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The City Series has had some memorable managerial moments over the years, from Lou Piniella ripping broadcaster Steve Stone in a pregame rant to Ozzie Guillen kicking catcher Geovany Soto’s mask.
I’m not exactly sure where Pedro Grifol’s “mea culpa” on Tuesday rates in the 26 years I’ve been covering these interleague games, but it was interesting to hear the White Sox manager take the blame for the underachieving ways of his team.
“There’s a ton of different components, and we’re addressing them all,” Grifol said before the game against the Cubs. “All of them. There’s no stone unturned here, believe me, when it comes to us trying to get this thing right, trying to finish strong and move on to next season.
“There’s a style of baseball that we want to play. There’s a culture that we want to build. It hasn’t happened, and that’s on me. On me, nobody else. That’s on me.”
I’m sure many Sox fans would beg to differ. General manager Rick Hahn said earlier this year it’s all on him, and that seems to be the consensus opinion, except for those who blame Hahn, Ken Williams and chairman Jerry Reinsdorf as a tag team.
But Grifol, who came into his first season talking about how different things would be after the disastrous 2022 campaign led by Tony La Russa, was adamant that it was his fault.
“I’m the manager,” he said. “I sat right there in front of everybody and told everybody we had high expectations and we were going to get this thing done. And we haven’t. I’m not going to blame this thing on anybody. It’s on me. And I’m certainly not going to sit here before or after or during a game and throw our players under the bus.
“I’m not going to do that. It doesn’t mean I’m not having difficult conversations with them. It just means I’m not going to sit here and tell you guys about it. But believe me, I don’t have my eyes shut and say, ‘Oh, we’re doing good.’”
One of the biggest criticisms aimed at Grifol has been his reluctance to point out the fact that the White Sox are not good. But it’s encouraging to see he has acknowledged what everyone else already knew.
“This is not what I signed up for,” he continued. “So whether it’s personnel changes or whether it’s cultural changes or whatever the case may be, it’s going to happen. This is too good of an organization, too good of an owner for it not to happen. We’re in the process of that. And at the same time, we’re in the process of preparing to beat the Cubs tonight.”
I asked Grifol what he meant by “cultural changes.” What exactly is the problem with the Sox culture?
“Everything around us,” he said. “Cultural, fundamentals, the details, me, the staff, everybody. Everybody has to look at themselves in the mirror and reflect on, ‘Was I as good as I could be?’ Myself included. Was I as good as I could’ve been? Probably not. There’s a lot of things I would do differently. I’m not going to hide from that either. But we’re going to be headed in the right direction. We are headed in the right direction.”
Um, no. The Sox are headed in the wrong direction, which is why they need all the changes Grifol was referring to.
If it seems like half the team is on the trade block, it’s only because many of them deserve to be gone, including most of the bullpen, some starters, the catcher and a few infielders. If the culture is corrupted, then it likely goes back to the La Russa era, where this notion of players not running hard to avoid injuries began. Grifol has continued it, playing Eloy Jiménez in spite of a groin issue and telling him not to go 100%.
Nothing aggravates Sox fans more than players not running hard.
“It’s not like he’s playing through pain, he’s playing through discomfort,” Grifol said. “And to a point where if he goes ahead and gives us 100% down the line, it might become pain. The decision here is simply mine. The question I have to ask myself is, ‘Do I want him hitting fourth for us and utilizing his bat and his offensive production?’ Or do I want him running hard down the line?
“In a perfect world, I want to see both. But we’re not in a perfect world right now. I said it then, I’ll say it again here, I choose the bat over his legs. That’s my decision. The day before, he had a good day, he hit a home run, had a base hit. He helped put us in a position to win that ballgame.”
It would seem as if Jiménez’s long-term health is more important than winning a game when you’re trailing the division leader by double-digits, but hey, he’s trying. At some point maybe he needs to shut them down. On Tuesday both Jiménez and Andrew Vaughn were in the lineup.
“Vaughn, he’ll be limping around a little bit,” Grifol said. “He’s going to be playing through a bone bruise, so you won’t see him go 100% down the line. But again, I choose his bat.”
The bat has been chosen. Long live the bat.
And for Grifol, a new challenge soon awaits when the sell-off is over and the change of culture begins.
