CHICAGO – The White Sox learned a lot about building a winning culture during the 2020 campaign, and that knowledge didn’t just come from their 35 wins in 60 games.
Take the last 10 games of the regular season as an example. The White Sox became the first American League-side to reach a playoff spot with a home win over the Twins on September 17, holding a three-game lead in the AL Central at the time. They went on to lose eight of the next 10 games, including four in a row at Cleveland, to drop to No. 7 in the AL.
Four months later, with White Sox-pitchers and catchers reporting to Camelback Ranch on Wednesday and the entire squad being ready for action on February 22, that heavy play was remembered and processed instead of being completely erased.
“When we took the playoff spot, we might have – I wouldn’t necessarily say we let go of the gas, but it was kind of a relief, like, ‘We made it. We got into the playoffs'”, Lucas Giolito, the ace of White Sox, said on Tuesday from Arizona during a Zoom call. “Then we all know we went badly right after that. It was definitely a great learning experience.
“After last year we are really going to adopt that mentality where we have to kick the throat, we have to try to kill other teams to the end. It doesn’t matter what our record is, it doesn’t matter if we’re in the playoffs or if we’re leading the division. All that matters is we go out expecting to win a game every day – whether it’s April or September or the late season – and we have that killer instinct, that killer mentality as a whole and we just get the job done .
‘I don’t think there is more room for a premature celebration. That’s for sure.”
Any mention of the word “rebuild” has also been dropped from the White Sox vernacular. That consistent losing but important development phase nearly ended when Giolito threw six perfect innings in a Game 1 win against Oakland in the AL Wild Card Series.
Now White Sox’s primary goal reaches far deeper than just the playoffs. With Tony La Russa about to start his second run as White Sox manager, the goal is to win big and now win big.
“We want to win a ring. We want to win a World Series, ”said Giolito. “For that to happen, we certainly have to improve in many areas. We are already in the right place with the acquisitions of players and the coaching of acquisitions. But the AL Central is no slouch. Other teams have also put together some parts, so we just have to stay focused on our daily life, which is what we have to do individually and as a team every day to get better. Building the winning culture. I think we took the first steps on that last year.
“But there is still so much more room to grow. That is what we intend to do. Keep growing, getting closer as a team, playing really solid baseball. Consistent baseball. And at the end of the day we want to win a World Series. That is clearly the goal. “
Giolito arrived in Arizona a week ago and already met most of the new coaching additions and spoke to new teammates, such as righthanded starter Lance Lynn and rightfielder Adam Eaton. Giolito likes that the atmosphere is brought out.
With the Cubs stepping back from a very successful six-year spell, the South Siders have the chance to make Chicago a White Sox city. That label is not so much a concern of Giolito as the process it took to become a champion team.
“Yeah, it would be cool if more people cared about the White Sox in Chicago,” Giolito said. ‘But the only way that can happen is if we win. I wouldn’t say there should be too many conversations because that all falls into place when we win games and go deep and hopefully win a ring. “