When a new manager comes to a new town for the first time, they’ll usually try and find ways to introduce themselves to the fans, the city, and the community. Pedro Grifol wasted no time doing that in his first 24 hours or so in Chicago.
It started Thursday night, just hours after Grifol’s introductory press conference on the South Side. After FaceTiming Eloy Jimenez – who he once coached in the LIDOM – Grifol spent time at the Blackhawks game with catcher Yasmani Grandal. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise to see the two bond, given that Grifol was a former catcher.
Today, Grifol was hard at work once again in the Chicago community, appearing at a local elementary school as well as picking up the lunch tabs for some lucky South Siders at the Vienna Beef Factory Store on 39th, right down the street from Guaranteed Rate Field.
Obviously, this is often part of the things many managers will do for the first time in a new city. That being said, it’s refreshing to see someone who is clearly willing to be part of the Chicago community to go out so quickly into his tenure. In many ways, it’s reminiscent of the way that Ricky Renteria managed while he was with the club.
One thing is for sure: if Grifol’s as good of a manager as he is a person, he’s going to be on the South Side for a long time to come.
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“…it’s refreshing to see someone who is clearly willing to be part of the Chicago community to go out so quickly into his tenure. In many ways, it’s reminiscent of the way that Ricky Renteria managed while he was with the club.
Amen to that!
I was pissed when Hahn fired Renteria with a year remaining on his contract. Ricky deserved a full season with HIS team after enduring a painful rebuild and breaking the White Sox long playoff drought in his first opportunity to manage a team with a chance to contend. We’ll never know what Ricky might have done in 2021. What we do know is that Tony La Russa, the HOF manager expected to take the White Sox to the ‘next level’, failed miserably as Renteria’s replacement.