For the uninitiated, Sox Math is a segment during every White Sox game broadcast on NBC Sports Chicago, where two or more trivia questions are linked together via a simple math equation to form a final numerical answer. Fans watching at home tweet in their answers and the first one in with the right answer is dubbed the winner. Sunday, that winner was me.
Back in the before times, there was a prize shelf filled with random objects that announces Jason Benetti and Steve Stone had come across along with extra stadium giveaways. Starting in 2020, thanks to the pandemic, they switched it up to letting the winner create a video that would introduce the segment on the next game. Yes, that means I got to create the intro video for last night’s game.
My initial thought was to utilize my bobblehead, surrounded by White Sox bobbleheads, with me talking offscreen, but I thought that might end up being too static. So instead, I started moving all (well, most) of the mess off of my desk and replacing it with different White Sox paraphernalia, including bobbleheads, pennants, a towel, a Chris Sale K placard, and some Robin Ventura print sent to season ticket holders. After a few practice shots to get the camera set up correctly, I hit record and, after three takes, felt I had gotten what I needed to get. Some quick trimming to get just the last take down to the correct length, and off it went.
As we approached the top of the 4th inning, when the segment usually airs, I started to get nervous. I mean, there was a non-zero chance that I was about to make a fool out of myself on regional cable television. But, it aired without incident, aside from my mother sleeping through it. I managed a gain a few new Twitter followers, the video seemed to be a big hit on Facebook, and a co-worker happened to see it and passed a video around to some folks in the virtual office.
As for the original question itself, an educated guess led me to victory. I assumed there was nothing noteworthy about Julio Franco and Robin Ventura going back-to-back once and, had they done it three times, that would be rare enough that I would know about it, so two seemed like the safe choice. The second question was much easier, as Ventura wore #23 and Franco #14.
Now, I just need to win again. I’ve got some more video ideas.
