The Chicago White Sox: ‘No rules’ and no culture

Ben Verlander

FOX Sports MLB Analyst

The Chicago White Sox have the worst culture in all of sports right now.

That’s right — the worst.

Nonstop issues have been made public regarding how bad the team is this year — not on the field, which we have known for a while, but off it. The 2023 White Sox season has gone from bad, to worse, to just downright embarrassing.

By any outward metric, the team stinks. We’ve acknowledged that. The White Sox were aggressive sellers at the trade deadline, and for good reason. But the on-field performance being so poor never quite made sense to me. There is talent on this roster — enough talent, in fact, to make me pick Chicago to win the American League Central before the season.

Boy, was I wrong.

But I didn’t understand why. Was it injuries? Were the White Sox still feeling the residual effects of hiring a manager in Tony La Russa who, while a Hall of Famer, was in his late 70s and clearly not up for managing a 162-game season anymore? Was that really what set them back? Was it owner Jerry Reinsdorf? Executive vice president Kenny Williams? General manager Rick Hahn? Someone else? No, the culture of the entire organization is the reason the club is so awful.

A few days ago, Tim Anderson got knocked out by a punch from Cleveland Guardians star José Ramírez — who then said afterward that, essentially, Anderson had it coming.

Then the floodgates opened.

Reliever Keynan Middleton, whom the White Sox had just dealt to the Yankees, made some telling comments about his former clubhouse soon after the fight, notably revealing “there are no rules.”

[Ex-White Sox reliever Keynan Middleton says team has ‘no rules’ culture]

Let’s go over these quotes, because they are some of the most alarming things that I have ever heard about an organization in any sport, ever.

From ESPN:

“We came in with no rules,” Middleton said. “I don’t know how you police the culture if there are no rules or guidelines to follow because everyone is doing their own thing. Like, how do you say anything about it because there are no rules?
“You have rookies sleeping in the bullpen during the game. You have guys missing meetings. You have guys missing PFPs (pitcher fielding practices), and there are no consequences for any of this stuff.”
…
“The second I found out I was traded, I shaved my face,” Middleton said. “I was ready to play by their rules because all I want to do is win games. … You know how to act [here]. You know not to be late and you know there are consequences if you are late.”
…
“When I got to spring training, I heard a lot of the same stuff was happening last year,” Middleton said. “It’s happening again this year, so not sure how I could change it. They don’t tell you not to miss PFPs. They don’t tell you not to miss meetings, and if it happens, it’s just, ‘OK.'”

Veteran pitcher Lance Lynn, who’d been traded by the White Sox to the Dodgers at the deadline, was asked about those quotes and his immediate response to reporters was, Middleton was “not wrong.”

In a follow-up interview with the Foul Territory YouTube show, Lynn offered to share everything he disagreed with from Middleton’s initial comments — Lynn then went silent until the hosts caught on.

My “Flippin’ Bats” co-host Alex Curry knows Middleton well from his four seasons with the Angels, as she was the lead TV dugout reporter there. She remembers him as a good person who works hard, wants to be great and wants to win. Which apparently made him an exception in the White Sox clubhouse.

So who specifically deserves blame for this mess?

If you are looking for someone to point the finger at, start with owner Jerry Reinsdorf. After the 2020 season, he hired longtime pal (and the longtime retired) Tony La Russa to be the team’s new manager. La Russa is a Hall of Famer but had been out of coaching for the previous nine years. A lot had changed in that decade. Yet, Reinsdorf convinced him to come back for his second stint with the White Sox — La Russa had originally managed the club in 1986 — mostly because they are good friends.

La Russa coached three World Series champions in his day. Now, tell me if this next anecdote sounds like a championship clubhouse to you:

According to local radio station 670 The Score, another troubling incident occurred between Anderson and White Sox veteran catcher Yasmani Grandal. Like Anderson, Grandal has been in Chicago for years now and is a former All-Star who’s had a nice career.

As the story goes, just before the All-Star break in July, Grandal showed up to the park, found out he was not in that day’s lineup and announced he was leaving to start his break a day early since he was not scheduled to play. Anderson, while sitting in a tub, then told Grandal, “You can get the f— out then, we don’t want you here if that’s your attitude. Get the f— out. I’ll pay for your flight.” Grandal then walked over to the tub and purportedly slapped Anderson in the face.

It’s important to note that Grandal has denied slapping Anderson. It’s also worth pointing out that La Russa stepped down after last season, though he managed Anderson and Grandal for two years. (Pedro Grifol is the current White Sox manager.) If this story is true, it’s just another damning piece of evidence that the White Sox currently have the worst culture in sports, at least in American professional sports. (Remember, Dan Snyder’s tenure with the NFL’s Washington Commanders is over; there is new ownership there.)

I don’t even blame Anderson for saying what he said to Grandal. At least he was a leader in that moment. He was in the right in that instance. What a whirlwind last month for him.

Even some of the players who have gotten out of the environment are still feeling the effects of it. Middleton, obviously, is a huge reason this team’s image has taken such a hit because of what he said. Now he is with the Yankees, and by the way, that organization has some problems of its own, so it does not reflect well on the White Sox that Middleton still apparently vastly prefers his new team so far.

Middleton’s comments came right before the Yankees faced the White Sox in Chicago this week. When he entered the game Thursday night — the videoboard at Guaranteed Rate Field did not display his name.

That was the case in multiple areas where the name of the opposing pitcher on the mound is ordinarily listed but instead were left blank.

The White Sox later claimed that this was an accident and completely unintentional. Really? The omission supposedly continued for the entire two innings Middleton pitched. Nobody could fix this over that time? That never happens.

To me, it’s merely the latest example of the Chicago White Sox having the worst culture in sports.

Ben Verlander is an MLB Analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the “Flippin’ Bats” podcast. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Verlander was an All-American at Old Dominion University before he joined his brother, Justin, in Detroit as a 14th-round pick of the Tigers in 2013. He spent five years in the Tigers organization. Follow him on Twitter @BenVerlander.

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