April 10--White Sox ace Chris Sale took his remote control toy car out for a spin on the snow-covered outfield at U.S. Cellular Field on Saturday morning, shortly before Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer flew his drone around the park.
Sale's toy easily navigated the snow bumps on the field, while Bauer accidentally crashed his drone into the new jumbo-sized video board.
Boys love their toys, and the adventures of the two pitchers turned out to be omens for both the Sox and Indians on an ice-cold day at the Cell.
Sale and the Sox handled the freeze-dried conditions in a 7-3 victory, while the Indians crashed and burned in the five-run seventh inning.
"I told John Danks before the game, pitching in cold weather is like getting punched in the face," Sale said. "You never really get used to it, you just handle it better. It's never fun."
We'll have to take Sale's word for it. When the players reported to the park in the morning, the chances of playing the game seemed remote.
But with an assist from "The Sodfather," head groundskeeper Roger Bossard, the grounds crew was able to melt the snow and ice before the 1 p.m. starting time to get the game in.
"You've got to go," Sale said. "If the field is ready and the people come, we're playing. It's just part of it. Got to roll with it."
Hundreds of fans out of the announced crowd of 20,192 were stranded outside during the early innings. The gates opened late after an attempt to de-ice the ramps to the upper deck by hosing them down just made things worse.
The Sox ultimately decided to close the upper deck and have fans exchange tickets to two sections in the outfield, which added to the long lines outside.
Plate umpire Bill Miller asked catcher Alex Avila at the outset if he knew they'd closed the upper deck because of the snow and ice.
"Yeah, and we're about to play baseball," Avila replied.
The fans at least had energy, perhaps to avoid hypothermia.
"It's strange," Avila said. "People come out and watch a ballgame in this type of weather, you're a really good fan for sure. It's not easy to play, and I'm sure it's probably worse just sitting there and taking that wind for 31/2 hours."
Once they got inside, Sox fans were uncomfortably numb but happy with the results. Facing Sale on a 32-degree afternoon with a 13-mph wind blowing out of the north was no treat for the Indians hitters, though manager Terry Francona wasn't fretting beforehand.
"I don't think doing anything is that much fun today," he said. "But I'm guessing on a nice, warm day, (Sale would) probably feel better too."
Sale carried a two-hit shutout into the sixth, but an infield hit and a two-run homer by Mike Napoli on a changeup tied it. After the inning ended, Sale slapped himself in the head while walking off the mound, shouted into his glove, angrily threw his cap at the bench and stalked into the clubhouse in disgust.
"He's an emotional guy," Avila said. "So the thing about him is making sure he keeps those in check and uses those from a positive side. Anybody is going to be upset giving up a tying home run like that."
Yan Gomes hit a go-ahead home run leading off the seventh, but the Sox broke through off reliever Bryan Shaw with five in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by Avisail Garcia's three-run shot.
Sale wasn't at his sharpest but improved to 2-0 as the Sox won for the fourth time in six games.
"For me, you have a smile on your face coming to the ballpark," manager Robin Ventura said. "You know you have one of the better pitchers in the league. I think the team has that too. You have a guy like him going, you feel pretty good about it. You wouldn't think it would be different, but it's different when you know he's going."
psullivan@tribpub.com
