There are a few things that annoy me more than a team running away from history. If a team is going to do poorly, do it historically. The Astros spent years in middling mediocrity, and they said that with their chest. Now, the Astros are multiple-time Silver Boot winners (a real award, unlike The Commissioner’s Trophy). So imagine my immense disappointment when I see that the White Sox have fired Pedro Grifol.
The White Sox have literally nothing to play for the rest of the season. It’s literally over; they are getting paid to do an e-mail job that will be laid off come Q4. The dirty little secret that none of them would talk about, though, is they were playing for history. See, now there is nothing to play for. Before the firing, the men on that team who some call baseball players were aiming for history. Not to use the Rogue One meme, but the White Sox are on the verge of greatness.
The White Sox are on pace to go 39-123. Not only is this bad, but they are entering not even the 20th century bad. They are 19th century bad, as the Cleveland Spiders (the real name, Guardians) 20-134 in 1899, including players, I imagine, who have actual memories of the Civil War. If you are on the same level as a team that was probably made up of actual farmers, then sure it makes sense to fire your manager. But you know what makes more sense – going for history.
There have been a lot of memes of teams raising dumb banners – think the Lakers for the in-season tournament banner. And I’m usually of the opinion you should really only hang a banner for a championship. But, like every hardline rule, there are certain exceptions. If a team gets to the Final Four, I get it (read this as I’m incredibly biased). And if you have the worst record of the modern era, that’s banner-worthy. The White Sox can spin it as inspiring players or whatever PR spin that keeps the players from taking a bat to any executives. In reality, it’s genuinely hilarious.
But, for some reason, White Sox management has decided to make a change. You’d think after starting with only 3 wins by April 25 something drastic would happen. (I say this as someone who watched Jose Abreu forget what sport he was playing for months on end hoping that management had a plan to make it better). Now? Well, it just doesn’t make sense. At this point, history is in their grasp. The White Sox are a team of destiny if that destiny is like Destiny – unathletic.
It is a cowardly move to try and make some changes at the last minute. Effectively, the White Sox have told us that they are more interested in saving some sort of face than being memorable. Even if they went on to win every game, they’d still be below .500. At least the Pistons had the courtesy of letting Monty Williams stay on board until the end of the season. Let Pedro Grifol finish what he started – being the worst baseball team in the modern era.
In no sense is this firing anything but a cowardly decision by management too concerned with image. They’re going to remake The Wizard of Oz, but this time the Lion is going to be played by Chris Getz. In the end, though, the Wizard will inform him he never had it in him and will be stuck as a baseball operations middle manager after this. (This feels like a promo for the Wicked movie).
I am incredibly disappointed in the White Sox. Does 4th-grade Jorden get a bit of pleasure from the fact that this is the same team that plastered the Astros in 2005? Of course – like Jordan Poole (Michigan version) I will forever hold a grudge for beating a team I loved. At the same time, I’m a huge believer in living by certain principles. And those principles include letting the team you built, including the manager, become the worst.
Follow Moon Stamp Sports on Twitter/X, Instagram and Facebook, and follow Jorden on Twitter/X. Check out other blogs by Jorden.
