against the Reds on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026, at Wrigley Field. Swanson is on the injured list. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Dansby Swanson\u2019s absence at shortstop because of an oblique strain gave Nico Hoerner a chance to show how good he is in his former position. Hoerner has done just that, including his great diving catch Wednesday off Sal Frelick\u2019s sinking liner, saving a couple of Milwaukee Brewers runs when it was still a close game.<\/p>\n

After his first day off, Swanson said: \u201cI\u2019m one day in and (Craig Counsell) is already giving me a hard time about being stir crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Makes sense. It was Swanson\u2019s first soft-tissue injury since he was 14, and he\u2019s used to playing every day. While the Cubs are being careful with his rehab, his absence is sorely missed. Heading into Thursday\u2019s finale with the Brewers, they were 5-9 without Swanson since he went on the IL. Hoerner moving to short means the Cubs defense isn\u2019t quite as solid at second, where Matt Shaw was playing since Pedro Ramirez developed back pain.<\/p>\n

Shaw made an headfirst sliding attempt to stop a William Contreras grounder Tuesday that he deflected into right field for a double. Counsell noted Wednesday that it wasn\u2019t an easy play. Still, it was one Hoerner probably would have made.<\/p>\n

Swanson\u2019s importance to the team can\u2019t be understated, even as he\u2019s hitting .216 this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re missing a defender like Dansby, your defense is going to get worse,\u201d Counsell said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still a great defense. Just not quite as great.<\/p>\n

This item is sponsored by \u2026<\/p>\n

On a recent list of things the WSCR-AM 670 and FM 104.3 should change, I neglected to mention the most annoying of all: the sponsorship reads during the play-by-play on Cubs radio broadcasts. Everything has a sponsor now, and it\u2019s not unusual to hear Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer read multiple ads in the same at-bat.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s getting to the point at which there\u2019ll soon be more ads than commentary by Cubs announcers. I understand the station wants to make as much money as possible from the broadcasts, but someone has to say \u201cenough\u201d and find another way to generate revenue. The flow of the game doesn\u2019t need to be interrupted by the same Xfinity ad over and over.<\/p>\n

Pham\u2019s back
\n\"WhiteWhite Sox right fielder Tommy Pham fields a single against the Mariners on July 26, 2024, at Guaranteed Rate Field. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not surprising Sox manager Will Venable was excited about the acquisition of Tommy Pham.<\/a> There haven\u2019t been many Sox players Venable isn\u2019t excited about getting, and sometimes he\u2019s even super excited.<\/a> Unfortunately, none of the trade deadline acquisitions has worked out well, which brings us to Pham.<\/p>\n

Most Sox fans aren\u2019t too excited to see Pham back in a Sox uniform, but he was incorrect to suggest he has to prove Twitter trolls wrong about being an alleged \u201cclubhouse cancer.\u201d All he has to do is hit when called upon.<\/p>\n

The skepticism stems from him being a 38-year-old pickup from Triple A who bounces around like a ping-pong ball.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter what Pham does in the clubhouse. This team is too tight to be unwound by a reserve outfielder, even one as controversial as Pham.<\/p>\n

Steele resolve
\n\"InjuredInjured Cubs pitcher Justin Steele, right, signs autographs for fans after a game against the Dodgers on Aug. 3, 2026, at Wrigley Field. (Arthur Maiorella\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

The idea of Cubs veteran Justin Steele returning to the mound at Wrigley Field for one of the final nine home games is appealing, if only to see the long and loud standing ovation he would get. Steele is that revered, and his long comeback attempt has been full of adversity.<\/p>\n

The Cubs obviously want to be cautious after Steele hasn\u2019t pitched in the majors in almost two years, not wanting to rush him before he\u2019s ready. But it would be disappointing to see him work so hard to come back and then not get a chance.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s anyone fans would trust to be honest about whether he\u2019s ready, it\u2019s Justin Steele.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mike Vasil\u2019s Magic Wand night is here, Pope Leo XIV is tuning into games at the Vatican and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1041602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[21050,960,1271,1274,16075,5386,1818,60047,36345,417032,104833,13250],"class_list":["post-1041601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-andrew-benintendi","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-chicago-white-sox","tag-dansby-swanson","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-justin-steele","tag-pat-hughes","tag-ron-coomer","tag-tommy-pham","tag-will-venable"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117209372386867015","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1041601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1041602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1041601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1041601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1041601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}