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“Adversity is an education” and Sox not the 2018-19 Royals


caulfield12

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TORONTO -- White Sox manager Pedro Grifol has seen some slow starts.

He was a quality control coach for the 2018 Royals when they started 7-21. The next year Kansas City began the season 9-20. Both teams were eliminated from contention by August.

For some teams, that sluggish start feels like a death sentence -- the season is over just as it started. But for Grifol’s 2023 White Sox, the feeling is different. Despite dropping a seventh-straight contest with an 8-0 loss to the Blue Jays on Wednesday, Grifol doesn’t sense any quit.

“I've been on teams that you go through a streak like this and you know the season’s over,” Grifol said. “This doesn’t feel like that. Doesn’t feel like that.”

 

Wednesday’s contest was the latest loss for a White Sox squad that sits at 7-18. Chicago hasn’t won a series yet this year, or even won back-to-back games; the club is 2-12 over its last 14 contests. It’s an undeniably sideways start for a team hoping to contend, but it’s not game over.

Eight teams this century have started the season with 10 or fewer wins in their first 25 games and gone on to make the playoffs. The 2019 Washington Nationals famously started out 19-31 and turned the ship around to win 93 contests, make the playoffs and win the World Series.

The key to that season turnaround, for Grifol, is learning from the slump. The first-year skipper didn't anticipate his opening campaign starting this way and he's had to adapt. Grifol has been hard on himself, he said, working to make adjustments amid the slide. He’s asking players to do the same, preaching more patience at the plate, aggressiveness on the mound and cleaner play all around.

“Adversity is an education,” Grifol said. “How you deal with adversity is also extremely important.”

 

Mitch Bannon, mlb.com

Edited by caulfield12
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https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2023/04/25/mlb-attendance-2023-shows-winning-still-foolproof-plan/11734233002/

Winning continues to be a foolproof plan for attendance woes

 

Teams for which lowest-attended game is up from 2022 (16): Rays (57%), Mariners (52%), Yankees (41%), Phillies (43%), Marlins (33%), Blue Jays (28%), Astros (23%), Mets (23%), A’s (22%), Pirates (20%), Padres (17%), Dodgers (13%), Guardians (11%), Cardinals (12%), Cubs (7%), Giants (5%).

 Teams for which lowest-attended game is flat (2% or less) year over year (3): Diamondbacks, Twins, Rangers (up a whole five humans, to 15,867).

 Team for which lowest-attended game is down year over year (11): Orioles (21%), Reds (20%), Red Sox (15%), White Sox (10%), Rockies (10%), Royals (12%), Brewers (12%), Angels (10%), Nationals (8%), Braves (7%), Tigers (4%).

 

Orioles a bit of a shocker there with Rutschman Henderson and Grayson Rodriguez up... at any rate, tonight's Sox crowd against TB is going to put those numbers to the test. 

Edited by caulfield12
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1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:

TORONTO -- White Sox manager Pedro Grifol has seen some slow starts.

He was a quality control coach for the 2018 Royals when they started 7-21. The next year Kansas City began the season 9-20. Both teams were eliminated from contention by August.

For some teams, that sluggish start feels like a death sentence -- the season is over just as it started. But for Grifol’s 2023 White Sox, the feeling is different. Despite dropping a seventh-straight contest with an 8-0 loss to the Blue Jays on Wednesday, Grifol doesn’t sense any quit.

“I've been on teams that you go through a streak like this and you know the season’s over,” Grifol said. “This doesn’t feel like that. Doesn’t feel like that.”

 

Wednesday’s contest was the latest loss for a White Sox squad that sits at 7-18. Chicago hasn’t won a series yet this year, or even won back-to-back games; the club is 2-12 over its last 14 contests. It’s an undeniably sideways start for a team hoping to contend, but it’s not game over.

Eight teams this century have started the season with 10 or fewer wins in their first 25 games and gone on to make the playoffs. The 2019 Washington Nationals famously started out 19-31 and turned the ship around to win 93 contests, make the playoffs and win the World Series.

The key to that season turnaround, for Grifol, is learning from the slump. The first-year skipper didn't anticipate his opening campaign starting this way and he's had to adapt. Grifol has been hard on himself, he said, working to make adjustments amid the slide. He’s asking players to do the same, preaching more patience at the plate, aggressiveness on the mound and cleaner play all around.

“Adversity is an education,” Grifol said. “How you deal with adversity is also extremely important.”

 

Mitch Bannon, mlb.com

As I said on another thread, if this is a 'sideways start' I would hate to see what they consider a downward spiral!

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55 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2023/04/25/mlb-attendance-2023-shows-winning-still-foolproof-plan/11734233002/

Winning continues to be a foolproof plan for attendance woes

 

Teams for which lowest-attended game is up from 2022 (16): Rays (57%), Mariners (52%), Yankees (41%), Phillies (43%), Marlins (33%), Blue Jays (28%), Astros (23%), Mets (23%), A’s (22%), Pirates (20%), Padres (17%), Dodgers (13%), Guardians (11%), Cardinals (12%), Cubs (7%), Giants (5%).

 Teams for which lowest-attended game is flat (2% or less) year over year (3): Diamondbacks, Twins, Rangers (up a whole five humans, to 15,867).

 Team for which lowest-attended game is down year over year (11): Orioles (21%), Reds (20%), Red Sox (15%), White Sox (10%), Rockies (10%), Royals (12%), Brewers (12%), Angels (10%), Nationals (8%), Braves (7%), Tigers (4%).

 

Orioles a bit of a shocker there with Rutschman Henderson and Grayson Rodriguez up... at any rate, tonight's Sox crowd against TB is going to put those numbers to the test. 

I see a 2022 Orioles home game against Boston showing 2,467 as the reported attendance and a May game against the twins at 6678. I see a 2023 home game against the As at 9322.

So maybe the problem is that the USA Today’s authors have an issue with math.

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