Thornton having some fun with young White Sox penmates

Not only are the White Sox winning games at an impressive pace, they are having a lot of fun.

Out in the bullpen, Matt Thornton is the Sox’ only experienced relief pitcher with Jesse Crain and Brian Bruney on the disabled list and Will Ohman out on the waiver wire.

Joining Thornton in the White Sox’ bullpen are Addison Reed, Nate Jones, Hector Santiago, Leyson Septimo, Brian Omogrosso and Deunte Heath.

They are all rookies, not that Thornton seems to mind.

“They’re doing a great job,” said Thornton, who pitched 1 innings Saturday and earned the save. “Jonesie and Hector and Reed came out of (spring training) camp and they’ve been doing a good job. They’ve had their ups and downs, but they come bouncing back from the bad ones for the most part.

“The new guys haven’t really had much of a chance to get their feet wet, but they’ve been coming in and throwing strikes and getting outs. It’s great.”

As for the fun part, Thornton said he was eating breakfast Friday morning when he got an idea.

“I sit at breakfast in the morning and there’s a preschool nearby,” the left-hander said. “I saw the teacher leading all the little kids around, they had a rope they had to hold on to. I got some rope from (groundskeeper) Roger (Bossard) and had some fun with them.”

As they headed out to the bullpen early in Friday’s game, Thornton took the lead and the rookie relievers followed behind in a line, rope in hand.

“I was just having a little fun with them,” the 35-year-old Thornton said. “It’s really no different. They’re here to help us win ballgames. They’re easy to deal with.

“It’s not like I’m the big, bad veteran out there. We just hang out and talk. I’m a kid at heart, too. It’s not like there’s a big difference, except age. We have fun, joke around and get serious when it’s time to go to work. It’s a fun group of guys to be around, and it’s fun watching them learn on the fly.”