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Sports

Column: A.J. Pierzynski as the next Chicago White Sox manager? He definitely would listen.

The next Chicago White Sox manager was talking with fans Thursday on a beautiful afternoon on the South Side.There was much to discuss, and he had no problem telling them the truth, because he doesn’t know any other way to operate.AdvertisementOf course, it’s probably too early to speculate who will take over for Tony La Russa when the Sox manager decides he’s done, and we’ve already established he’s not going to be fired for the team’s unimpressive start.Suffice to say plenty of candidates will be throwing their hats into the mix, knowing the Sox are built to win and need only a few fixes to get over the hump. And the early favorite has to be former catcher A.J. Pierzynski, an analyst for Fox Sports who also gets paid by the Sox as an ambassador, the role he was in Thursday during the series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Guaranteed Rate Field.AdvertisementFirst things first: Pierzynski doesn’t believe the 77-year-old La Russa is going anywhere soon.“They have a team that’s supposed to win, right?” Pierzynski said in an interview outside the Bards Room. “And I think they still will. I don’t think he’s going unless something drastic or crazy happens. I don’t think he’s going anywhere anytime soon. He still seems to enjoy it when I talk to him. He still seems to enjoy the day-to-day grind.“Tony likes coming to the park. Every time I see him he’s got a smile on his face and he’s excited.”[ [Don’t miss] Column: Fire Tony La Russa? Not happening, so Chicago White Sox fans need to learn to just deal with it. ][ [Don’t miss] Chicago White Sox pause Eloy Jiménez’s rehab assignment because of ‘normal leg soreness’ ]Connie Mack was the oldest manager in history at age 87, so maybe La Russa wants to last 10 more years and break the record. But this seems like a make-or-break year for the Sox manager. If they don’t make the postseason, it would be difficult to rationalize another chance in 2023.Pierzynski, meanwhile, has made no bones about his interest in managing one day. He has seen Aaron Boone, David Ross and others go directly from the TV booth to the dugout, and many Sox fans have told him they’d like to see him run the show.“I think other people have said it more than I’ve ever really thought about it,” he said. “I still obviously have a lot of friends here, and they send me tweets and stuff (saying that), and people send me articles.“Listen, I’m not actively out there pursuing it or (hoping) for anything to happen to Tony for me to do that. But if something happened, and all the cards lined up and the chips fell into place. … If (Chairman) Jerry Reinsdorf calls me and says ‘Can you come in for this interview?’ it’s going to be really hard for me to say no.”If that happens, hopefully Reinsdorf would include general manager Rick Hahn in the process.AdvertisementWhite Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski smiles after hitting an RBI single against the Orioles on July 18, 2009, at U.S. Cellular Field. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)Pierzynski makes sense for several reasons.He’s close to Reinsdorf. Pierzynski knows the game. Sox fans love him, and he loves them back. The marketing department could better sell the team to fans with a known entity like Pierzynski.And of the last four Sox hires, two — Ozzie Guillen and Robin Ventura — have been former players and one was La Russa, a former Sox manager. The only outlier was Rick Renteria, who helped guide the rebuild through the tough times until being booted for the La Russa reboot.Pierzynski caused some commotion on Twitter during a recent Cubs-Sox game when he questioned why La Russa left starter Johnny Cueto in the game. Though he’s paid by the Sox for being an ambassador, it hasn’t prevented Pierzynski from speaking when he’s assigned to Sox games for Fox.“No, because I tell the truth,” he said. “I don’t criticize them. I tell the truth. And if they’re playing bad … they know they’re playing bad. I work for them but not in the baseball department. I think the fans are smart enough to know (what’s going on). I’m not going to be all rainbows and unicorns about a team that’s under .500 when I do a Sox game and they play badly.“I try to be as positive as I can. But if I see something and I don’t agree with it, well. … La Russa might say, ‘Well, I don’t agree with your life choice.’ It’s your opinion. I didn’t blast him. I just said I think you should’ve taken him out, and here’s why. And he can argue ‘Here’s why I didn’t take him out.’ Advertisement“I’m sure he probably looks back and says, ‘Maybe he was right?’ I don’t know. Right?”ExpandAutoplayImage 1 of 16White Sox manager Tony La Russa watches from the dugout on Sept. 12, 2021, at Guaranteed Rate Field. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)Hmm. Not sure about that.“I’ve talked with him, and I don’t think he cares,” Pierzynski said. “He does the best job he can and that’s it. You can’t worry about what everyone else is saying. My job on TV is to tell the people at home what’s happening, and you take guesses.“Sometimes you’re right. More times you’re wrong than you are right. From up here (in the booth) it’s much easier to look down and say, ‘Why aren’t they playing better?’ I’m not in the dugout. I get information, but we don’t get everything.”Pierzynski pointed out objectivity is part of his job description as an analyst, as was evident during the Cubs-Sox telecast with Sox radio broadcaster Len Kasper.“Len and I were just honest, (saying) the Sox aren’t playing well, as everybody knows,” he said. “You don’t single out a player. You tell what their numbers are, what you see. The players deep down know that. I always felt that as long as you don’t get personal (it’s fair).”AdvertisementPierzynski is happy with his current job, so if he never gets that call from Reinsdorf, he’ll be fine.But Reinsdorf knows where to find him. He’ll be here talking to Sox fans, and more important, listening to Sox fans.

Sports

Chicago White Sox pause Eloy Jiménez’s rehab assignment because of ‘normal leg soreness’

Chicago White Sox left fielder Eloy Jiménez — working his way back from a right hamstring tendon tear — is experiencing “normal leg soreness,” general manager Rick Hahn said Thursday.“In order to knock it out of him, we are going to return him from the rehab assignment which essentially stops the 20-day clock,” Hahn said. “We are fairly confident that we will be able to put him back on a rehab assignment as soon as next week.”AdvertisementJiménez has been out since April 23, when he tore the hamstring tendon behind his right knee, requiring surgery. He began a rehab assignment May 28 with Triple-A Charlotte.Hahn said the original 20-day minor-league rehab clock was set to expire next week.Advertisement“Doing this move allows us to remove any of the time pressure from the original 20-day clock,” Hahn said. “In terms of this normal leg soreness, as I would describe it, it is normal from the standpoint that both (pitcher) Lance (Lynn) and (catcher) Yasmani (Grandal) — who had similar procedures — experienced it as well. The difference was with both those players, they experienced it in Chicago as part of their ramp up. For whatever reason, as much as they pushed Eloy, he never really felt anything.“Now on two groundouts he felt it running to first base. It caused some concern for him. There is a little inflammation that comes from this tugging experience of the … neo-tendon which is more or less scar tissue that does take a day or two to settle down. We don’t believe this is going to be a long term issue, but we are pulling him off the rehab assignment in order to stop the 20-day clock.”Jiménez will be remaining in Charlotte, N.C., for treatment.The original estimate for Jiménez’s timeline to return from the injury was six to eight weeks.“I wouldn’t call it a setback,” Hahn said. “It slowed us down. The hope was when he originally went out on these 20 days, that we weren’t going to use all 20 and that we possibly would have him back, probably not this homestand, but on the road trip. Now that won’t happen.“But it’s not a new injury. It’s not a re-aggravation. It’s part of the process. It’s part of the process that is slowing us down a little bit. It should not have any long term effect on him other than slowing his return to Chicago.”Jiménez is slashing .235/.316/.235 in six games with Charlotte.“Two days ago, or before this most recent grab, Eloy was saying he feels great,” Hahn said. “The only issue is his timing at the plate. This could be a matter of how much longer until he felt himself at the plate. Hopefully we get him back out there next week and it’s a matter of building up his rhythm.”AdvertisementJiménez has to be out five days and then the Sox can request a new 20 days. As far as how long Jiménez would need once he begins the rehab assignment again, Hahn said it “depends on when we restart.”“If we restarted Tuesday at the start of the next series, then maybe we are talking a week or a week-plus,” Hahn said. “If for whatever reason we can’t restart him until next weekend, then maybe it’s a little more time given the added layoff from the plate appearances.“But we feel pretty good that after a few days of treatment we should be able to get him back out there.”Sox manager Tony La Russa provided an update on Lynn, who made his third rehab start Wednesday as he recovers from right knee surgery. Lynn allowed seven runs on nine hits in three innings at Louisville.“Got a text that said he felt good,” La Russa said Thursday. “He threw a lot of pitches (77) so he didn’t finish the five innings, but he’s optimistic that he’ll join us. I think the thing now is to evaluate how he feels (Thursday) and (Friday) before they make the final decision, but he was optimistic.”

Sports

Saudi-backed LIV golf tour, bound for Illinois, tees up geopolitical intrigue and moral quandaries

Rich Harvest Farms, a lush private golf course near Aurora, might not seem like a natural setting for geopolitical intrigue and moral quandaries, but they will arrive as surely as the morning dew when the LIV Golf Invitational Series comes to Illinois in September.The fledgling rival to the PGA Tour is attracting big names with big money and generating controversy to match. The series, which started Thursday at a course in England, is backed by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, and critics call it a textbook example of “sports washing” intended to gloss over the kingdom’s dismal human rights record.AdvertisementSome scorn the events and those playing in them. The PGA on Thursday suspended 17 LIV participants from its tour, while USA Today columnist Christine Brennan accused Phil Mickelson, the best-known defector, of “going into business with murderers.”LIV organizers, led by golf legend Greg Norman, retort that their tour is taking a fresh approach to the game and giving lucrative new opportunities to its players. Rich Harvest Farms says their event will showcase pro golf in an underserved part of the country and raise money for worthy causes.Advertisement“The opportunity to bring men’s professional golf to Chicago and support local charities was one we couldn’t pass up,” said Alex Kline-Wedeen, the course’s executive vice president of marketing.Jerry Rich is the owner and designer of Rich Harvest Farms golf course in Sugar Grove, shown here in 2008. The course was host of the 2009 Solheim Cup. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)It’s unclear how much fans will care about the politics once the series lands in Illinois. Chicago golfer Reid Politsch, who has volunteered at Rich Harvest Farms events, said locals hungry for big-time golf will no doubt be excited to see some of the game’s superstars up close.He won’t be among them, though.“It all comes down to where the money comes from,” he said. “That doesn’t sit well with me.”Andrés Martinez of Arizona State University’s Global Sport Institute said authoritarian regimes have long sought to associate themselves with sports for the same reason carmakers and beer brewers advertise during games: to win over fans.Traditionally, he said, that meant hosting massive global events such as the Olympics or the World Cup, but more recently governments and state-owned companies have bought stadium naming rights, advertising on team jerseys or even the teams themselves.Saudi royals were late to the path blazed by their peers in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, both heavily invested in soccer, but they’re catching up quickly. Just last year, the kingdom hosted its first Formula 1 auto race while its sovereign wealth fund bought Newcastle United, a once-proud English soccer team whose fans cheered their ultrarich new owners.But what the Saudis are doing with the LIV series is something new, Martinez said.Advertisement“It’s more advanced in that you’re starting to see this split — setting up an entirely parallel system of competition where the rewards will be (so immense) that they’re disrupting and starting to overtake the traditional system.”Chief Executive of LIV Golf, Greg Norman, left, and Saudi golf federation Chief Executive Majed Al Sorour, right, leave the 1st tee on the first day of the LIV Golf Invitational Series event at The Centurion Club in St. Albans, north of London, on June 9, 2022. (Adrian Dennis/Getty-AFP)Saudi Arabia’s rising sports profile comes with considerable baggage. Human rights advocates say its government has performed mass executions, oppressed women, LGBT people and dissidents and committed war crimes during its military conflict in neighboring Yemen.Most notoriously, U.S. intelligence concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, authorized a hit squad’s killing of U.S.-based journalist and regime critic Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul (bin Salman has denied the allegation).“They’re scary (expletives) to get involved with,” Mickelson told journalist Alan Shipnuck before he joined the LIV tour. “Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.”His complaint that the PGA doesn’t fairly compensate its players is not an issue with the LIV tour. The Golf Channel said Mickelson is getting $200 million for participating — more than twice as much as he has made in prize money during his entire career — while other stars reportedly received their own nine-figure deals.The payout isn’t the only thing that’s different. LIV events will feature a shotgun start, putting all 48 golfers on the course at once, and won’t have a cut line, so every player will compete throughout each 54-hole event. Participants will also be placed onto four-man teams that have names such as Fireballs and Niblicks.AdvertisementSuch novelties appeal to golf fans who told the Tribune that traditional events have gotten stale. Some called the uproar over LIV a case of selective outrage, noting that the PGA runs a tour in China and that another organizing body, the Ladies European Tour, holds events in Saudi Arabia.“I think it’s impossible to ask a group of professional athletes to be held to a higher standard in terms of doing business or taking money (from) someone who has questionable ethics and dirty money when our own government does business with the same regimes,” said Cory Fanning, a golf fan from downstate Le Roy.Paul Poast, an international relations expert at the University of Chicago, said the Saudis might be getting extra scrutiny because the LIV tour is upsetting the established order of an entire sport. But they might have calculated that the potential payoff is worth the heat, he said.“It has a bigger footprint than just simply sponsoring a team, where people don’t even think twice about it,” he said. “That’s what I think the motivation is. It’s a way of getting a lot of the benefit (similar) to hosting an Olympics or World Cup, but being able to do it in a manner that’s more sustainable and long term.”Kline-Wedeen deflected the Tribune’s questions about the LIV tour’s Saudi links, saying Rich Harvest Farms decided to host the event so it could contribute proceeds to several charitable causes, including the Kids Golf Foundation of Illinois, a caddie scholarship program and relief for Ukranian refugees.He also said the event will return pro golf to the Chicago area, which local fans complain is routinely ignored by tour schedulers. Rich Harvest Farms has hosted plenty of college tournaments and one Solheim Cup, which pits professional women golfers from the U.S. against their European counterparts, but never a PGA event, Kline-Weeden said.AdvertisementTeam Europe’s Maria Hjorth of Sweden and Catriona Matthew of Scotland make their way up the first hole during a practice round for the Solheim Cup golf tournament on Aug. 20, 2009, at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove. (Mike Groll / Associated Press)While a LIV stop scheduled near Portland later this month has generated local resistance — 11 mayors issued a letter decrying the event and warning of possible protests — Kline-Wedeen said that hasn’t been the case at Rich Harvest Farms, which is in Sugar Grove.“The local community and government have been extremely supportive of this from the moment that we talked about doing it,” he said.Sugar Grove Village President Jennifer Konen did not respond to a request for comment.Martinez said sports washing might be reaching a turning point. He noted that the Women’s Tennis Association suspended events in China out of concern for the well-being of Peng Shuai, a player who disappeared from public view after accusing a government official of sexual assault, and that Gazprom, a state-owned energy company in Russia, had sponsorships canceled following the invasion of Ukraine.“We’re seeing a growth of consumer awareness around many products we consume,” he said. “People are more prone to ask questions. What does that mean when it comes to sport? That’s a very intriguing question and what human rights activists are trying to impress upon people.”But Andy Johnson, who lives in Chicago’s west suburbs and founded thefriedegg.com, a website about golf and golf course architecture, thought the LIV tour might avoid that fate.AdvertisementHe said its organizers have been savvy about recruiting golfers with big followings and scheduling events in golf-starved locales. As for protesters, he doubted many will want to trek to Sugar Grove, 45 miles west of Chicago.Besides, he said, the public fury might well be spent when the tour reaches Illinois.“Typically with sports washing, it fades away,” he said. “That’s the goal of the whole thing. The more tournaments they play, the more normal it’s going to become.”jkeilman@chicagotribune.comTwitter @JohnKeilman