And It's Outta Here!

Much is being made this year about the frequency of the long ball. For whatever reason, balls are flying out of parks a whole lot. This is a good thing. While we don’t want home runs to be watered down to the point where they become like singles, this makes the game more exciting. It’s also good that when your team falls way behind, they have a real chance to come back and win the game.

The three-point shot has revolutionized basketball. The long passing game has transformed football. Baseball needs the long ball to keep scoring in the game. Maybe some people like pitchers duels, but we don’t need these too often. Hockey is suffering at all levels because scoring is way down from what it used to be and isn’t as exciting as it could be. Major League Soccer is getting more popular and Chicago has a good team this year that scores a lot for soccer standards.

The sight of the ball blasting off a bat and being launched into the sky is something special. It never gets old. Some are hit so far and so long that you never forget them. The White Sox ball park is homer friendly. This makes for exciting games.

Over the years, the Sox have had only a few real home run hitters. Big Frank leads the team with 448, and Paulie has 432. Then there’s a big drop off down to Harold Baines at 221 and Carlton Fisk at 214. They are the only Sox players with more than 200 career home runs.

Dick/Richie Allen played for the Sox for three seasons beginning in 1972. He hit some of the biggest bombs ever seen in Sox history. He hit 85 home runs during that time, and you couldn’t wait for him to get back up to bat because he was so explosive. He could have been a Sox legend if his overall attitude was better. Sox fans loved the guy until he got bored one September and quit on the team.

So, hopefully the frequent long ball is here to stay.

"Hey HEY! Hey HEY! Wheeeeeeeeeee!"

"It MIGHT be - it COULD be - it IS!"

"Touch ‘em ALL..."

"She GONE!"

"GGGGGOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!" (Sorry, wrong summer sport)