New Sox hitting coach used Schaumburg as springboard to majors

New White Sox hitting coach Derek Shomon has vivid memories of the day the Sox won the World Series in 2005.

He was a sophomore at Glenbrook South High School and dressed for the occasion.

“I still recall wearing all my White Sox gear that day and bringing a broom and a dustpan to school, walking around the halls with it,” Shomon said in a Zoom call with reporters. “So, yeah, this is super special, man.”

Shomon spent last season as assistant hitting coach for the Miami Marlins. In their release, the Sox mentioned his work with Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers as a reason for bringing him on board. Before Miami, Shomon spent four years with the Minnesota Twins — two as a minor-league coordinator, and two as assistant hitting coach for the major-league team.

But Shomon's roots as a professional baseball coach began with the Schaumburg Boomers. After playing in college at Illinois-Springfield, he first landed a job as bullpen catcher during the Boomers' inaugural season in 2012.

“I started playing baseball a little bit later than my peers and just fell in love with it,” Shomon said. “Started playing Northbrook Little League. And I genuinely just wanted as much of it as possible.

“I latched on with the Schaumburg Boomers and I just never wanted to look back. My route to getting here, some have described as like a never-ending knot that you're trying to untie. I did everything I could to stay in baseball.”

One of Shomon's job titles with the Boomers was strength and conditioning coach, which he said involved going to the YMCA with a few players when time allowed. According to his Boomers bio, he was also co-owner of Athletes HQ in Elgin.

Shomon, 35, did leave Schaumburg for a couple years, coaching the Lake Erie Crushers from 2016-17. He returned to the Boomers and was named hitting coach ahead of the 2020 season, which was canceled by the pandemic.

That summer, the White Sox used the Schaumburg facility as their alternate site for minor-leaguers. That would have been a good spot for Shomon to connect with the Sox, but general manager Chris Getz doesn't remember any contact.

“We perhaps crossed paths,” Getz said on the Zoom call. “We connected the dots eventually. We had plenty to talk about when we started jamming about being out in Schaumburg. Just a fun little connector there. Schaumburg is alive and well with Sho and I.”

In addition, the Sox named Sherman Johnson Jr. the hitting coordinator and announced Joel McKeithan will return for a second season as assistant hitting coach. Earlier this week, the Sox named Zach Bove the team's new pitching coach.

“I went out to (Rate Field) about a week and a half ago,” Shomon said. “I had a moment in the dugout and you're kind of like, 'Oh, this is happening. I'm back home.' But then you don't dwell on it too long because it's immediately followed up with, 'OK, we've got to get to work.'”