Yesterday’s adventure began less than a mile from the Caldwell/Peterson exit ramp on the Kennedy. This was my first foray through the new (3-year project) construction on the Kennedy Expressway. Luckily, Jim’s friend Mike did all of the driving. Jim and I are Cub fans by birthright, Mike and his son Connor are Red Sox fans. I don’t think I’ve ever attended a Red Sox game with a Red Sox fan. I’ve sat next to around and beneath several hundred, but never with one-least of all a guy doing the driving.

While not noted on either radio broadcast, Mike was the Funk Away MVP of the game. He negotiated the streets, traffic and parking like a season Boston cabbie. Had I attended by myself I would have given up 3 miles into the journey.

A simple statement of fact: 99.3% of the world should never wear traditional basketball jerseys(the ones without the arms) as a fashion statement-even if you are sporting the Georgetown look-tshirt underneath,

So what did the White Sox do yesterday? They handed out black, Sox hoops jerseys to the first 10 or 15 thousand fans. I didn’t see anyone that wore it well. More on the fashion. The White Sox done an incredible job of marketing their City connect shirts. Thousands of fans were sporting the black, Southside tops, with many others wearing more traditional shirts. Consequently, more people were repping the more current players. Long gone are the days of wearing players from the 60’s-80’s.

On the other side of the proverbial fence, the oldest former Red Sox player I saw being repped was Jim Rice and one guy sported a “BiSoxual” #27 jersey, honoring Sox great, Carlton Fisk. I really hoped to see a Mike Garmen or George Scott jersey, but was happy that Mike and Connor were wearing matching Betts 50 home tops.

Baseball is full of great cliches and when two bad teams play, the cliches are going to lean towards the pejorative. Heading into the game, Boston was 40-37 (5th place) and Chicago was in 4th place with a 32-45 record.

While the mood in the parking lots and stands was pretty good, I didn’t get a sense from either fan base that expectations were high. Sort of the “fool me once” approach and the local manager’s words haven’t convinced the faithful that he’s any better than the last guy.

As the boys stopped for the requisite Polish sausages and pops, I stopped by the Guest Services and picked up a complimentary, one-page, single-sided scorecard and was able to check in my meds with the lovely Sue. As a result, I didn’t have to go done into the dungeon-first aid station. Connor also enjoyed a slice of Beggar’s pizza-which I’ve never had. I failed to pull the trigger on that one.

Even after coming off a 16-strikeout performance, Chicago starter, Lance Lynn still sported a 6+ ERA. Boston’s starter, James Paxton, another horse, entered the game with a 3+ ERA. I can only imagine what the non-partisan, betting experts forecast. From what I heard from both sides of the aisle, anything could and would happen and mostly in the negative.

It’s safe to say that over the next two hours and forty-six minutes, both teams tried to give this one away and that neither team appeared to want to win. Save for the official scorer changing his mind (for the worse), it wasn’t a crisply played affair.

Boston scored first as their best player, Rafael Devers singled (2-5) and scored on a Christian Arroyo sac fly. Chicago responded, the only way they know how in the bottom of the second when “catcher” Yasmani Grandal deposited one in the left-center bleachers for the requisite solo homer.

Even in this day and age, one shouldn’t expect or even hope for an 8-inning start, but when Paxton left after only four innings of one-run ball it was a disappointment. Apparently, his immediate replacement, Josh Winckowski was not prone to the long ball. JW proceeded to surrender 3 solo homers in the next two innings. He allowed 5 hits and walked one. Of course, none of the other hitters reached base before the homers. For the record, Jake Burger(17), Luis Robert Jr(19) and Andrew Vaughn(12). Birger’s was the only majestic blast.

Sandwiched in between the solo shots, Boston got two runs back on a Tristan Casas two-run shot off Lynn. Despite each of these four homers in the grand scheme of the game, none of them registered more than a 7 on the fan-craziness scale. Honest fans on both sides of the aisle were waiting for the other shoe to drop. Neither groups of fans was experiencing Philadelphia panic-fatalism, but rather just being in the throes of an already long season.

Chicago relievers Gregory Santos and Joe Kelly stymied Boston for two innings before giving way to Kendall Graveman with a 4-3 lead heading into the 9th. Boston reliever, Chris Murphy, did his part, striking out 3 in 2 shutout innings.

As has been the case for most of the season, the White Sox defense was not crisp. Errors by Burger and Vaughn were ugly. Tim Anderson does not look comfy at second, but hadn’t played very well at short either. If Casas’ homer had not cleared the fence, Clint Frazier would still be chasing after the bouncing ball.

Conversely, the left side of the Red Sox infield made some spectacular plays. Devers proved why he was worth keeping and the money. Rookie infielder, David Williams looked very sharp on some difficult plays at short. He has a great arm and possesses freat speed as well, but isn’t hitting his weight.

As had been pointed out to me several times by Mike and Connor, the Red Sox have had a hard time when they fail to score at least six runs. Thus, when the first two batters in the top of the 9th failed to reach base, their faith wavered. Igniter and leadoff hitter, Jaren Duran, came through again. He singled and immediately stole second for the third time of the game. After a very wild pitch, he advanced to third and scored on a Justin Turner duck snort to right. A Hawk Harrelson not to Doc Edwards. Until that point, Turner was anemic at the plate and ended the day 1-5. However, they tied up the game, but failed to capitalize on Graveman’s control issues.

Longtime closer, Kenley Jansen entered the 9th with a 4-4 score and quickly retired the first two hitters. Pinch-hitter, Gavin Sheets hit a ball to Casas which he completely misplayed. His footwork would remind older fans of Herman Munster. Official scorer, Randy Liss, eventually reversed his call and awarded the lucky Sheets a hit. Stealing a page from the Boston playbook, he brought in Zach “Don’t call me Yermin” Remillard to pinch run. And as fast as you can say, Junior Spivey, he was off to the races, sliding head first into second base.

While he may not have lost too much off his fastball, Jansen moves like a guy with sore fit. For the last 30 years of his life, my Dad moved the same way. Anyhow, shortstop Elvis Andrus singled and Remillard scored the winning run the Red Sox way. Imagine what the White Sox could do if they ever had runners on the bases.

More surprising than the way the won was the way the Sox fans didn’t celebrate the win. The on-field celebration was over the top, but the fans took the aberrant win in stride. I’ve been to hundreds of games where the home team walked off an improbable win and the fans either taunted the losers or were loud and obnoxious. At this point in a 33-45 season, the fans are waiting for the team to prove it, before they get emotionally involved.

It was a beautiful day for baseball as the 33.054 fans will attest. Somebody had to win even if each team wanted to give this one away. Mike got us back safely and Connor was already thinking Cubs-Red Sox.