CLEVELAND — Andrew Benintendi was in Cleveland, playing for the Boston Reds Sox in August 2017, when a partial eclipse took place.
“I remember needing certain glasses to look at it,” Benintendi told the Tribune last week.
The left fielder found himself once again in the right place at the right time Monday, as the Chicago White Sox began a three-game series with the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Monday marked the home opener for the Guardians, but all the attention was on the unique pregame show starring the total solar eclipse.
Fans filed into the stadium three hours before the game to get quite a different view from a ballpark seat. Songs like “I’ll Follow the Sun” by the Beatles played over the sound system. Players trickled out of both dugouts, special glasses on, to get a view.
“Today is one of the more unique places I’ve had a game at like this,” Sox reliever Bryan Shaw told the Tribune.
There was a huge cheer from the crowd as the sky darkened.
The scene at Progressive Field: pic.twitter.com/a1Rim55wfZ
— LaMond Pope (@lamondpope) April 8, 2024
When the game began, the disappearing act continued for the Sox offensively in a 4-0 loss. The Sox were limited to four hits and dropped their fifth straight, falling to 1-9. It’s the team’s worst start since beginning 0-10 in 1968.
“The record’s not good, you can’t hide from the record, it’s not good,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “But how are you not going to stay in a good place mentally when you’ve got 152 games left? If you’re not in a good place mentally, you’re going to have a long season.
“If we’re going to let the record beat us down, it’s going to be a long year. But I’m not there. They had good work today, they were prepared to play, we didn’t execute.”
While the game itself didn’t begin until nearly two hours after the eclipse, the circumstances brought to mind previous conditions that stood out.
Monday’s opener Tanner Banks recalled one instance while he attended Salt Lake Community College in Utah.
“It’s snowing at practice and I got to pitch in the snow,” the reliever told the Tribune last week. “It was big, a lot of snow. It was funny. It’s cold in February, maybe early March. Getting out on the mound and looking around, outside of the catcher, it was snowing so hard you really couldn’t see anything.
“I remember throwing five or six fastballs down the middle and the inning being over. I don’t think the hitters wanted to be there, it was just a scrimmage, but playing in snow — the color of a baseball — makes it even more difficult, on top of it being cold and wet.”
Banks recalled a summer league game in St. Cloud, Minn., getting called because of a tornado warning.
“Fortunately, the clubhouse was like a bunker,” Banks said. “You go outside and the sky is green, you can hear the air raid sirens going. One of the on-deck circle rubber mats got picked up by a gust of wind and thrown into the outfield. ‘I want no part of this.’”
Members of the Chicago White Sox look up from the grass outside the dugout as the moon partially covers the sun during a total solar eclipse over Progressive Field in Cleveland on Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
The temperature at first pitch was 63 degrees Monday in Cleveland, a far cry from a game Benintendi remembered in Boston.
“Snowing, 30-mile-per-hour winds,” Benintendi said. “The real temp was around 20 degrees. Chris Sale pitched that day, and with no undershirt or anything. I think he had like 15 strikeouts.
“Definitely have played some really, really cold games, really windy games.”
Just last season, the Sox were in New York for a series against the Yankees when a game was postponed because of what Major League Baseball called “clearly hazardous air quality.”
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New York was under a smoky haze because of wildfires burning in Canada. “That was weird,” Benintendi said. “I just remember the sky being orange and red. You could smell and taste the ashes. We had a game canceled because of the air quality, and the next day we played in the exact same air quality.”
Shaw thought back to his minor-league days and games in Bakersfield, Calif.
“The sun would set directly over center field, so the games would be before a certain time or after, otherwise looking at pitcher straight on, the sun would be directly on top,” Shaw said.
All these years later, the sun and moon caused quite a commotion at a ballpark.
So did José Ramírez during the game. His two-run home run off Shaw in the fifth gave the Guardians a 4-0 lead. The Sox didn’t have their sharpest game defensively, committing three errors. But the largest issue continues to be at the plate, as the Sox were blanked for the fourth time this season. That’s the most shutouts through 10 games in team history.
“We’ve got to be able to put some runs on the board,” Grifol said. “It’s really important for us to bear down with runners in scoring position.
“I’ve seen streaks like this on the offensive side. We’re going to get out of it working and going out there and competing our asses off. That’s how we’re going to get out of it. We’re not going to get out of it feeling sorry for ourselves.”
Injury updates on Luis Robert Jr. and John Brebbia
White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. grimaces after hitting a double in the ninth inning against the Royals on April 5, 2024, at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. (Reed Hoffmann/Getty)
Before Monday’s game, Grifol did not give a timeline for Luis Robert Jr.’s return after suffering a right hip flexor strain Friday against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. He went on the 10-day injured list Saturday.
“I know there’s some rumors out there and people putting dates on his return, that’s nonsense in my opinion,” Grifol said. “He’s a premium athlete who prepares really well and his body heals really well because of the predation in the offseason. To put a date on his complete recovery is not in our best interest and certainly not in anybody’s best interest.
“This guy wants to get back on the field and when players have that drive to get back on the field things happen a little quicker than normal. Just watching him come in yesterday and get on the bike and get moving. Then he’ll get some treatment back in Chicago … who knows? We’re not in the business of forecasting when premium athletes can get back on the field.”
The Sox will be without reliever John Brebbia, placing the right-hander on the 15-day injured list with a right calf strain. The move is retroactive to Saturday. Like Robert, Brebbia’s injury occurred Friday.
“He’s feeling better,” Grifol said. “It’s not as bad as the one in the spring. We just want to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
The Sox called up Jared Shuster from Triple-A Charlotte. The lefty, who was part of the six-player trade with the Atlanta Braves in the offseason, struck out two in three scoreless innings Monday.
