When former White Sox pitcher Tommy John died over a week ago, the Sun-Times, unfortunately, ran an obituary by the Associated Press instead of having a staffer write about him. To add insult to injury, the photo accompanying the story in print was a snapshot of Tommy as a Dodger instead of as a Sox player.
The AP article rightfully touches on Tommy John surgery, a path-breaking procedure named after the operation Tommy underwent in 1974 that replaced his torn elbow ligament with a tendon from his right forearm. The story mostly focuses on Tommy's time with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees, giving short shrift to his stints with the Sox, Cleveland Indians, California Angels and Oakland Athletics.
What can you expect from national writers who don't bother with the Midwest and smaller cites?
Here is Chicago perspective the Sun-Times could have captured:
When Cleveland traded Tommy to the Sox in 1965, the Sox also got Tommie Agee, one of the few good hitters the Sox had for a period. With the Sox, Tommy tied or led the majors in shutouts in 1966 and 1967. Tommy was considered the ace of the Sox’s pitching staff in 1966 and 1970. With Tommy and other great pitchers on the mound, the 1967 White Sox nearly won the pennant and led the American League for most of that season. In 1968, while on the Sox, Tommy had a microscopic 1.98 ERA and made the All-Star team.
The Sox’s trading of Tommy to the Dodgers before the 1972 season brought the Sox the great Dick Allen, who saved the franchise (the Sox were in danger of relocating a few years later) and nearly slugged the Sox into the playoffs. Without Tommy, the Sox never would have gotten Allen, and the Sox could have ended up in Seattle or Denver.
Let's not forget who Tommy John was to many of us Chicagoans: A White Sox star of the mid-1960s and early 1970s.
RIP, Tommy.
William S. Bike, Clearing
Be fair by approving Protecting Renters Ordinance
In recent weeks, some Chicago City Council members have advanced the Fair and Accountable Illinois Rental, or FAIR, ordinance as an alternative to Mayor Brandon Johnson's proposed Protecting Renters Ordinance, or PRO, supported by housing justice advocates, including the Metropolitan Tenants Organization.
It should be noted the FAIR ordinance doesn't live by its name. FAIR rolls back existing law by vastly expanding landlord exemptions from the Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance, weakening tenant protections and creating an opportunistic environment for the landlord lobby. FAIR also falls short by completely removing the ordinance's central housing stability measure: "just cause" provisions, which would protect tenants from a landlord’s arbitrary decision not to renew a lease, while providing relocation assistance to those displaced through no fault of their own.
At the Metropolitan Tenants Organization, we see the impacts of no-fault displacement and housing instability every day through our work with city-based tenants. These experiences are exactly why we support PRO’s just cause and relocation assistance provisions. Today, a Chicago tenant who pays rent on time and complies with their lease may still lose their home simply because a landlord declines to renew their lease, for any reason or no reason.
Decades of research demonstrates that stable housing is associated with better educational outcomes, improved physical and mental health, stronger neighborhood cohesion and greater economic opportunity. This is not surprising, as housing provides far more than shelter. It anchors children to schools, connects workers to jobs, sustains neighborhood relationships, and provides the stability households need to plan for the future.
Several states and over 20 of the nation’s largest cities have adopted some form of just cause provisions because they recognize housing stability as a legitimate public interest. Contrary to opponents’ claims, just cause and relocation assistance are not correlated with faster rent growth or less development.
Tenant protections are not the drivers of decreasing affordability — they are vital interventions in a market that is otherwise easily exploited by bad actors. PRO will improve protections. FAIR will take them away and roll back years of progress.
The City Council has an opportunity to protect and stabilize tenants rights, and we urge them to move forward and strengthen tenant protections by supporting PRO, not backward, by rolling them back with FAIR.
Cassie Armea-Warren, deputy director, Metropolitan Tenants Organization
Don’t dismiss USS Abraham Lincoln claims
The reports about conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln should concern every American.
Sailors, Marines and their families have described broken toilets, plumbing problems, shortages of food and hygiene supplies, and serious mental health concerns after an extraordinarily long deployment. There are even reports of sailors attempting to go overboard.
Yet, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismisses these reports as “completely misrepresented.” That response is difficult to accept when multiple families, military reporters and members of Congress are raising similar concerns.
Maybe every allegation isn’t 100% accurate, but instead of dismissing them, Hegseth should demand an independent investigation and let the facts speak for themselves.
Our sailors and Marines risk their lives for this country. They deserve decent living conditions, honest leadership and, above all, to be heard.
Shouldn’t these sailors and Marines be afforded the same conditions as those enjoyed by convicted child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell at her country club prison in Texas?
Tom Scorby, St. Charles
Trump’s renovation ruse
Good to know that our prez found the time last week to give some folks a guided tour of the "improvements" he's making to our White House and its grounds.
He needs to take an occasional break from his ongoing negotiations with Iran, Oman, Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas, Cuba, Greenland, that NATO gang and our pesky northern neighbors.
Dan McGuire, Bensenville
