Rocky Biddle

Cal Ripken's first major-league hit came against Dennis Lamp of the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 16, 1981. His last hit came against Frank Castillo of the Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Oct. 5, 2001. Ripken finished his career with 3,184...

The baseball gods were looking down on the White Sox and laughing loudly Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field. Frank Thomas was given a chance to redeem himself for not sliding into home plate Saturday, a decision that led to criticism from manager...

Sunday was one of those hot, sticky days Chicagoans were thinking about early last winter while shoveling out their parking spaces and saving them with old, beat-up lawn furniture. Summertime means baseball in Chicago, and no matter what the status of...

Jose Valentin looked around the field Monday and saw a bunch of 20-somethings surrounding him. Who would have guessed back in the spring that the 32-year-old Valentin would be the "old man" in the middle on a rebuilding White Sox team? "It is kind of...

The White Sox received welcome relief Sunday from Bob Howry, Keith Foulke and Damaso Marte. While the relievers combined for five perfect innings in a 4-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals, the rest of the Sox played with an attitude that delighted...

Imagine the shock for an Atlanta Braves fan who spent the winter abroad without giving his favorite team a second thought. Hey, that isn't Tom Glavine in a New York Mets uniform, is it? And what's the deal with Kevin Millwood wearing that Phillies cap?...

It was back during the first Bulls' three-peat that some Angels players accused the White Sox of canceling an early-season game at Comiskey Park so everyone in Chicago could watch Michael Jordan on TV. The Texas Rangers ran into a similar problem on...

If the Cubs are to successfully tiptoe through the minefields that exist in the schedule the final month of the season, the five starters in the pitching rotation may have to carry more of the load than expected. But some of them appear to be up to the...

Today's temperature for the Cubs-Expos game in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is 86 degrees with mostly cloudy skies. The Weather Channel says it feels like 93, but I can't confirm this -- I'm two levels below ground in the Tribune Tower. The thermometer here...

If it's not broken, don't fix it. Who could begrudge Anaheim Angels general manager Bill Stoneman a restful winter? After all, the Angels' ultraimpressive run through the playoffs should not be viewed as the doing of the Rally Monkey or any other Disney-...

Playing on an island paradise in June or July is one thing, but playing there during the heat of a pennant race is different matter altogether. The Cubs could have swept their three-game series in sunny Puerto Rico and come home in first place in the...

The White Sox-Cubs rivalry is only five years old, but there already have been plenty of classic games. First came the "Ivy Affair" in 1998 when the Sox were denied a run when the Wrigley Field vines swallowed a ball. Then came the "Caruso Game" in '99...