Hawk Harrelson back where he belongs - with Chicago White Sox
OAKLAND, Calif. - Something was missing from the Chicago White Sox this spring.
And no, sigh, it was not erstwhile designated hitter Adam LaRoche and son Drake.
It was Ken "Hawk" Harrelson.
"The Hawkster," said starting pitcher John Danks, who is entering his 10th season with the Sox and is the club's longest tenured player. "It was the first time I didn't see him around."
Scaling his TV broadcasting schedule back to mainly road games this season, Harrelson also took a complete pass on spring training.
"It was the first spring I've missed in 56 years," said Harrelson, who has been a part of major-league baseball as a player, general manager and broadcaster since 1963.
As he reacquainted himself with members of his White Sox family during Sunday afternoon's workout at the Oakland Coliseum, the 74-year-old Harrelson said the spring withdrawal didn't shake him up too much.
"It was OK, it really was," Harrelson said. "I got to do some things … living on the 17th tee at Bay Hill (Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida), I got to watch the (Arnold Palmer Invitational) golf tournament for the first time in years and years."
That's not to say Harrelson wasn't itching for another season of Sox baseball, which opens Monday night against the Athletics.
"I was telling my wife (Aris), you get to where you want to hear the sounds and smell the leather," Harrelson said. "I was able to stay on top of most everything with my iPad here. The only thing I did really miss is, the majority of my time in spring training I spend on the fields watching the kids that we signed.
"I like to see the kids that have a chance to come up and help the ballclub. So I did miss that."
Not surprisingly, Harrelson has a good feeling about this season's White Sox. He is fired up about the addition of cleanup hitter Todd Frazier and his ability to protect Jose Abreu out of the cleanup spot after LaRoche failed last season and Adam Dunn failed the year before.
Harrelson raved about the needed energy new second baseman Brett Lawrie brings, he can't wait to watch Austin Jackson patrol center field, and he's high on the quality experience catchers Alex Avila and Dioner Navarro and shortstop Jimmy Rollins bring to the Sox' roster.
But Harrelson - who will give way to Jason Benetti for most Sox home games - is not making any predictions.
"I've said this a thousand times, and hopefully I won't have to say it too much this year," Harrelson said. "The first rule of baseball is catch the ball.
"It's not pitching; it's not hitting. If you're going to get 27 outs at the major-league level and you're going to give another major-league team 30 or 31 outs, you're probably going to lose. And the last few years, we just stunk catching the ball.
"You can't do that. Kansas City catches the ball. In the first three weeks last season, we lost five games because of defense. That's hard to overcome. I don't give a bleep how good your team is."
Harrelson says White Sox broadcasts are going to be really good when Benetti, a Homewood-Flossmoor High School graduate, joins Steve Stone for most home games.
"Jason's going to be terrific," Harrelson said. "He knows who he is and he knows he can do it. Fans are going to like him for a very long time. He's a South Side guy with White Sox blood flowing in him. Once he settles in and gets that feeling, he's going to be here a long time."