Sox start loose, strong in Oakland
OAKLAND, Calif. - We'll see how the Chicago White Sox are holding up at various check points this season.
Will they survive a brutal April, which inexplicably features 26 games in 27 days?
What about May, when they play five series against teams that made the playoffs last year?
What about June, July, August and September?
Time will obviously tell, but for one day, the Sox were a loose, solid bunch.
Before battering Rich Hill and knocking out the Athletics' fill-in starting pitcher in the third inning during Monday night's season-opening 4-3 victory at Oakland Coliseum, the White Sox looked like a pretty nice blend of old and new.
Before taking batting practice, new second baseman Brett Lawrie was blasting a wide range of music in the clubhouse, from Michael Jackson to rap to a teenager playing a pretty incredible national anthem guitar solo.
As Lawrie bobbed and wove his head at a clubhouse table while switching tunes, holdover Avisail Garcia and new catcher Dioner Navarro did a little dancing.
Baseball is a competitive game, and the long season makes it a grind for all involved.
Teams that don't have any fun - and the 2015 Sox immediately come to mind - usually don't fare very well.
New guys like Navarro, Lawrie, Todd Frazier, Jimmy Rollins, Alex Avila and Austin Jackson recognize the importance of staying loose off the field in order to avoid being tight when it is go time for games.
"They did a great job getting players like we got right now, just to kind of change something a little bit," Navarro said. "That's what we've been trying to do."
After three straight losing seasons, the Sox have to change their place in the standings this year to avoid what would likely be massive changes throughout the organization.
"Antsy is probably a decent way of describing most all of us around the club the last few years," general manager Rick Hahn said. "We've been going through a process here that began midway through 2013 in terms of retooling this club and getting ourselves back in a position to contend.
"None of us really have the best patience streak in us, and (chairman) Jerry (Reinsdorf) is certainly no exception. We still realize this was going to be a process, one which hopefully here in the coming months is coming to an end as we take that next step."
The White Sox haven't been to the playoffs since 2008, and the '05 World Series memories are beginning to fade. The urgency to play competitive baseball is the highest in memory for the Sox, starting now.
"Everybody wants a good start," Frazier said. "It's not going to kill us if we don't, but at the same time let's get some (wins) on the road and show them we're going to do just as good on the road as at home."