Chicago Sun Times

A man, 51, was in the 6800 block of South Prairie Avenue when he was hit in the legs and chest by gunfire, police said.Sun-Times file A man was killed in a shooting in Greater Grand Crossing on Sunday afternoon.A man, 51, was in the 6800 block of South Prairie Avenue about 3:13 p.m. when he was hit in the legs and chest by gunfire, police said. He was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center where he later died.No one is in custody.

The White Sox’ Gavin Sheets hits an RBI double against the Cardinals in St Louis. Sheets doubled two more times on Sunday. Joe Puetz/Getty Images ST. LOUIS — Playing every day matters. Just ask Gavin Sheets, whose 2024 pace has him on track for a career high 525 plate appearances.After securing a job in spring training that wasn’t guaranteed, and, after getting regular at-bats as the designated hitter when Eloy Jimenez got hurt, Sheets forced himself into the everyday lineup, even as a right fielder where he won’t come close to sniffing a Gold Glove. Providing steady production on a team that’s last in the majors in runs will do that. On deck: White Sox at RaysMonday: Mike Clevinger (season debut) vs. TBA, 5:50 p.m., NBCSCH, 1000-AMTuesday: Michael Soroka (0-3, 6.48) vs. Zach Eflin (1-4, 4.17), 5:50 p.m., NBCSCH, 1000-AMWednesday: Chris Flexen (1-3, 4.85) vs. Aaron Civale (2-2, 5.06), NBCSCH, 1000-AM “You definitely keep a rhythm,” Sheets told the Sun-Times of the advantage of playing every day before the White Sox’ 5-1 victory over the Cardinals Sunday. “But the biggest thing for me is not putting too much pressure on myself with every at-bat when you do. You know your at-bats are coming. It’s not like, hey if I don’t get a hit today I might not play this week. You take each at-bat as they come, you’re not as results oriented, you’re more process oriented.”Sheets is batting .263/.357/.444 with three homers and an .801 OPS that leads all Sox hitters by plenty – Jimenez is next at .697. Manager Pedro Grifol started the left-handed hitter against Cardinals left-handed opener, Matthew Liberatore, on Sunday.Such at-bats are “huge,” said Sheets, who grounded out twice against Liberatore – once at 101.8 exit velocity, and doubled against lefty John King in the eighth. Related There for the tanking: Embrace the White Sox’ pursuit of being the worst team in MLB history Report: White Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks partnering with Standard Media Group, not Stadium Against right-hander Giovanny Gallegos, Sheets doubled in a four-run seventh inning. The second double was Sheets’ 10th of the season but his first hit against a lefty in 14 at-bats this season. He was .112/.165/.135 in his career against left-handers going in.“Really, the first time in my career lefties and righties so it’s been great,” he said. “Embraced it, enjoying the everyday soreness and all those aspects, making the most of it.” Crochet sharpLefty Garrett Crochet pitched six innings of one-run ball, striking out six, walking no one and allowing three hits including Willson Contreras’ homer and Lars Nootbar’s smash single that caromed off his left shin.”Just wrapped it up in between innings and was able to lock it in and get us through six,” Crochet said.”It felt pretty brutal. In my mind when I was doing the warmup pitches I was like, ‘I’m just buying time for someone in the bullpen to get hot.’ But I was able to find my footing there after a couple of throws, felt like I had some stability. Just kind of off the bone, so it was just that immediate reaction that really felt painful.”Crochet threw 88 pitches, 60 for strikes.Dad-gum adductorsInfielder Nicky Lopez, who looked a bit wobbly running out a ground ball Saturday, has some adductor soreness, Grifol said, and was given the day off.“But Nicky is a gamer,” Grifol said. “I’ve seen him play with all types of stuff. He never wants out of the lineup, he plays with pain, through pain. It was my choice not his, to make sure we calm that down a little bit and get him back to 100 percent.”Yoan Moncada is on the injured list with adductor strains and Jimenez spent time on the IL last month with a left adductor strain as well.Luis Robert Jr. (hip) is expected to begin his rehab assignment at Triple-A Charlotte in about a week.  Related White Sox should be open to all trades, including for Luis Robert Jr., Garrett Crochet Mike Clevinger close to returnThe Sox are officially TBA for their series opener at the Rays Monday, but the plan is for Mike Clevinger to make his season debut. Dominic Leone “feeling good”Reliever Dominic Leone, who left Saturday’s game with low back stiffness after facing one batter, was well enough to throw a medicine ball and baseball Sunday.“He came in feeling good today,” Grifol said.

The White Sox’ Bryan Ramos hits a sacrifice fly against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium on Sunday in St. Louis.Joe Puetz/Getty Images  ST. LOUIS — Eloy Jimenez knows what Bryan Ramos got to experience this weekend.Watching the White Sox’ top third base prospect break into the major leagues, seeing his angst, enjoying his success and the whirl wind of emotion took Jimenez back five years.They were nice memories.“It reminded me of me of 2019 when I first came up,” Jimenez said after he and Ramos fueled the Sox’ 5-1 victory against the Cardinals Sunday at Busch Stadium. “He was very anxious but doing well.“He was excited. To be here. It’s a privilege to come to the big leagues, and especially when you are Latin. We have the opportunity, but not too many guys make it. But to be one of them is good.”Ramos, called up from Double-A Birmingham Saturday when third baseman Danny Mendick — the regular third baseman after Yoan Moncada went down with an adductor strain — landed on the injured list with a stiff back. Related White Sox third-base prospect Bryan Ramos does more than talk a good game Ramos, the Sox’ No. 4 prospect per MLB Pipeline, made his debut defensively in the last two innings of Saturday’s 6-5 win and, in the starting lineup for the first time Sunday, lifted a sacrifice fly against Matthew Libertore in his first plate appearance in the second. In a four-run seventh that broke the game open and sent the 8-26 Sox to their fifth win in nine games and second series win in the last three, Ramos singled for his first hit and scored a run.“Last week we had the Tommy Pham effect. Right now we have the Bryan Ramos effect, so let’s keep it rolling,” said left-hander Garrett Crochet, who pitched six innings of one-run ball.There was a Jimenez effect, too, in the form of a 418-foot homer to right center against Giovanny Gallego breaking a 1-all tie and starting the four-run seventh. As manager Pedro Grifol said, things are always better for Jimenez, who homered for the fourth time, when he’s lifting the ball and hitting it to center and right fields.Jimenez noted the Twins’ and Rays’ success against him in recent series.“So to stay that way like in ’19, when I had the most homers I hit [31] and pretty much all my homers went to the other side, is good. So hitting the ball that way means I’m getting better.”A few lockers away, in a corner of the visitors clubhouse, Ramos was beaming. Like Jimenez, Ramos does his interviews in English. Related Tommy Pham is quickly adapting to White Sox’ clubhouse “I feel like there’s nothing better than this,” Ramos said. “I’ve been dreaming of this since I was a kid playing baseball in Cuba and then was trying to sign in the Dominican, since then that was my dream to get to the big leagues and get a hit and all this, it’s like, I’m way too happy right now.”Ramos said he was keeping it simple at the plate, trying to get the ball in the air for the sacrifice fly and trying to go the other way when he singled to center.“And I get a base hit, perfect,” he said.”I don’t want to try to be the hero, I want to work for the team. My goal was to get the ball to the other side of the field but I get a base hit so I’ll take that.”Enduring a historically bad start, the Sox took the win and their first road series win in open arms. And they’re 2-0 with Ramos, who figures to get plenty of playing time while Mendick is on the IL.”Ramos is a presence out there,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “He looks the part when he stands in the box. It’s fun to have him here because he’s dangerous. And he can run and he’s athletic. It’s going to be fun to watch him play.””Today was more tranquilo but yesterday was my first game and I just came to play defense and man, this place is loud,” Ramos said. “When they go crazy… But I said to myself, ‘We’re here so we’ve got to play.’ I tried to stay as calm as I can.”

The Cinco de Mayo parade in Little Village on Sunday was cut short by reports of gunshots further down the planned route on Cermak Road.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times The annual Little Village Cinco de Mayo parade was rerouted and then cut short Sunday after shots were fired along the parade route, officials said, though paradegoers still reveled the chance to celebrate Mexican culture and history.The Chicago Fire Department responded to the scene near Cermak Road and Washtenaw Avenue, but they found no one with injuries to take to the hospital.Chicago police worked with parade organizers to reroute the celebration, which was scheduled to start at noon, heading west along Cermak from Damen Avenue to Marshall Boulevard. Instead, the parade started closer to 12:30 p.m. south on Damen to Blue Island Avenue.At 1:30 p.m., the Chicago Police Department announced in a statement that the parade had been canceled “out of an abundance of caution.” Folklorico dancers surround a child at Sunday’s Cinco de Mayo celebration.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times Police, elected officials and parade organizers decided to cancel the rest of the parade following “gang violence in the area,” the CPD statement said. Multiple people have been arrested, according to police.Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th), who was at the parade, told the Sun-Times the act of violence was an unfortunate incident, especially on a day of joy for the Mexican community.”The city needs to do something about the stream of guns into our communities,” Sigcho-Lopez said.The shooting “can’t take away from our celebration today,” said Hector Escobar, who has helped organize the annual parade for 40 years. “We are still going to honor and celebrate our Mexican heritage today.”The holiday commemorates Mexico’s victory over Napoleon’s French army in the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Spectators wave Mexican flags as a rider on a white horse passes by during the Cinco de Mayo parade in Little Village on Sunday.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times “We’re celebrating the most important battle,” said Escobar, who is also the president of the Cermak Road Chamber of Commerce. “Napoleon tried to take our country, but he never stood a chance. He was going for all of North America, so if it wasn’t for us, we’d all be speaking French right now.””This holiday is about celebrating our identity, culture, heritage, our music, families and honoring traditions,” Sigcho-Lopez said. “Cinco de Mayo also is about independence from imperialism, which is very relevant today.”The parade, although brief, still featured a steady stream of horses dancing, mariachi bands performing from the beds of trucks, countless Mexican flags waving, girls in colorful dresses dancing and vintage Ford trucks and motorcycles rumbling down the street.Jessica Rizo and Rudy Bandermeer brought their three young kids out to watch the parade.”This was great, except for all the violence,” Rizo said. “It’s just sad, especially that it happened near where so many people came out today to celebrate with their families.” A Lincoln lowrider dances for the crowd.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times But the family still enjoyed themselves. Her sons, ages 10, 6 and 4, especially liked the low-rider motorcycles and the free candy given out to kids. A folklorico dancer performs Sunday. The Cinco de Mayo holiday commemorates Mexico’s victory over Napoleon’s French army in the Battle of Puebla in 1862.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times “It’s nice how the parade brought together so many people and their families,,” Rizo said.Julia Teresa Bukovatz, 25, also appreciated the strong sense of community.”There’s a lot of division among people right now, so it’s nice that so many people came together today to celebrate,” she said. “And to bring people together to celebrate and honor Mexican culture and heritage is very special.”Bukovatz, who has spent her whole life in Pilsen, takes any opportunity to honor her Mexican heritage. Her grandfather, who was from Mexico, used to regularly come out for the Cinco de Mayo parade.”This is our first year without him, so I thought I would come out to honor him,” Bukovatz said.”I love the chance to come together with the community and celebrate being Mexican.”

Fans watch during a White Sox loss to the Twins at Guaranteed Rate Field on Wednesday.Nam Y. Huh/AP The season is still young, but it’s clear that the White Sox’ only entertainment value lies in how low they can go.So let’s not beat around the bush league:If they’re going to be awful, why not be the worst ever?With an 8-26 record, the Sox have a chance to be historically bad. The major-league record for most losses in a season in the post-1901 Modern Era is 120, set by the 1962 Mets, an expansion team. The Sox are on pace for 124 losses. The worst winning percentage in history is .235, set by the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics. That’s the Sox’ winning percentage after 34 games.Let’s do this, Chicago. Let’s revel in a team with an opportunity to become the worst ballclub in modern history.My recommendation to Sox fans is to sit back and chortle, the way you might delight in a terrifically bad community theater production or in a church choir that sounds like horse stables on fire. If you can’t find humor in this dreadful rendition of the sport of baseball, if you can’t laugh at the ineptness on display, you’re going to burst a vein.This Sox team has it all – the stock-character evil owner, the hapless manager and the cast of very marginal players worthy of a franchise apparently trying to lose on purpose, which is what rebuilds are. The team’s best players keep getting injured, to the point where something nefarious seems to be at work. A dark lord? Related Memo to Jerry Reinsdorf: There’s ‘next to no appetite’ in Springfield to fund new stadium Team chairman Jerry Reinsdorf has been a target of disgruntled Sox fans for decades, and now that their discontent is at record levels, the arrows are sharper than ever. Thanks to the losing, Reinsdorf’s pursuit of taxpayer money for a new ballpark and his unspoken threat of moving the team, what little love there might have been for him has crossed state lines.The best revenge on the chairman is to laugh at the product, to bear hug the losing and to continue to boycott Guaranteed Rate Field. But mostly to laugh.No one involved set out in pursuit of being the worst team ever, and I’m guessing very few Sox fans are taking pleasure in seeing their team bounce along the bottom of the ocean. But bounce it does and bounce it will. Nothing and no one is coming to the rescue.It’s one of life’s inexplicable truths that sometimes feeling bad feels good. And sometimes it’s better to be remembered than forgotten. Outside of some Tigers fans with an unnatural attachment to misery, no one remembers the 2003 Detroit team that went 43-119. But people still talk about Casey Stengel’s 120-loss Mets team, the highwater mark for terrible. In terms of lasting significance, historically bad beats almost-historically bad every time. Let’s keep our eye on the prize, folks. Related White Sox’ Gavin Sheets enjoying benefits of playing every day The Sox have won two games in a row and five of their last nine, to which I say: Stop that.Their run differential is minus-82, putting them on pace to break the 1932 Red Sox’ record of minus-345. They’ve been shut out nine times in 34 games, a remarkable thing. Not scoring a run every fourth game or so, well, you can’t make it up.Sox general manager Chris Getz told the Sun-Times’ Daryl Van Schouwen on Saturday that more trades are possible this season, which means that more young players and more losing could be on the way.‘‘Similar to the message from last fall and all offseason, we will be open-minded on anything to further set us up for future success,’’ Getz said.That’s music to the ears of people like me who say, if it’s broke, break it some more. It’s probably a dirge to the people who are already taking the season hard, but I’m suggesting an attitude adjustment. I’m suggesting humor as a means of self-preservation. Don’t accept the prodigious losing as a necessary means to building a winner. That doesn’t always work out, as the Sox’ most-recent failed rebuild proves. Accept the prodigious losing as a means of getting in the Guinness Book of World Records.New Sox TV play-by-play announcer John Schriffen was roundly criticized for celebrating a victory the other day by whooping, “Say it with me, say it proud — for all the haters — South Side, staaaaaand up!” That. Was. Fun!#ForAllTheHaters#SouthSideStandUp https://t.co/CO6nkkTOHl— John Schriffen (@JohnSchriffen) April 28, 2024 I don’t see haters when I hear people laughing at the 2024 White Sox. I see discerning baseball fans. I don’t see haters when I listen to angry Sox fans. I see people who care a lot, perhaps to excess. For those tortured souls, one final exhortation: The only way to get through this season is to let go of it. Remove the typical life-or-death importance you place on a Sox season and learn to find meaning in failure. Look at this exercise as sociology, not sports.If you decide to embrace the losing, know that there could be some challenging times ahead. The Rockies are 8-26, too, and their run differential is an impressively hideous minus-77.They think they can take what’s ours?Now that’s a team to hate.