When the White Sox lost Frank Thomas to his season-ending triceps injury, it took a while for the team to learn how to win without him.
Thomas may have been off to a slow start, but he still was an imposing figure in the middle of the lineup and a threat to bust out on one of his patented home run streaks at any time.
No one was able to replace Thomas in the DH slot and when the offense looked pathetic after the first week of a 12-game trip in late May, it eventually cost hitting coach Von Joshua his job. But now the Sox have discovered a way to win without the Big Hurt. They were just beginning to make some noise when general manager Ken Williams delivered the surprising news last Wednesday.
Jose Canseco was joining the White Sox.
The reaction to the announcement in the Sox’s clubhouse was rather subdued. Canseco is a large presence in more ways than one and no one really knew how the slugger would affect the delicate clubhouse chemistry.
Without Thomas, the rest of the Sox stars were on a relatively equal plane, with no single player head and shoulders above any of his teammates on or off the field. They had endured the painful eight-game losing streak together, they endured the incessant trade rumors together and, for the first time all season, the Sox were playing the way they did during their breakthrough season in 2000.
Did they really need to add a high-maintenance superstar to the mix and risk messing things up?
But any questions about Canseco’s demeanor were answered quickly during last weekend’s four-game series in Baltimore. He came in, did his work, shagged flies and practiced playing the outfield despite the fact the Sox don’t want him anywhere near a glove. Canseco also drove in five runs in the four games, while Magglio Ordonez benefited from having a true power hitter protect him in the lineup.
It’s still early, but all the concerns about Canseco either asking for or receiving star treatment appear to have been buried.
“My star days are over,” Canseco said. “I’m just one of the guys trying to help out.”
The one-time Bash Brother is one of the rare baseball players whose name has been in headlines in supermarket tabloids almost as much as it has been in the sports section. Dating Madonna will do that to a career.
But asked if there were any misconceptions about him that he would like to clear up, Canseco raised his eyebrows and questioned the question.
“I don’t know what the perceptions are about me, so I have no idea,” he replied. “What are they?”
Aloof . . . Pampered . . . Difficult to deal with . . .
“I thought I’ve been pretty easy to deal with in the past,” he said. “I don’t know if people perceive certain things about you or stereotype you. I have no idea about that.”
In his fourth season as manager of the Sox, Jerry Manuel has had to accommodate a disparate group of individuals including Thomas, Albert Belle, Jaime Navarro and Royce Clayton. Manuel insists he never felt the acquisition of a player with Canseco’s checkered past would disrupt the atmosphere in the clubhouse.
“That hasn’t been a problem at all,” Manuel said. “Once you reach a level as a team, when you have the maturity in that area, you feel that you can handle different things. If it’s somebody of an independent spirit, which is fine, or somebody who wants to come in and try to conform with what is going on, that’s fine too.”
Of course, Manuel has heard the Canseco myth, as has anyone who has followed baseball for the last two decades. Manuel did speak with Tony Graffanino, a former teammate of Canseco’s with Tampa Bay, and got the answer he wanted.
“I really don’t try to deal with preconceived pictures of somebody,” Manuel said. “I try to give them the benefit of the doubt, until they prove otherwise. When I asked Graf, I said `How is he in the clubhouse?’ Graf said `You don’t have to worry at all.’ Graf is somebody I trust, so that was all I needed to hear.”
Chicago may be a last chance for Canseco to prove he still can hit and remain injury-free for an extended period of time. After hitting 80 home runs with Toronto and Tampa Bay in ’98 and ’99, he hit only 15 with the Devils Rays and Yankees last season. When the Angels released him at the end of spring training and no one else wanted him, Canseco swallowed his pride and signed with the independent Atlantic League team in Newark, N.J.
In a low-risk gamble, at least financially speaking, the Sox signed Canseco last week for a pro-rated portion of the major-league minimum, or around $135,000. Why didn’t Canseco wait for a better offer?
“Because I wanted to get back up to the major-league level,” he said. “Obviously I’ve made a lot of money in this game already. My main concern was getting up to this level, seeing major-league pitching, helping the team win and obviously, I’m only 54 home runs short of 500. Hopefully that gives me a chance to get inducted into the Hall of Fame.”
After failing to cash in on the team’s division title with capacity crowds at Comiskey Park, Sox management also hopes Canseco can help out at the box office. The organization didn’t market David Wells when he was acquired from Toronto and has yet to showcase emerging stars such as Mark Buehrle and Carlos Lee.
The organization already has killed its initial 2001 marketing slogan (“It’s Time”) and currently is selling “fun at the ballpark” rather than the Sox players.
“I thought I was just brought here to help the team win,” Canseco said. “Hopefully I can do that. Hopefully I can get hot, hit some home runs like I have in the past, and just be me. And sure, I’m going to get the fans to come out.”
Canseco has been banging some long ones in batting practice, but was homer-free in Camden Yards. It may take a while to get his stroke back, but he said on Sunday that he feels it’s coming with every at-bat.
For now, Canseco is comfortable just blending into the background, trying to throw off all the trappings that come along with being a larger-than-life character.
“Well, I am large,” he said with a laugh. “That’s for sure. I guess maybe because of my size–I’m 6-4, 245–whatever I’ve accomplished in my career, I may be an intimidating person to some people. But I think those people who know me know that I’m completely the opposite of that.”
