Gammon's Reinsdorf/Einhorn article

[Steve9347]

Elects both of them as "Men of the Year." I have to say, he's in the hall of fame for a reason. Excellent story.

 

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Reinsdorf, Einhorn shine in '05

 

By Peter Gammons

Special to ESPN.com

 

 

Dec. 19

 

We all want immediate gratification at one time, or another. We want the rotation changed, the manager fired, a new general manager, some head to roll when things don't work the way we imagined they would. It's human nature, and the fuel that drives talk radio.

 

Some dreams never reach the sky, some wars never end, but in 2005 Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn won the World Series, which Reinsdorf made clear was more gratifying than all the titles he won with the Bulls and Michael Jordan. At the winter meetings in Dallas, Reinsdorf and Einhorn stood together in the lobby and reminisced about the joy of the run, yet with remarkable humility.

 

"There were years when I thought we had a legitimate shot and very little went right at the right time," said Reinsdorf, the White Sox' chairman of the board. "This year a lot of things turned our way."

 

Einhorn, the White Sox' vice chairman, recounted the odd twists of events: how not trading Jose Contreras and Joe Crede for A.J. Burnett and Mike Lowell turned out to be a godsend. How they tried so hard to get Tony Graffanino, lost out to Boston, settled on Geoff Blum, and not only did Graffanino make a crucial error in the ALDS, but Blum became a World Series hero. How Orlando Hernandez fell out of the trainer's room to finish off Boston. Or their nemesis, Bartolo Colon, was hurt and the umpires in the ALCS got a little confused. Or the fact that Scott Podsednik, who didn't hit a homer during the regular season, hit two in the postseason with his new maple bat.

 

"It makes you realize how things have to come together at the right time," said Einhorn.

 

In the 25 years since buying the White Sox, Reinsdorf and Einhorn have tried a few things that didn't work. The Ken Harrelson/Tony La Russa GM/manager tandem didn't work; Reinsdorf appreciated Hawk's keen mind, and stood by him, and is friends with La Russa to this day. Albert Belle may have been a Hall of Famer in his prime when they signed him after the new labor agreement that Reinsdorf did not favor. But, then when Belle left the White Sox with nothing -- supposedly to sign with the Yankees, allowing Bernie Williams to drift to Boston ... for what amounted to approximately two hours, and in the end signed with the Orioles.

 

But what characterizes the Reinsdorf/Einhorn White Sox is consistency. Stop me if you've heard this before, but it speaks volumes for their persons and their leadership that most of the folks who work at U.S. Cellular Field across the street from the old Comiskey --scouting and development staff, secretaries, grounds crew, clubhouse attendants, trainers, et al -- have been with them for at least 20 years, some dating back to the days of former owner Bill Veeck. The coaching staff was comprised of ex-White Sox players, and a 20-something year organizational loyalist named Don Cooper.

 

Manager Ozzie Guillen is close to being Mr. White Sox in the Reinsdorf/Einhorn era. GM Ken Williams was a White Sox bonus baby out of Stanford, and except for a couple of playing years, has spent his adult life working for these owners. Both were bold choices when selected as manager and general manager, and Reinsdorf was wise enough to allow each to be his own intrepid person and do his job; Ron Schueler and Williams are the extent of the White Sox GMs in the last 15 years, which meant that the very talented Dan Evans had to move on.

 

Ozzie, of course, made the team his own. Williams has turned out to be one of the most aggressive, creative general managers in the business. He knew it was always about pitching, so he grabbed Freddy Garcia and Contreras in an undervalued market and won with them. This winter Williams has struck brilliantly, getting Jim Thome and Javier Vazquez in trades, and creating options if they decide that Jon Garland is too expensive in the final year of his current contract what with his post-A.J. Burnett arbitration value.

 

Reinsdorf and Einhorn have showed their fellow owners that consistency is the essence of a long-term ownership, and that while some years the best teams don't win (Jerry Dybzinski? Jack McDowell tipping his pitches?), that sometime what's correctly assembled works. For that, they are my baseball men of the year.

Edited December 20, 2005 by Steve9347

[BFirebird]

Thanks for the post. Very good read. I don't understand the Gammons and Bruce Levine bashing on this forum. They are both very good at what they do. Gammons with his writing..despite his Red Sox bias and Levine with his reporting. Sure Bruce has some stuff that is way out in left field and is a bitter old man sometimes but he is a damn good reporter and is always the 1st in the city to know if anything goes down with our beloved White Sox. Sorry for the rant....good read.

[Texsox]

It is a nice article but soon some people will jump in and point out all the negative b.s. about Hawk and Tony, Belle, umpire confusion, and other stuff. If this was Mariotti, it would be trashed.

 

It is never what is written, it is always who wrote it.

[YASNY]

It is a nice article but soon some people will jump in and point out all the negative b.s. about Hawk and Tony, Belle, umpire confusion, and other stuff. If this was Mariotti, it would be trashed.

 

It is never what is written, it is always who wrote it.

 

I'm tempted to bash this post. The writer sucks.