Fisk says he knew Ventura would do good job with Sox
Carlton Fisk had a common reaction when he learned Robin Ventura was named White Sox manager eight days after the 2011 season ended.
“When he got the job I was saying, ‘Hmmm. Why? What is the purpose? How did this come about?’” Fisk said at U.S. Cellular Field.
Fans at the Cell got a replica Fisk statue Saturday, and the Hall of Fame catcher said while he was initially surprised when Ventura was chosen, he never doubted his former teammate would do a good job.
Fisk played for the White Sox from 1981-93. Ventura was the Sox’ third baseman from 1989-98.
“There’s not a nicer guy on the face of the earth, at least not in this game anyway,” Fisk said of Ventura. “And then my first time in here, I sat down in Robin’s office for a half-hour, 45 minutes, with Mark (Parent), and just talked about the whole process. It’s pretty interesting the way it came about.
“There was no question that he knows the game of baseball, no question there. And with his personality, I don’t think he’d have a problem with 99.99 percent of the players.
“The only thing that might be in question is his in-game management. When guys play for you, that’s easy. You don’t have to guess what a guy’s going to do for you when he goes out there.
“If a guy gives you what his talent is, you can manage, you can coach. If guys play within their role and within their talents, Robin’s going to have a fun time.”
Draft doings:
The White Sox have the 13th overall pick in Monday’s first-year player draft, and they pick 48th as compensation for Mark Buehrle signing a free-agent contract with the Miami Marlins.
This year’s overall talent pool has been widely reviewed as weak. Doug Laumann, the Sox’ director of amateur scouting, did not suggest otherwise Saturday.
“Probably as thin as I’ve seen in a decade,” Laumann said. “A lot of different factors I think play into it.
“I think personally one of the biggest ones is as of about two or three years ago, and I don’t know if people were anticipating the CBA changing a little bit with the amount of money people were allowed to spend, but teams started spending a lot more money on high school players.
“I think that’s really kind of depleted the college ranks where a lot of the good high school players over the past few years have been signing. We see that it’s pretty thin right now in the college ranks.”
Baseball America projects the White Sox will select outfielder/pitcher Courtney Hawkins from Carroll High School in Corpus Christi, Texas, with their first-round pick.
The Sox also reportedly are interested in three college pitchers: Oklahoma State’s Andrew Heaney, Texas A&M’s Michael Wacha and Mississippi State’s Chris Stratton.
Long run:
Matt Thornton set a franchise record with 425th relief appearance Friday night.
“He’s valuable,” manager Robin Ventura said of the 35-year-old left-hander. “Anyone who watches the game, what he possesses, very reliable, durable. It’s impressive, and he’s a professional. I’m just glad he’s on our team.”
Thornton pitched in his 426th game Saturday.
That’s a wrap:
According to the White Sox, broadcaster Ken “Hawk” Harrelson called umpire Mark Wegner on Saturday and apologized, via voice mail.
On Wednesday, Harrelson was highly critical of Wegner during a TV broadcast at Tampa Bay after the umpire ejected starting pitcher Jose Quintana without warning for throwing behind the Rays’ Ben Zobrist.