Imrem: A beautiful Sunday well spent enjoying baseball
The only thing wrong with Sunday's meeting between the White Sox and Royals was it wasn't a doubleheader.
Well, wait, there was something else wrong.
The fans in U.S. Cellular Field did the wave, which, sorry, folks, isn't a Chicago thing.
The 34,526 in attendance get a bit of a pass because they might have been commemorating the 25th anniversary of the ballpark.
The early 1990s was the last time the wave was popular someplace, right?
Uh, where was I?
Oh, yeah, there were worse ways to spend a 77-degree Sunday afternoon than watching baseball.
Not just because the Sox won 3-2. Not just because the victory interrupted a losing spell. Not just because it lengthened their division lead.
It was more that baseball was designed for a beautiful day like this.
I'm biased, but on any given Sunday give me one baseball game rather than 10 given Sundays of football.
I don't dislike football, but there's something poetic about baseball that sets it apart from other sports.
Games can drag on to the three-hour mark or 3:15 or even worse. Maybe what started me thinking Sunday about how great baseball was that this game was played in a snappy 2:47 and at a decent pace as well.
Man, the Sox and Royals packed a lot into that relatively brief time span.
Royals right fielder Paulo Orlando made a terrific catch of Austin Jackson's drive to the wall. The Sox executed a slick first baseman-to-pitcher putout just like they practiced it in spring training. Overall there were nine innings of errorless baseball.
Excuse me for waxing romantic about an early-season game but baseball is a wonderful sport when played the right way.
The Royals have played it that way for a few years now, as evidenced by their World Series victory last year.
More proof was the way third baseman Mike Moustakas and left fielder Alex Gordon collided violently while chasing a popup into foul territory.
"Oh, yeah," Sox third baseman Todd Frazier said of feeling the Royals' pain. "You're trying to get the ball no matter what."
That's how this game was contested from the first pitch that Carlos Rodon threw to the defending champions.
The young lefty struggled some, hung in as best he could, and eventually was credited with the victory.
That was one of the day's storylines, the Sox prevailing with someone other than Chris Sale pitching.
Another was Sox manager Robin Ventura forcing slumping slugger Jose Abreu to take the day off to "hit the reset button," as Frazier put it.
Playing against the Royals is agonizing. Their defense catches everything, their baserunning pressures opponents, and they tweak you with timely hits.
These Royals aren't the '27 Yankees or the 1970s Big Red Machine bludgeoning challengers. Instead they sort of tickle you into submission.
Not on this day, though. The Sox received the game's timeliest hit from Melky Cabrera, flawless relief pitching and a pleasant victory on a pleasant afternoon.
At the end, closer David Robertson punctuated the victory with a strikeout amid chants of "Let's go, Sox!" followed by fireworks,
Yes, this was a Sunday well spent, and now the second-place Indians come to town for a four-game series.
By the way, included is a doubleheader Monday.
mimrem@dailyherald.com