CHICAGO — White Sox fans received a surprise gift at the team’s home opener Monday when closer Liam Hendriks announced he is undergoing his last round of chemotherapy.
In a video message played on the scoreboard and posted to the team’s official Twitter account, Hendriks said, “Happy Opening Day, Sox fans. Just want to let you know I’m starting my last round of chemo today. So, I’ll see you guys on the South Side soon.”
Hendriks, 34, announced that he was beginning treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma on Jan. 8. He missed spring training but as the season approached, a hopeful sign emerged last week when the White Sox decided against placing Hendriks on the 60-day disabled list.
“He is making very good progress,” White Sox general manager Rick Hahn told the media late in spring training. “While we don’t currently have a specific timeline available to share with you on his potential return, those of you that pay close attention to our roster will notice that we have not placed him on the 60-day IL, and that is on purpose.”
Hahn reiterated those comments before the game, saying that while the club was unable to provide a timeline for a return for either Hendriks or injured reliever Garrett Crochet, both were progressing and “aren’t on the 60-day IL for a reason.”
Hendriks has gone 12-7 over his first two White Sox seasons with 2.66 ERA and 75 saves, second to Kenley Jansen for the most saves in the majors over that time span.
DRUMMOND, New Brunswick — Hall of Fame jockey Ron Turcotte, who rode Secretariat to the Triple Crown in 1973, has died. He was 84.
Turcotte’s family said through his longtime business partner and friend Leonard Lusky that the Canada-born jockey died of natural causes at his home in Drummond, New Brunswick, on Friday.
Turcotte won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes twice each from 1965-73 before his riding career ended when he fell off a horse and suffered injuries that caused paraplegia. Secretariat’s record time in the Belmont still stands 52 years later.
It’s August and no games have been played, but that’s not keeping ESPN’s college football reporters from predicting the 12 schools that will make up the College Football Playoff beginning in December.
Ohio State won the inaugural 12-team bracket last season, despite starting as the No. 8 seed, demonstrating that the playoff truly gives new life to any team that gains entry.
There’s a slight alteration to the format this year. The tournament will still comprise the top five conference champions and seven at-large schools. But the top four seeds — and the first-round bye that comes with each of those seeds — will no longer go to the four highest-ranked conference champions (last season that was Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State). This season the committee has moved to a straight seeding model, so the four highest-ranked schools in the committee’s final top 12 will get the top four seeds.
Ahead of Week 0, here are the slates our reporters picked. Let the chase begin:
Andrea Adelson: 1. Clemson 2. Penn State 3. Texas 4. LSU 5. Georgia 6. Ohio State 7. Notre Dame 8. Miami 9. Alabama 10. Iowa State 11. Nebraska 12. Boise State
Kyle Bonagura: 1. Texas 2. Penn State 3. Ohio State 4. Clemson 5. Georgia 6. Notre Dame 7. Alabama 8. Oregon 9. LSU 10. Arizona State 11. Miami 12. Boise State
Bill Connelly: 1. Penn State 2. Alabama 3. Texas 4. Ohio State 5. Georgia 6. Notre Dame 7. Texas A&M 8. Clemson 9. Oregon 10. Boise State 11. Miami 12. Kansas State
Heather Dinich: 1. Penn State, 2. Clemson, 3. Texas 4. LSU 5. Georgia 6. Ohio State 7. Notre Dame 8. Alabama 9. Miami 10. Oregon 11. Kansas State 12. Boise State
David Hale: 1. Ohio State 2. Texas 3. Clemson 4. Penn State 5. Notre Dame 6. Georgia 7. Oregon 8. LSU 9. Texas A&M 10. Kansas State 11. Miami 12. Toledo
Eli Lederman: 1. Penn State 2. Texas 3. Clemson 4. Ohio State 5. Notre Dame 6. Alabama 7. Oregon 8. Georgia 9. Arizona State 10. LSU 11. Miami 12. Boise State