South Sider of the Month: Michael Massey, Kansas City Royals (baseball)
The South Side Sports Roundup’s first monthly spotlight falls upon professional baseball player Michael Massey, who attended Brother Rice High School on 99th and Pulaski before playing for three years at the University of Illinois.
Now in his fourth year in the majors with the Kansas City Royals, Massey had one of his best months in June, recording a career-high 25 hits. Overall, his current .260 batting average is second on the Royals only to superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.
Two hits came against his hometown White Sox at the end of June. Massey has saved some of his best work for the Pale Hose—his seven homers, eight doubles, and 23 runs batted in against the South Siders bests all teams he’s faced in his career. He won’t be visiting Rate Field again this season, but he’ll get another chance to add to those numbers when the Sox next visit Kansas City in late September.
Massey is the third Brother Rice player to reach the big leagues, and the first since 1989. He needs six hits to surpass Pete Mackanin for the all-time lead among former Crusaders. The South Side’s all-time hits leader is Kirby Puckett, who grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes and attended now-defunct Calumet High School before recording 2,304 hits for the Minnesota Twins from 1984-95. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2001, though his career was later marred by numerous domestic abuse charges.
Do you have a pick for South Sider of the Month? Email our sports contributor Malachi at mzhayes95@gmail.com.
St. Rita, Thornton standout selected in first round of NBA draft
Three months after winning a National Championship with the Michigan Wolverines, former South Side basketball star Morez Johnson Jr. is on his way to the NBA. Selected by the Dallas Mavericks with the ninth overall pick in June’s draft, Johnson played at St. Rita of Cascia High School for three years before transferring to Thornton Township High School in south suburban Harvey for his senior year. He found college stardom first at the University of Illinois, then at the University of Michigan.
Johnson made his professional debut for the Mavericks’ Summer League squad last Saturday, posting 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting and four blocks in 28 minutes.
Two other Chicago-area players were selected last month:: Fenwick High School alum Bryce Hopkins was selected by the Denver Nuggets with the 49th pick out of St. John’s University, and six picks later, Northwestern University forward and Glenbrook South High School grad Nick Martinelli went to the Los Angeles Clippers at number 55.
The Bulls selected North Carolina star Caleb Wilson with the fourth pick in the draft, as well as Texas guard Dailyn Swain at number 15. Wilson exploded 35 points to kick off Chicago’s NBA Summer League action last weekend in a 97-96 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
White Sox send three to All-Star Game, select UCLA star with top pick
Despite suffering their first sweep in nearly three months by the Boston Red Sox last week, the Chicago White Sox are in a dead heat for first place in the AL Central. Plus, the Sox had two representatives in this week’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia.
Third baseman Miguel Vargas was voted an All-Star reserve last week, a career first. The 26-year-old is enjoying an impressive star turn in his second full year with the Sox, smashing 21 home runs and leading the team with 59 RBI’s and 56 walks. First baseman Munetaka Murakami was a shoo-in as a fan selection, if he’d not missed June with a hamstring injury. But at the last minute, he was named as a replacement for injured Twins outfielder Byron Buxton to the team.
The most surprising selection was outfielder Tristan Peters, the least likely of this batch when he was named as a replacement for Nick Kurtz over the weekend. Acquired in a winter swap for cash, Peters has played stellar outfield defense, with a .301 batting average and 20 doubles.
The MLB Draft also took place in early July, with the White Sox selecting UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky as top overall pick. Cholowsky is projected to reach the majors as early as next summer. The Sox also selected Nazareth Academy hitter Landon Thome, whose father, Hall of Fame slugger Jim Thome, played for the Sox from 2006-09, and has worked for the team since 2013.
Bears announce stadium plans, but impasse continues
As rumors and speculation continue to swirl, State Senator Curtis Tarver (D-25) penned an op-ed for the Chicago Sun-Times last month proposing the vacant South Works development site as an alternative to the dueling Hammond and Arlington Heights proposals. Located in the South Chicago neighborhood on the lakefront between 79th Street and the mouth of the Calumet River, the land has remained mostly vacant since the shuttering of U.S. Steel’s historic plant at the location in 1992. Construction began last year on a 128-acre quantum computing campus at the site, reportedly scheduled for completion by 2027.
Tarver asked readers to “Envision a Museum Campus South plus Quantum” as a locale for the Bears’ long-awaited megastadium, writing that “we can connect world-class museums, sports, science, health care, education, lakefront access, jobs, small businesses and neighborhood revival”.
The land was purchased in 2025 by real estate developers CRG and Related Midwest, which recently partnered with the Chicago Fire on their in-the-works stadium at The 78.
Malachi Hayes is a Bridgeport-based writer and South Side native.