Getz gleefully gets rookie hazing

It could have been one of those great baseball moments.

Rookie gets first major-league hit. Ball is rolled toward dugout for posterity. Veteran teammate scoops up ball and tosses it directly into stands, eliciting gasps. Veteran just kidding - had real ball in other hand the entire time.

Perfect.

Except for one thing: rookie never saw any of it; too busy floating on air after his first hit in first major-league at-bat.

That was the scenario Tuesday night after White Sox rookie infielder Chris Getz came up in the eighth inning to pinch hit and promptly stroked an RBI single to center off Kansas City's Josh Newman.

As Getz was soaking it all in from first base, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen called for the ball. On its way, shortstop Orlando Cabrera appeared to toss it into the stands, but he was palming the real ball the whole time.

"Yeah, Cabrera was playing a trick on me," Getz said. "I didn't see it, but everybody else did."

That group included his brother and his wife from Colorado, and even more family from the Detroit area.

"I guess they were going nuts when they saw me warming up and at least having a chance to come in the game," Getz said. "And after the game they were so excited and I was so glad they were here to see it.

"You get that first hit out of the way. I was lucky enough to get it on my first at-bat. We won the ballgame."

As if all that wasn't enough, after the game Getz got word from coach Joey Cora that Getz would be starting at second base Wednesday night.

"I got the through the night," Getz said with a smile. "I woke up a few times, but I'm feeling all right."

As is Guillen, who has been high on the young second baseman since seeing him at spring training two years ago.

"I love it," Guillen said. "I like those kids that fight all the way through the minor-league system. And he did. He deserves a shot."

Getz, who was 1-for-3 Wednesday, plans to make the most of it.

"I'm going to go out and hustle and put some good at-bats together, play some defense, hopefully I can make some sort of positive influence on the team," he said.

"Hopefully I can stick around; that's the goal."

Whether he does or not this season, his skipper plans to give him a big chance to make the team next year.

"I like the way he plays," Guillen said. "I like the way he does stuff. He'll get a shot."