Grady Sizemore was 0-2 going into the White Sox’ game against the Yankees Monday at Guaranteed Rate Field, but it seems hardly fair judging an interim manager’s performance on the play of this White Sox team that he’s running, a deplorable 28-91 going in.
That said, players have liked Sizemore’s presence from the get-go in his first season as a coach on fired manager Pedro Grifol’s staff.
They like that he’s a former player who is just himself around them. Quiet, but locked in at gametime, oozing positive energy.
“No panic, no worry,” one player said.
Quietly, momentum is already building in the clubhouse around Sizemore, hoping he makes a good enough impression with general manager Chris Getz to build a serious candidacy for the job when Getz hires someone permanently after the season, even though Getz has said he’ll look outside the organization.
Sizemore is going all-in regardless.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever manage again, so I’m going to manage like it’s the World Series,” he said Monday. “I don’t really care about anything else. I just care about the guys and having fun and putting them in a position where they’re competing and having fun and playing good baseball.”
Getz didn’t slam the door on anything, and it’s possible he lowered such expectations to take some pressure off Sizemore, who is managing for the first time. He might want Skip Schumaker, who is leaving the Marlins, but will Schumaker want the Sox, who won’t have the most attractive job out there to offer.
In any case, “a fresh start was needed,” said Gavin Sheets, echoing a near unanimous feeling around the team.
As a former player who made three All-Star Games and toughed out two seasons of 162 games, Sizemore brings that ex-player respect in the clubhouse that Grifol, who never played in the majors, couldn’t.
“You automatically have respect for a guy like that,” Sheets said. “He deserves and he gains it immediately.
“He also understands being in our shoes and he knows hard this game is,” Sheets said. “Having that voice in the dugout, getting positive reinforcement after at-bats, that’s a different side of it, too.”
Sizemore didn’t like talking to media as a player, but you wouldn’t know it now as he finds his way around two sessions a day. He wants to keep the clubhouse fun and relaxed and have everyone locked in at gametime, and he seems more relaxed in front of microphones each day.
But managing isn’t easy, he has already learned.
“It was all hard. There’s nothing about this game that’s easy,” Sizeomore said. “You’re running all these scenarios. The hardest part was you have a plan in place and it never goes according to plan, so you’re always making adjustments and trying not to second guess things. I don’t look back at that game and think about anything but how fun it was [in 7-6 and 3-1 losses to the Cubs]. That whole weekend, it was just wild. Now we’ve got the Yankees here, and I get to go toe to toe with the Yankees. I’m trying to have fun with it.”
Because this could be it for his managing career.
“Yeah, of course,” he said. “Guys are in this career their whole lives, and maybe you never even get an interview or maybe you never get that job. So I don’t know where I’ll be. I didn’t walk in here this year ever thinking this was a possibility.”
He hopes it keeps going.
“Of course I do,” Sizemore said. “But nothing’s guaranteed. So I feel like I’ve got something good and hold onto it right now and play it like it’s my last opportunity.
“I hope I am [here] next season [in some capacity]. I hope there’s a spot for me. I do love it here. I feel like I’ve had nothing but praise and support since I’ve been here from Day 1, and it’s made me feel welcome. Now I want to give back and put a good product out there for everybody.”