A new computerized weather system, the first of its kind in the major leagues, enabled the White Sox to decide in the midst of a violent afternoon thunderstorm whether they would be able to play Monday night’s game as scheduled.
Forecasters were calling for intermittent rain throughout the night, which is what happened.
But the computer in groundskeeper Roger Bossard’s office at Comiskey Park showed a large enough window of opportunity to get in the game.
It was the third time this season that the computer has been a factor in a decision on whether or not to play. On May 24 and again last Friday, the umpires came into Bossard’s office to look at his computer screen.
“And you guys thought all I did was cut grass and mat the infield,” Bossard said.
Sox exec Rob Gallas talked the team into buying the system after he saw it in action on the national stock-car circuit.
“If you had looked outside (Monday afternoon), you would have been convinced we had to cancel this game,” Gallas said. “This system enables us to more aggressively try to play games.”
– The weather was bad enough, however, to persuade the Sox to postpone until June 22 their private official team photo day, which was scheduled for Tuesday.
– Ron Karkovice leads AL catchers in homers with eight and runs scored with 26. And that despite ranking only fourth in games played with 48.
– Rod Bolton, who started the year with the White Sox, lost his first game at Triple-A Nashville. He only allowed two earned runs in 6 1/3 innings, but fell to 4-1. Bolton has a 3.29 earned-run average and is holding opposing hitters to just a .251 average.
– Former American League home run king Cecil Fielder is having a tough time handling Sox rookie pitcher Jason Bere. Fielder struck out all three times he faced Bere in Detroit last week. He singled in his first at-bat against Bere Monday night, but then grounded out and struck out again.