ST. LOUIS — Randal Grichuk’s game-winning blast Saturday night assured the White Sox would arrive in Cleveland with the division lead, even after losing to the Cardinals, 3-1 on Sunday. It also gave him room to acknowledge what could previously only be speculated.
“Beginning of the year, it was more like ‘Let’s prove people wrong, let’s go play hard, and see what happens,’” Grichuk said. “Now it’s been more of ‘We’re in a playoff spot, let’s not lose it,’ type of vibe. No one’s saying that, it just kind of feels like it could be a little bit of that.”
Results are vital this time of year, and Grichuk’s allowed for an exhale. But for the Sox’ clubhouse atmosphere, it goes deeper than that.
“There’s the idea of added stress and pressure on the environment, which is a real thing,” manager Will Venable told the Sun-Times. “Felt it really heavy, probably like four or five days ago. One of the last two games at home was in Pittsburgh, I felt it leave.”
How does a manager feel his team is in the right headspace while getting swept at home by the Pirates?
“The best way to put it is there were just people pulling a bunch of pranks and having fun in the clubhouse,” Venable explained. “Just a fun day, and guys were working hard.”
By that measure, Miguel Vargas donning his Justin Jefferson jersey and playing the “Skol!” chant on a speaker in the middle of the locker room Sunday morning, leaving his coaches to ponder what the existence of a Cuban Vikings superfan says about the unique nature of American culture, is a sign of normality. A Sunday afternoon of more empty at-bats with the based loaded suggested otherwise.
Venable’s tenure with the 2023 Rangers coaching staff means he’s helped shepherd a team through a late-season lull to postseason success. His time playing for the 2010 Padres means he’s been on a team that grabbed the division lead midsummer and frittered it away in the end. More than just tightening up, he described the experience as players, coaches giving in to the inclination to ask “What can I do?” to arrest the slide; the eternal baseball trap of trying to do too much.
So he didn’t mind the absence of a out-of-town scoreboard in Busch Stadium, informing exactly where Cleveland stands entering their three-game season series finale.
“Just gonna treat it like it’s a normal day,” said Grant Taylor. “Winning the division, getting a No. 2 seed seems to be better for the postseason. That’s what we’re more focused on instead of trying to win the division for division’s sake.”
That’d be ideal. The human reality is everyone knows the winner of this series will emerge with the division lead, and the Sox need at least one win to lock up the tiebreaker. It looms large for a reason.
“We’re trying to win the division,” said Sean Burke. “Nobody goes into the season saying ‘I want to make the third wild card spot.’”
Two weeks of somber postgame clubhouses have been more than quiet enough to hear Guardians’ approaching footsteps. But now this showdown has arrived, with the lead down to a half-game, it’s an opportunity to render some mounting frustration suddenly irrelevant.
“This is why you play,” said Colson Montgomery. “This is determining your season. Come out flat, season is going to be over. I think we are going to be pretty juiced up for it and it’s going to be fun.”
“Fun” doesn’t mean it won’t be the most stressful games of these young White Sox’ baseball lives. But to the degree that they have had big league careers, it’s taught them that even a chance to play a series like this is sacred.
“How many people get the opportunity?” said Davis Martin, 29 and readying for the biggest start of his life. “Every day in the playoffs is going to be stressful. Why not get a crack at practicing that right now?”