Rozner: Chicago White Sox will act the part in 2017

To say it was a strange Opening Day on the South Side doesn't really do justice to a theater production created by the baseball gods, scripted by management and scoffed at by Mother Nature.

After being bad for a long time, the White Sox have finally decided to be terrible.

And, yet, even that was out of their control Monday.

Baseball, right?

Amid the pouring rain and dark skies, avoiding the cliché that was this particular and peculiar Opening Day was no simple task, but acknowledging a rope pulled in opposite directions was entirely necessary Monday.

The White Sox were presenting a lineup presumably worth cheering, with the manager believing the goal was to win, when even the players knew the real hope was a high draft pick - or a performance worthy of acquisition.

It's an odd position for a professional athlete, to understand what's really at play, yet wanting to compete and succeed.

They play to win. They play to get better. They play to earn bigger contracts. Or they play to get traded.

So they delude themselves.

All is normal. It's just another day at the ballpark. Another chance to win a game.

"We have a great thing going here," said veteran Todd Frazier. "This is a great group that wants to be together, hang out together. We have great chemistry and it's really fun.

"We had a great spring. Now, it's time to get it going."

The mental gymnastics must confuse even the most grizzled veterans, an internal struggle that can end only when does the trade speculation.

It's the perfect time for a downpour, a sky-opening, sewer-filling rain that swamped the city and soaked the ballpark.

It was relatively dry at 11:49 a.m. Monday, when Frazier walked out to the dugout, set his glove on the bench, glanced at the sky and stopped for a moment. He shook his head a bit and paused, looking around, perhaps wondering if the rain would hold off long enough for batting practice.

He put a helmet and some lumber in the bat rack and walked back in toward the clubhouse.

At 12:18 p.m., the rain started again and new manager Rick Renteria signaled to the grounds crew.

Batting practice canceled. Tarp on the field. Opening Day on hold.

At 1:10 the gates opened and many thousands showed up, curious to see what exactly the Sox had in mind for 2017.

It would have been a full house if it had ever stopped raining.

The 3:10 start delayed, nearing 4 p.m. the rosters were introduced and players from both sides trotted to the baselines.

Scott Podsednik threw out the ceremonial first pitch, the rain came down harder and the baselines covered again.

The players went back to the clubhouse, where young Tim Anderson lockers next to Frazier, young Carlos Rodon lockers next to veteran Derek Holland.

All around the room, kids sitting with veterans, some of whom just waiting for their ticket out.

Others, apparently, are not in a rush to go, wanting to be a part of this when the White Sox come out the other side of the tunnel.

"I've had a couple of individual conversations with guys who wanted to know more about their status, some of whom have expressed a very strong desire to remain part of this," Hahn said Monday. "They're optimistic and happy to be here and hope it continues.

"At the same time, they know it's a business, they know what's going on around them."

Opening Day 2017 was finally canceled at 4:50 p.m., so predictable given the circumstances that it resembled more a TV sitcom than theater production.

But at least no one brandished a scissors and no one in management was chased out of the clubhouse.

"I think, generally, in the process of not just changing the personnel but also changing our environment and changing our culture, Ricky and his staff did a marvelous job making it clear what we were about as a club," Hahn said. "There are going to need to be certain processes and environmental improvements around here in the coming years so that when the talent is ready, it's seamless in terms of turning that into a championship club."

The Sox did not lose a game Monday, which could be good or bad, depending on which players you ask, and whether the manager is within earshot.

The conflict, weather permitting, begins anew Tuesday.

Stay tuned.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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