Can't the White Sox celebrate 1983 from a different angle?

The White Sox excessively celebrate the 1983 AL West Division championship, don't they?

On Sunday, the team marked the 40th anniversary of the division-clinching game. Social media accounts featured a picture of manager Tony La Russa and outfielders Daryl Boston, Harold Baines and Ron Kittle.

You might be asking yourself why Boston was in the photo. Good question. He didn't make his debut with the Sox until 1984. At least La Russa and Baines are in the Hall of Fame, and in case you haven't heard (LOL), Kittle won AL Rookie of the Year in 1983. Boston just doesn't fit here.

On the Sox Machine podcast this week, they asked why the 1983 team is celebrated for every anniversary, while the 1993 AL West Division champion Sox are mostly lost to history.

Great question. I don't have a good answer. 

Me personally, I loved the 1983 team. I was 7 years old at the time, and that was the team that helped spark my love of baseball and the White Sox. That being said, I agree that the nostalgia for that team has gotten excessive. Do we really need to see those 1983 uniforms for every Sunday home game? Not in my world.

But, if we must continue to celebrate the 1983 team, couldn't we at least hear from some different players?

Kittle doesn't have a story to tell that I haven't already heard. He won Rookie of the Year and hit homers onto the roof at Comiskey Park. Yeah, we know.

And Baines is well-known as a quiet man, despite being an exceptional player during his day. He just doesn't have much to say.

I realize some of the players from the 1983 squad have passed now -- LaMarr Hoyt, Julio Cruz and Dick Tidrow come to mind as some guys who are no longer with us. 

But you know who's still alive? Greg Luzinski. And Rudy Law. And Richard Dotson. And Vance Law. And Jerry Dybzinski. And Jerry Hairston. And Tom Paciorek. And Floyd Bannister. Heck, Jerry Koosman turns 81 in December, but he's still around! I could go on.

Why not bring back some of these former players? We haven't heard much from any of them over the years. That would be more interesting than hearing Kittle talk about that season for the 1,000th time.

White Sox announce 2023 coaching staff

Daryl Boston

The White Sox have announced the complete list of coaches who will work for new manager Pedro Grifol. And here they are:

• Bench coach: Charlie Montoyo
• Pitching coach: Ethan Katz
• Bullpen coach: Curt Hasler
• Hitting coach: José Castro
• Assistant hitting coach: Chris Johnson
• First-base coach: Daryl Boston
• Third-base coach: Eddie Rodríguez
• Major League field coordinator: Mike Tosar
• Senior director of sports performance: Geoff Head

There are names both familiar and unfamiliar to Sox fans on this list. Montoyo, of course, started last season as the Toronto Blue Jays manager before being fired midseason. At the time of Grifol's hiring, it was mentioned that Montoyo would be coming aboard as bench coach. Katz and Hasler are holdovers from the Tony La Russa regime.

Castro comes to the Sox from the Atlanta Braves. He was their assistant hitting coach for the past eight years. Based on that, I think fans can be optimistic about this hire. The Braves are a successful organization; they are just 13 months removed from winning the 2021 World Series championship, and they were a division winner again in 2022. Johnson, a former MLB infielder, earns a promotion to the big-league level after earnings good reviews as the hitting coach at Triple-A Charlotte last season.

Rodriguez is a baseball lifer. He's 63 years old, and he's been coaching for 40 years. Like Grifol, he comes from the Kansas City organization, where he was a minor-league field coordinator. He's known for being a good infield coach, which the Sox could surely use. Basically, he's a replacement for Joe McEwing, who left on La Russa's coattails.

Tosar also comes from the Kansas City, where he served as a hitting coach. I'm not entirely sure how we define the role of Major League field coordinator, but I'm assuming it's a promotion for Tosar. Otherwise, the Royals might not have let him out of his contract.

Head spent the last three seasons as the senior director of health and performance with the Cincinnati Reds. Perhaps most notably, he owns three World Series rings from his tenure with the San Francisco Giants, which spanned from 2008-19. He had three different titles there -- strength and conditioning coordinator, Major League sports scientist, and assistant director of player development/director of sports medicine.

And then ... we get to Daryl Boston. The Sox just can't quit him. Grifol will be the fourth manager for whom Boston has worked. Under La Russa, Boston was in charge of baserunning and outfield defense. As all Sox fans are aware, the team has been absolutely terrible in those two areas.

I'm not sure why Boston was retained, but the folks on Twitter seem to believe he excels as a spy for Ken Williams. I have no evidence of that, but I wish I could laugh it off as being ridiculous. Alas, given the dysfunction in the Sox organization, anything seems plausible.

If the Sox fail in 2023 and start yet another rebuild, you can count on two things: Leury Garcia will still be on the 26-man roster, and Daryl Boston will still be on the coaching staff. They are immovable objects.

White Sox manager Tony La Russa finalizes 2021 coaching staff

Tony La Russa

It took more than a month for a formal announcement, but new (old) White Sox manager Tony La Russa has his coaching staff in place for the 2021 season.

As expected, Miguel Cairo has been named bench coach, replacing Joe McEwing, and Ethan Katz replaces Don Cooper as pitching coach.

McEwing remains on the coaching staff. He will serve as third-base coach, a role he filled for the Sox during the Robin Ventura era from 2012 to 2016.

Shelley Duncan has been named analytics coordinator. As far as I know, that's a new position on the Sox staff. Duncan is the son of Dave Duncan, who was La Russa's longtime pitching coach with the Sox, the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals. 

Shelley Duncan, who played for the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians, has managerial experience in the minor leagues with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. He also served as a "field coordinator" with the Toronto Blue Jays. Not sure exactly what that role entailed, but in any case, I'm sure new-school fans will like the idea of the Sox having a coach whose focus is on analytics.

Frank Menechino returns to the Sox as hitting coach. Also returning are first-base coach Daryl Boston and assistant pitching coach Curt Hasler.

The Sox have hired former Toronto infielder Howie Clark to be the assistant hitting coach. Clark was expected to be the hitting coach at Triple-A Charlotte in 2020, before the pandemic canceled the minor league season.

Clark replaces Scott Coolbaugh, who left the Sox organization to become the hitting coach with the Detroit Tigers.

Miguel Cairo expected to be hired as White Sox bench coach

Miguel Cairo

Slowly, the White Sox are assembling a coaching staff around new manager Tony La Russa. Last week, we learned that Ethan Katz will replace Don Cooper as pitching coach. Now comes news that Miguel Cairo is expected to be named bench coach.

The hiring was first reported in an article by James Fegan of The Athletic.

Cairo was a utility player during his 17-year career in the major leagues. He played for La Russa in St. Louis on two separate occasions -- from 2001 to 2003, and again in 2007. In total, Cairo played for nine different teams.

He finished his career with Cincinnati in 2012, and he stayed with the Reds as a special assistant to the GM from 2013 to 2017. His most recent role was that of minor league infield coordinator for the New York Yankees.

So, when Cairo joins the Sox, this will be his first time in a uniformed role at the big-league level since he retired as a player. Everybody's got to start somewhere, so we'll see what he can do.

More details are expected on the rest of the Sox coaching staff next week, but we've heard that one before -- they said that just last week, in fact.

The latest report from Scott Merkin on MLB.com says that hitting coach Frank Menechino, first-base coach Daryl Boston and assistant pitching coach Curt Hasler are expected to be retained.

It already has been announced that third-base coach Nick Capra will not be returning. The fate of former bench coach Joe McEwing is unknown. Obviously, Cairo is taking his role, but it's possible McEwing will get the third-base coaching job -- a role he served in previously with the Sox during the Robin Ventura era from 2012 to 2016.

McEwing does have ties to La Russa. He played for him as a member of the Cardinals in 1998 and 1999.

Will Todd Frazier get his batting average above the Mendoza Line?

Todd Frazier (right) with Daryl Boston

There was an unintentionally humorous moment in the second inning of the White Sox game Tuesday night. Broadcaster Ken Harrelson was talking about how Todd Frazier had put on quite a display of home run power during batting practice, and how that was evidence that Frazier was feeling pretty good about his swing.

Naturally, on the next pitch from Tampa Bay starter Chris Archer, Frazier was totally fooled, made an excuse-me swing and hit a slow roller to first base for an easy out. It was an embarrassing result, and it went counter to what Harrelson had just said.

But give Hawk credit. He quickly recovered to note that Frazier "won't feel good about that swing."

That said, Frazier did make a good swing in the ninth inning, when he blasted a 430-foot solo home run to center field off Tampa Bay reliever Ryan Garton. That provided the final run in a 4-2 Sox victory that snapped a five-game losing streak.

The 1-for-4 night raised Frazier's batting average to a still unsightly .196. The Sox third baseman got off to a terrible start this year. He didn't get his first hit until the fourth game of the season, and the high-water mark for his batting average this year is .200.

He's reached that plateau twice, once May 2 and again May 20. Alas, both times Frazier couldn't sustain anything resembling a hot streak, and his average plummeted back into the .170s on both occasions.

I can't say Harrelson is wrong with his comments. Frazier has five hits in his past three games, and he has homered in two games in a row. In the ideal world, the Sox would trade Frazier in July and take an extended look at Matt Davidson at third base the second half of the season. But for that to happen, Frazier needs to sustain some sort of competence with the bat over the next six weeks.

There isn't a big market for a player who hit .225 last season and is off to a slow start this year. But, you take a look at the American League East, and you see a tight race developing that could involve three or four teams. And you see the two teams at the top, New York and Boston, having question marks at third base.

Might those two clubs see Frazier as an upgrade over Chase Headley or Pablo Sandoval, respectively? Could the Sox create somewhat of a bidding war among the two AL East powers? Possibly. All Frazier really needs to do is hit .240 with power, and he's better than those two guys.

The question is, can he still hit .240? He hasn't done it yet since he's been with the Sox, and he needs to do it soon if there's going to be any demand for him in July. If he isn't traded, he becomes a candidate for reduced playing time the second half of the year, as the Sox will need to look at younger players during a rebuilding season.

New White Sox manager Rick Renteria's coaching staff will feature familiar people

Joe McEwing

If you were hoping for significant changes to the White Sox coaching staff this offseason, prepare to be disappointed.

The only hope I have is that new manager Rick Renteria was allowed to make his own choices with regard to the coaching staff. I have no evidence one way or the other, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't suspect that these selections were made for him.

In any case, third-base coach Joe McEwing has been promoted to bench coach, taking the role vacated by Renteria when he accepted the job as manager. McEwing, 44, served as third-base coach for each of the five seasons Robin Ventura was manager. He also managed in the Sox's minor-league system for three seasons. He has been with the organization for nine years.

The McEwing move, of course, creates a need for a new third-base coach, a role that will be filled by Nick Capra, who had been serving as the team's director of player development. Capra has been in that front office role for five years, but he also has been the minor-league field coordinator, the assistant director of minor-league instruction and the minor-league hitting coordinator. Before that, he managed in the Sox's system for 10 seasons. Capra, 58, has been with the organization for 21 years.

Minor-league pitching coordinator Curt Hasler will replace Bobby Thigpen as the team's bullpen coach. Hasler, 51, has been the minor-league pitching coordinator for six years. He pitched in the Sox organization from 1987 to 1991, and he pretty much never left. He's been a pitching coach or coordinator somewhere in the organization for the past 25 years.

Don Cooper will return for his 30th year with the Sox and 16th as pitching coach. Hitting coach Todd Steverson and assistant hitting coach Greg Sparks also return. Daryl Boston remains as the first-base coach.

The organization men have been shuffled around a little bit, but basically, the gang is still all here -- except for Ventura. Typically, you'd expect bigger changes after four consecutive losing seasons, but as we've learned, that's not the Jerry Reinsdorf way.