Chris De Luca

Chicago

Deputy Managing Editor, News and Sports at Chicago Sun-Times

Deputy Managing Editor, Sports, Chicago Sun-Times

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Articles

MLB ushers in new era with Cubs-Athletics game in West Sacramento

3 weeks ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Chris De Luca

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif — This is what failure looks like. Just don’t tell the folks in the Sacramento area. They love the Athletics and they love the idea of their beloved A’s playing in the shadow of Sacramento’s iconic Tower Bridge. This is Kings country, but for the next few summers, the A’s will be the ones treated like royalty while they play in a decidedly minor-league ballpark. Just don’t call them the Sacramento A’s.
White Sox manager Will Venable isn't sweating anything in his first camp

1 month ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Chris De Luca

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Call him “Flat Bill” Will Venable. The rookie manager, who looks a decade younger than his 42 years, has a unique style among the 42 skippers in White Sox history. He prefers to wear his cap flat-bill style. “I never thought to bend it,” a smiling Venable said under his oversized spring-training lid. “Ever.”Fair enough. It’s a fresh new look, which is precisely what the Sox needed. Desperately.
White Sox expect catcher Korey Lee to be back in lineup this weekend

1 month ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Chris De Luca

GLENDALE, Ariz. — White Sox catcher Korey Lee showed off a puffy and purplish right hand Thursday morning and laughed. “Yeah, trying to karate chop a baseball bat is probably not the best thing in the world,” Lee said. “This stuff happens. I’m surprised it didn’t happen more.”Lee’s hand hit the bat of Brewers batter Rhys Hoskins as the catcher was trying to throw out a runner at third base. He left the game after the inning, but X-rays were negative.
White Sox pitcher Justin Dunn has a big fan in NBA star Kevin Durant

1 month ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Chris De Luca

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Kevin Durant has suddenly become a White Sox fan. The Phoenix Suns star has been spotted multiple times wearing a Sox cap at press conferences. Now, he wants a City Connect Southside Sox jersey. Seems easy enough. What number: 35 or 7 — the two numbers the future Hall of Famer has worn during his NBA career? Neither. Durant wants a genuine Justin Dunn jersey, complete with name and number. That’s where things get complicated. Justin Dunn?
Left-hander Martin Perez looks to be veteran presence for rebuilding White Sox

1 month ago | chicago.suntimes.com | Chris De Luca

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Lucas Giolito from 2020 to 2022, Dylan Cease in 2023 and Garrett Crochet in 2024. Those are the White Sox’ last three Opening Day starters spanning five years and it’s an impressive list for a team that hasn’t had much to brag about in recent memory. And in 2025? Well …There’s David Martin, Jonathan Cannon and Martin Perez, who allowed three runs (two earned) and four hits in three innings Wednesday, taking the loss in a 3-2 setback to the Brewers in a split-squad game.
What's left for a 15-42 White Sox team seemingly headed nowhere?

May 30, 2024 | chicago.suntimes.com | Chris De Luca

Maybe it was a clever way of pushing for a move to Nashville, proving they simply can’t win in Chicago. Maybe it was the curse of Ken Williams and Rick Hahn playing out on tape-delay. Maybe they’re really just this bad. The White Sox completed a seven-game homestand Wednesday without a single victory. Sounds remarkable because, well, it is. In their sordid history, this is something no other Sox team could ever pull off in a homestand lasting at least seven games.
Grant Park 220 set for July 2 in Chicago as NASCAR releases 2024 schedule

Oct 4, 2023 | chicago.suntimes.com | Chris De Luca

Though most of the dates had already leaked, NASCAR officially released its 2024 schedule Wednesday, confirming the Grant Park 220 will be held in Chicago on July 2. NASCAR returns to Chicago despite some pushback from politicians and downtown residents. New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen won the inaugural Chicago Street Race on July 1 that played out during a ferociously stormy weekend in Chicago. “Man, what an experience,” van Gisbergen said after his rain-shortened Chicago victory.
USWNT News: Ex-Red Stars star Julie Ertz officially retires from soccer

Aug 31, 2023 | chicago.suntimes.com | Chris De Luca

Two-time U.S. Soccer Player of the Year Julie Ertz has retired from soccer after a 10-year career that included back-to-back Women’s World Cup titles. Ertz, 31 and a former Chicago Red Stars player, had already hinted at her retirement at this summer’s World Cup after the United States fell to Sweden on penalties in the Round of 16, tearfully telling reporters it was likely her final match wearing the team crest. She made it official Thursday.
White Sox news: Jerry Reinsdorf wrongs a right with Tony La Russa return

Aug 23, 2023 | chicago.suntimes.com | Chris De Luca

Just when you thought Jerry Reinsdorf was restoring order on the South Side, The Chairman had one more trick up his sleeve during a shocking week in White Sox land. Just as fired vice president Ken Williams and general manager Rick Hahn were carrying their belongings out the door Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field, Tony La Russa was making a — we won’t call it triumphant — return. Yes, that Tony La Russa. Clean slate at 35th and Shields? Not exactly.
White Sox news: GM Rick Hahn spins another tale about a lost season

Aug 1, 2023 | chicago.suntimes.com | Chris De Luca

This has become a comfort zone for Rick Hahn. Another disappointing season comes crashing down around the White Sox, and the veteran general manager shrugs it off nonchalantly. He coolly tells us what we want to hear as his sleight of hand kicks into gear. Hahn’s post-trade deadline Zoom on Tuesday was barely seconds old, and there he was, giggling as he prepared to enter another breezy session with reporters that has become the norm. Sox fans are irate and Hahn is giggling? The script is familiar.