HOUSTON - Jerry Reinsdorf has seen plenty in 46 seasons running the White Sox, but Wednesday night gave him something he didn’t see coming: a clubhouse celebration in Houston after Chicago clinched the American League Wild Card Series with a 7-3 win over the Astros at Daikin Park.
The chairman was in the middle of it all, and he had a grin ready for the critics who questioned his decision to hire Chris Getz as general manager back on Aug. 31, 2023.
“I lived up to the faith you guys all had in me when I hired Chris,” said a smiling Reinsdorf. “You know, happy we vindicated your judgment in praising me for hiring him.”
That hire drew plenty of skepticism at the time. Getz had been the team’s director of player development during the previous rebuild, and fans were left wondering what would really change. Then came the 2024 season, when the White Sox lost a single-season Modern Era record 121 games, and the doubts only grew louder.
Now, two years later, the Sox are still standing - and celebrating again. Reinsdorf watched from Houston with his sons, Michael and Jonathan, as the organization marked its latest postseason breakthrough.
The last time he saw a scene like this was in 2005, when the White Sox completed a four-game World Series sweep. That night also remains the club’s last playoff series victory until now.
“That was a pretty good night, too. That was 2005.
I remember that it was unbelievable. That was unbelievable, that series,” Reinsdorf said.
“But there’s something better about this because nobody thought that this club could win except the players.
“In Spring Training, they thought they were going to win. Nobody believed them, but they did.
It’s a young [team], it’s almost like a college group. It’s just unbelievable.
It’s just a great, great team.”
Reinsdorf said the feeling has been less about fun than satisfaction, though he didn’t exactly dismiss the ride.
“It’s just been gratifying. I don’t know about fun,” Reinsdorf said.
“It’s been gratifying to see these kids who believed in themselves when very few other people did believe in them. They were the ones that did.
It’s all different.
“Those six [Michael] Jordan years [with the Bulls] were unbelievable. The ‘83 [White Sox] team was unbelievable.
The players they had, a mix of some of the greatest guys. The World Series?
How do you beat that? There’s no point in trying to grade them and say which one is better than the other.
Enjoy each one as it comes along.”
Reinsdorf said his belief in this group really started to take shape after the All-Star break, even if the road got a little bumpy when they missed out on the American League Central title by one game to the Guardians. Cleveland now hosts the White Sox in the AL Division Series on Saturday afternoon.
He also made it clear that Getz’s role in all this has been central. Reinsdorf said that during the interview process, Getz wasn’t even the first name on his list, but the more he dug into what had gone wrong inside the organization, the more convinced he became.
“I started talking to all the people in the baseball department, different people in the organization, to find out what went wrong. I wanted to know how we got to where we did.
“Chris of course had an important job. I would talk to him from time to time. As time went on, I realized I got my guy right here.”
Reinsdorf compared the process to house hunting, saying the right fit can become obvious before you ever think it should.
“One of the worst things that can happen when you are house hunting is to find the best house first and you keep on going, and [then] somebody else bought the house,” Reinsdorf said. “I realized I had the guy, I didn’t want to go beyond that.
There was no reason. I felt in my bones he was the right guy.
“As I said at the time, by starting early it gave us a heads up and a partial season to get started. He’s done a terrific job and I really appreciate all the times you guys have written about you were wrong when I hired Chris.”
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