A rookie manager rarely equals huge success for the Chicago White Sox
By Joe Santoro
Robin Ventura - 2012
Robin Ventura is one of the worst Chicago White Sox managers ever.
Robin Ventura's one legitimate, productive, and promising season as White Sox manager was when he seemingly had no idea what he was doing in his rookie season on the job. Ventura's 2012 White Sox went 85-77 and finished second after spending more than 100 days in first place.
The Sox of 2012 won nine games in a row in late May and were basically in first place for all but a handful of games from May 29 through Sept. 25.
The Sox won just 79 games the previous year in Guillen's final year in charge. But they were 81-66 and three games ahead in first place on Sept. 18, 2012, under Ventura.
Kevin Youkilis hit 15 homers, Dayan Viciedo hit 25, Gordon Beckham hit 16, A.J. Pierzynski hit 27, Alex Rios hit 25 and even Adam Dunn blasted 41 in 2012.
Alejandro De Aza stole 26 bases, Chris Sale won 17 games, Addison Reed saved 29, and Nate Jones went 8-0 in relief. None of it, except Sale, of course, was sustainable for long and Ventura's managerial career declined rapidly after 2012.
Ventura, who never seemed to want the job in the first place, never won as many as 79 games in any of his next four painful seasons. He disappeared after the 2016 season, prompting the current White Sox rebuild.