Could it be Reinsdorf's impatience talking?

As they say, getting older isn't for sissies or meek owners of pro sports teams.

One day you flirt with immortality. The next day you look in the mirror and mortality smirks back at you.

In that context, one explanation for the White Sox giving Adam Dunn $56 million over four years could be that Jerry Reinsdorf is acting his age.

There's nothing wrong with doing so, at 9 or 90 or somewhere in between, like as the Sox' chairman approaches 75.

General manager Kenny Williams said he offered Reinsdorf two baseball options: Go young toward the future or go all in toward spring training.

The latter would be expensive, especially for a franchise that suffered an attendance setback last season.

Williams' policy has been that if fans come the Sox will spend. In these tough economic times, however, the expectation had to be that Reinsdorf would choose younger and cheaper.

Surprise! Reinsdorf told Williams to go for it now and worry about later.

Williams wasted little time signing Dunn, perhaps fearing Reinsdorf would regain his customary senses. The luxury slugger should supply power from the left side for the next four years.

Don't stop now, boys!

Williams might as well ante up whatever it takes to re-sign Paul Konerko and acquire whomever else the Sox need to be complete.

So, what has come over Reinsdorf that inclined him to approve big bucks last year for Jake Peavy and Alex Rios and now an average of $15 million per season for Dunn?

Maybe the answer isn't a mystery at all. Maybe Reinsdorf simply is emboldened by the impatience of age.

One indication of the turning leaves came when son Michael Reinsdorf joined the Bulls this year as club president and chief operating officer, a move perceived as the start of a succession process.

Another indication of “the need for now” is Baseball America in its latest edition referring to the Sox' farm system as “moribund.”

The impression is Reinsdorf was eager to get Michael involved in the Bulls sooner than later and anxious for the Sox to win another World Series sooner than never.

You know, you reach a certain stage of life and realize that time no longer is on your side.

Late Hawks owner Dollar Bill Wirtz must not have received the message. When he was Reinsdorf's current age it was curious that he didn't spend as many of his dollar bills as necessary to win a Stanley Cup.

Did he think he was going to take his money with him when, well, you know when?

Bill Wirtz died in 2007, his son Rocky invested in a championship after taking over, and three seasons later the Hawks won the Stanley Cup.

Reinsdorf might have noticed and decided he didn't want to fade away before the Sox celebrated another World Series championship.

The Sox won only one since Reinsdorf's group bought them nearly 30 years ago, partly because he has been a better businessman than baseball man.

Men of a certain age, like mid-70s, can't be sure they have time for rebuilding plans. They might slow down in the fast lane on the Dan Ryan, but they're compelled to hurry up on the Road to Legacy.

If that's what Jerry Reinsdorf and his equally elder fellow investors are doing, good for them and good for the Sox and good for Sox fans.

mimrem@dailyherald.com