Interpreted incorrectly, the voice of reason within the White Sox clubhouse could be portrayed as Oscar the Grouch without the garbage can. Here they are, a handful of sunsets into an endless summer, and life for the Sox is one perfect wave.
Their record of 48-27 has matched the team’s best mark after 75 games since–gulp–1919, when good guys did not wear black. They have not merely survived the segment of the schedule known as The Stretch, 20 of 32 games against the Yankees and Indians, a task that could doom a season before it had a chance to begin. They have been propelled by it.
The Sox have extended the lead over Cleveland in the American League Central to 8 1/2 games. They have restored a roar within Comiskey Park. They have inspired projections of pennant drives, of competition for an American League pennant. They have learned to ride the wave. And that is where Frank Thomas comes in.
He has seen enough, heard enough and lived enough on either side of 35th Street to have a complete understanding of how summertime works, that the bigger the wave, the greater the wipeout.
Thomas’ definition of “ride” is different. For him, to ride someone requires the injection of an oral verbal needle, the persistent reminder of imperfection. His is the portrait of a nudge.
“I always have to be the skeptic on this team,” Thomas said. “I’ve been around a while. A lot of young guys can get too high, too soon. It’s my job to tell guys, `That’s over with. What have you done for the team today.’ I’ve been there a lot. I might be getting on their nerves a little bit, but that’s my job.”
His pointed reminders are part of the next phase of the Sox season. The Stretch is over, 87 games remain. The second-place Indians will be out of sight until September, the troubled Yankees until October, if ever. Once the noise was gone, there remained the question of the mental toll the recent success may have taken and whether there will be a price.
“We haven’t really accomplished anything yet,” manager Jerry Manuel said quietly on Sunday.
“The important thing after this is over is to maintain that level of intensity for another extended period of time, regardless of who you play. That’s what’s so concerning about a young club. You may not have as many fans on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but those games are paramount to what you’re about. You have to play at that level regardless.”
Thomas’ message mirrors the manager’s, but the tone is not nearly the same. The words tumble out, a sign that Thomas senses the amount of work to be done. The summers are no longer endless for him. He turned 32 last month, and while a youthful face and eyes conceal his seniority, they cannot obscure the truth. He is a White Sox lifer, a decade’s worth by early August, and the bleakness of the organization’s recent past had to raise the question of whether the happiest days were gone.
But the chemistry within their clubhouse has energized him and created a sense of tolerance and closeness. “I think that’s the big difference,” Manuel said. “That’s what puts us in the position we’re in now, the unity and the chemistry.”
The mix hardly is tested in a month with just five defeats. The test comes when the lead begins to shrink, inexperience leads to an alleged media-inspired crisis and the wave is no longer perfect.
“You can be critical,” Manuel said of his approach, “but if you’re critical, you understand that the criticism is for the whole team and not for you personally. I’m sure we’re going to have our disagreements and arguments in there, just like family. But at the same time, you can identify it as family.”
Thomas gives, and he gets. Even after the misleadingly narrow one-run victory over the Yankees on Sunday, Thomas anticipated that inside the players’ dining area, where outsiders are prohibited and the gloves are taken off, there were reminders of his recent failures with runners in scoring position.
“I’ve seen a lot of things happen,” Thomas said. “I’ve seen teams do super well in the first half and just flop in the second half. I’ve seen guys do terrible in the first half and unbelievable in the second half. So you just can’t get too high at this level of baseball.”
Already, the others have begun to understand.
“Occasionally we get a little too high,” Paul Konerko said. “I think we can just keep more even-keel sometimes. It’s such a long season.
“But on the other hand, the guys are so hungry, because we haven’t been there before,” Konerko went on. “Because it would make a statement for all the teams that are low payroll, teams that aren’t supposed to do anything.”
Can they manage the energy within the clubhouse and outside? Can the Sox insulate themselves from the panic if they drift back to the pack?
“We’ve been lucky,” Thomas said. “No major injuries in the first half, dealing with stuff like that. We haven’t faced what other teams are facing right now.”
Thomas rapped the knuckles of his right hand against the wood that lines the edge of his stall. The self-appointed skeptic respects the system. He said his positive reinforcement would continue until the playoffs. It’s an ugly job.
“Somebody has to do it,” Thomas said.
