Fog beginning to lift as Grifol settles in as White Sox's new manager

Ozzie Guillen, Robin Ventura and Tony La Russa managed the White Sox for 15 of the last 19 seasons, which is not a surprise.

Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf is as loyal as they come, and having direct ties to the franchise weighed heavily in the decision to put all three in the Sox's dugout.

But after La Russa quickly flamed out in his second stint as White Sox manager and stepped down late last season, general manager Rick Hahn went in a different direction while looking for a replacement.

"We made that clear at the start of our (managerial) search, that we wanted to get a different look at who we were and what we were doing and ways to get better," Hahn said. "You saw different drills, you saw different technology being used in spring training, you saw a different schedule in spring training. Not that past administrations were necessarily doing it wrong, but changing it up helps reinvigorate some of the guys who were held over from the last player group.

"It's definitely been a positive, the fresh eyes, the fresh approach. Certainly, the energy and communication has been great."

After spending the last 10 seasons in a variety of coaching roles with the Royals and 13 years in the Mariners' organization, Pedro Grifol was named the Sox's new manager in early November.

The 53-year-old baseball lifer is humbled by the long journey to his dream job.

"I certainly have been thinking about it my whole life," Grifol said.

Five games into his tenure as White Sox manager, Grifol is 2-3. After splitting a four-game series against the defending World Series champion Astros in Houston, the Sox gave up 7 home runs to the Giants Monday and lost their home opener 12-3.

The White Sox were off Tuesday, and Grifol undoubtedly used some of the down time to reflect on his new position.

"It gets stressful at times," Grifol said. "But I've learned and have been around a lot of people in the game where you got to stay focused, you got to stay relaxed and it all comes down to preparation and your coaching staff and how you prepare for a ballgame. I've been in this game a long time.

"I've been in the big leagues a long time. I've been around some good major-league managers, and now it's when I'm starting to see how much I've learned from those guys on a daily basis."

As the season moves along, Grifol is sure to settle in as Sox manager.

"I know with full transparency, in Houston, I was kind of in a fog," he said. "I'm looking over, and I see Dusty Baker right there and he's got thousands of games managed under his belt. You've got a full stadium. I've been in that environment before, been there for the playoffs, but I've never been in that environment as a big-league manager.

"I'm not going to sit here and say I was cool and I was good. No, I was in a little bit of a fog. That's normal. That fogs only lasts a little bit, then you've got to go manage a baseball game. But I'm human."

Grifol comes across as a serious manager, but he's been in the game long enough to know you have to be able to laugh at times to survive the marathon season.

"At the end of the day, this is a fun game," Grifol said. "There's a lot of pressure that comes with it but if you're not having fun in this game, you're going to struggle. It doesn't matter what position you're in. I'm going to have fun.

"I'm going to have a smile on my face. I'm going to be intense. I'm going to challenge them, they're going to challenge me. So that's the environment we're trying to create here. I'm hoping they come in here and they feel that. Let's go have some fun and play the game fearless."