These 13 Chicago White Sox rookie managers won on Opening Day

Opening Day, for the most part, has welcomed Chicago White Sox rookie managers with open arms.

Pedro Grifol will be the 22nd manager in White Sox history to debut on Opening Day when he takes on the Houston Astros on March 30.

The first 21 compiled a sparkling record of 13-8, a .619 winning percentage that would likely put Grifol's White Sox on top of the American League Central at the end of the season.

Recent history, though, hasn't been kind to White Sox managers debuting on Opening Day. Five of the last eight (Bob Lemon in 1977, Don Kessinger in 1979, Ozzie Guillen in 2004, Robin Ventura in 2012 and Rick Renteria in 2017) all lost on Opening Day. Kessinger was even fired before the end of his first year and was replaced by Tony La Russa.

The 53-year-old Grifol, therefore, has a chance to become the first White Sox manager to debut with a victory on Opening Day since Jerry Manuel in 1998.

The White Sox are a team looking for some success on Opening Day.

Manuel, Jeff Torborg (1989), and Gene Lamont are the only rookie Sox managers to debut with an Opening Day victory since the American League was separated into divisions in 1969.

Just three White Sox first-year managers have debuted with 90 or more victories. Bob Lemon (1977) and Al Lopez (1957) each won 90 games while Pants Rowland won 93 in 1915. None of them, however, finished first.

Lopez's Sox finished second, eight games behind the New York Yankees (they were 8-14 against the Yankees). Rowland and Lemon each finished third in their debut seasons, though Lemon's Southside Hitmen are one of the most beloved Sox teams in history.

Clark Griffith was 83-53 in 1901 in the American League's inaugural season as a recognized major league (the first World Series wasn't played until 1903). Kid Gleason was 88-52 and took the White Sox to the 1919 World Series where eight of his players conspired with gamblers to throw the Series to the Cincinnati Reds.

Griffith and Gleason are still the only two rookie managers in White Sox history to take a team from Opening Day to first place by the end of the year.

A look at the 13 successful Opening Days for a White Sox rookie manager:

Clark Griffith, 1901

Clarke Griffith started out the Chicago White Sox franchise with a win.

The 31-year-old Griffith beat the Cleveland Blues, 8-2, on Opening Day (April 24, 1901) at South Side Park in front of 9,000 fans.

The games was the first for the White Stockings in the first American League season in the major leagues. Chicago finished first in the American League in 1900 (the championship pennant was raised on Opening Day in 1901) but the league was considered a minor league.

Third baseman Fred Hartman drove in the first two runs with a single in the first inning as the White Stockings jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two innings. First baseman Frank Isbell went 2-for-3 with three RBI.

Roy Patterson went the distance to pick up the victory, allowing seven hits and one earned run despite not striking out a hitter. The game lasted just 90 minutes.

Griffith, who also coached third base, would go 24-7 on the mound that season in 35 games (30 starts) on a 2.67 ERA.

Jimmy Callahan, 1903

Jimmy Callahan became the Chicago White Sox coach in 1903.

Callahan's White Stockings whipped the St. Louis Browns, 14-4, on Opening Day at Sportsman's Park.

A crowd of 3,800 watched the 105-minute game on April 22, 1903, as pitchers Patsy Flaherty (Chicago) and Red Donahue (St. Louis) each went the distance. Donahue allowed 16 hits and 14 runs, though just five were earned.

Flaherty would go 11-25 in 1903, though he did complete 29-of-34 starts. Chicago would sell him to the Pittsburgh Pirates in June 1904, where he would win 19 games on a 2.05 ERA, completing all 28 of his starts.

Fielder Jones, Frank Isbell, and Ed McFarlane each had three hits for Chicago while Bill Hallman scored four runs.

Callahan would win 10 of his first 13 games but finished the year 60-77.

Hugh Duffy, 1910

Hugh Duffy was the man in charge for the Chicago White Sox in 1910.

Duffy beat the Browns, 3-0, on Opening Day (April 14) as 23,660 fans at South Side Park sat through a 100-minute game at 37th and Wentworth. Comiskey Park, on 35th Street, would open on July 1 that same season with a 2-0 loss to the Browns.

Fans were allowed to stand on the field in foul territory, though the game was momentarily halted in the fifth inning as fans crowded into fair territory. White Sox shortstop Lena Blackburne had his glove stolen immediately after the final out by a fan, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Patsy Dougherty scored two runs and hit a double while Chick Gandil, Billy Purtell, and Fred Payne drove in the Chicago runs.

White Sox pitcher Frank Smith, a surprise choice as the Opening Day starter over Ed Walsh and Doc White, allowed just one hit in nine innings. Smith would win just three more games and lose nine in 1910 despite a 2.03 ERA in 19 games (15 starts).

Kid Gleason, 1919

Kid Gleason was the manager of the Chicago White Sox in 1919.

The White Sox pounded the Browns 13-4 on April 23, 1919, in St. Louis to begin one of the most historic seasons in the team's history.

Buck Weaver had four hits five RBI and scored three runs. Eddie Collins had two hits, a three-run shot in the fourth inning. Shoeless Joe Jackson had three hits.

Swede Risberg had three hits and Chick Gandil had a double and a triple.

Pitcher Lefty Williams went the distance, allowing 10 hits. Williams also had three hits and scored three runs at the plate.

Williams, Weaver, Risberg, Gandil, Jackson, Happy Felsch, Fred McMullen and Eddie Cicotte were found guilty a year later of fixing the 1919 World Series.

Donie Bush, 1930

Donnie Bush got his manager life off to a good start with the White Sox.

Bush's White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-7, in 10 innings at Comiskey Park. A crowd of 26,000 saw Alex Metzler drill a pitch off the left-field wall to score Bill Cissell from the second to win the game.

The White Sox trailed 4-0 before scoring six runs in the sixth inning, all after two were out. The White Sox had the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the ninth but couldn't score.

Smead Jolley, Willie Kamm and Ernie Smith each had two hits for the Sox.

The Sox would win six of their first nine games before dropping under .500 (8-9) for the first time on May 8 on the way to a 62-92 season. Bush was fired after a 56-97 season in 1931.

Lew Fonseca, 1932

Lew Fronseca took over the Chicago White Sox during the 1932 season.

The Fonseca era started strong with a 9-2 win in 2:12 at Comiskey Park over the Browns on April 12, 1932, for 18,000 fans.

Lu Blue had three hits and scored two runs, Cissell had two hits, two RBI, and scored two runs. Pitcher Sad Sam Jones was also 1-for1 with three walks. Jones went the distance, allowing eight hits for the win.

Fonseca, who won the 1929 American League batting title (.369) with the Cleveland Indians, was 5-for-37 for the Sox in 1932 and 12-for-59 in 1933. He was fired just 15 games into the 1934 season with a managerial record of 120-196.

Fonseca would later become a White Sox and Chicago Cubs broadcaster in 1939 and 1940 and was instrumental in creating and helping narrate the first World Series films for major league baseball from 1943-69.

Paul Richards, 1951

Paul Richards became the Chicago White Sox manager in 1951.

Richard's White Sox destroyed the Browns, 17-3, in St. Louis on April 17, 1951. The White Sox scored six runs in the second inning and seven in the eighth.

Billy Pierce allowed 10 hits in nine innings for the victory.

Al Zarilla had three hits, scored three runs, and hit a home run. Chico Carrasquel, Nellie Fox (hitting eighth), Floyd Baker, Gus Zernial, Eddie Robinson, and Pierce each had two hits.

Just 13 days later the Sox dealt Zernial as part of a three-team trade with the Cleveland Indians and Philadelphia Athletics, acquiring outfielder Minnie Minoso. The 27-year-old Minoso made his White Sox debut on May 1, hitting a home run against the New York Yankees at Comiskey Park.

Al Lopez, 1957

Al Lopez became a rookie bench boss for the White Sox in 1957.

The 1957 season opener featured one of the greatest pitching matchups in White Sox history.

The White Sox outlasted the Cleveland Indians 3-2 in 11 innings at Cleveland Stadium in front of 31,145 fans as Lopez, a former Indians manager (1951-56), made his Chicago debut.

Pierce and Cleveland's Herb Score each pitched the full 11 innings. Pierce allowed eight hits and struck out nine while Score allowed seven hits and walked 11 while striking out 10.

Fox and Larry Doby each had two hits for the Sox. Doby, a former Indians outfielder, drove in the winning run with a single in the 11th inning. Sox outfielder Minnie Minoso also tried to steal home later in the 11th but was called out.

Pierce doubled off Score in the fifth and tried to advance to third on a grounder by Luis Aparicio to Indians shortstop Chico Carrasquel. Carrasquel, a former Sox shortstop, hit Pierce in the back with his throw, allowing the Sox pitcher to score and tie the game at 2-2.

Eddie Stanky, 1966

Eddie Stanky became a manager in 1966 with the Chicago White Sox.

Stanky, a former St. Louis Cardinals (1952-55), made his White Sox debut with a 3-2 win at Comiskey Park over the California Angels in 14 innings.

Tommie Agee's two-run homer tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh off Angels pitcher Dean Chance. Agee later singled in the 12th and was picked off first.

Tommy McCraw's single in the 14th won the game which lasted 4:23. The Chicago Tribune estimated that only about a fourth of the crowd of 28,175 remained in the park to see McCraw's game-winning hit on a chilly day.

Tommy John, the first of five Sox pitchers, lasted six innings, striking out six and walking four. Juan Pizarro struck out Frank Malzone to end the top of the 14th inning and pick up the win.

Jeff Torborg, 1989

Jeff Thornborg became a Chicago White Sox manager in 1989.

Torborg made his White Sox debut with a 9-2 win over the California Angels at Anaheim Stadium on April 4, 1989.

The Sox broke the game open with five runs in the ninth. Designated hitter Harold Baines, who would be traded to the Texas Rangers on July 29, 1989, with Fred Manrique for Sammy Sosa, Scott Fletcher, and Wilson Alvarez, had two hits, drove n three, and hit a home run.

Catcher Carlton Fisk also had two hits and hit a home run. Third baseman Eddie Williams, in his only White Sox season, had three hits.

Jerry Reuss allowed just two hits in seven innings to pick up the victory.

Gene Lamont, 1992

Gene Lamont took over the Chicago White Sox as the manager in 1992.

Lamont's first White Sox team also began with a victory in Anaheim over the Angels, 10-4 in front of 32,160.

Jack McDowell went six innings for the victory, allowing 10 hits and four runs. Wilson Alvarez pitched the final three innings and didn't allow a hit or a walk.

Leadoff hitter Tim Raines had two hits, drove in three, scored two runs, walked twice, and stole a base. First baseman Frank Thomas had a double and a home run and scored three runs. Right fielder Mike Huff had three hits.

Ozzie Guillen had two doubles for the Sox. Both Guillen and Ventura would later manage the Sox but both would lose their first Opening Day.

Jerry Manuel, 1998

Jerry Manuel was the last White Sox rookie manager to win Opening Day.

Manuel's White Sox debut was a 9-2 win over the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas on March 31, 1998. Grifol will be the second first-year White Sox manager after Manuel to debut in the month of March.

Jamie Navarro went six innings and didn't allow a run. The Sox broke a scoreless tie with seven runs in the fifth inning.

Mike Cameron scored two runs and drove in two, Frank Thomas had two hits and drove in two, Albert Belle had two hits and two RBI, Robin Ventura hit a home run, and Magglio Ordonez and Charlie O'Brien each had three hits.