Show the Man Some Respect

The White Sox seem to be the talk of the major leagues right now. They are on fire and have catapulted themselves into first place. You can point to the hitting as the main reason. Paul Konerko and Dayan Viciedo have been on fire while the others in the lineup are contributing at a solid pace. Chris Sale, Nate Jones and the pitching staff have been very good throughout the whole season. Who’s giving the manager some love? Robin Ventura is like Rodney Dangerfield…He gets no respect.

So called experts picked the White Sox to have somewhere between 90-95 losses this season. Nobody expected them to be in first place after Memorial Day and most are probably still thinking they will not compete long into the season. Throughout the whole time Robin Ventura has been as cool, calm and collected as any manager can be. He doesn’t panic or throw players under the bus when the team is struggling. Ventura is not over elated during this current winning streak. He maintains an even keel demeanor necessary for a long season. Ventura has allowed his players to relax and focus on base and boy have they responded.

Former manager Ozzie Guillen has already put his foot in his mouth down in Miami this year. Imagine if he would have still been the White Sox manager. He would have most likely lost a guy like Chris Sale or Hector Santiago by now. Gullien would have put pressure on a veteran like Paul Konerko to answer daily media questions about the manager instead of not allowing him to go out and hit almost .400. Guillen would have had this team 10 games under .500 by now.

Ventura is exactly what the White Sox needed. A manager who allows his coaching staff to coach to the best of their abilities and the players to play every day with no worries or concerns. Most importantly he has shown a true knowledge for the game without over thinking the job. What he has done has allowed the team to go on a run and there should be no doubt this team can’t compete going forward.

It’s time people start showing Robin Ventura some respect. The first year manager acts like he’s been doing the job for 15 years. It’s fun to talk about a baseball team on the South Side for all the right reasons this time around.