White Sox manager Will Venable has immense respect for his Guardians counterpart, Stephen Vogt. Venable thinks Vogt is among the best managers in baseball because of his strategizing and the way players play for him.
“He is as good as they get,” Venable said. “But also, because of that, you want to beat him, too.”
That’s the extent of the trash-talking between the teams. They have the cleanest trash in the neighborhood.
Such is the nature of the Guardians-White Sox rivalry. Despite a hotly contested 13-game season series that saw the teams’ battle for the Central crown go down to the final weekend, plus the first two postseason meetings in their shared history, there is no animosity whatsoever.
“What’s special about this rivalry is that there’s a lot of respect on both sides,” Venable said.
Special doesn’t come to mind. Lackluster, muted and uninspired do.
Yes, the games have been great. But where’s the dislike? Where’s the resentment? Where are the brushbacks, the chirps, the staredowns?
What happened to baseball rivalries?
Sox reliever Jordan Hicks played in one of baseball’s best rivalries, Cardinals-Cubs, in his first five seasons, starting in 2018.
“That one felt real when I was a rookie,” Hicks said. “Maybe it’s a young thing.”
As if to say, it was fun when I was a kid; then I grew up.
“Since I’ve been in the league, the nastiness has been very small, from what I’ve seen,” said Sox left-hander Sean Newcomb, who came up with the Braves in 2017. “It’s definitely there. I’d say everyone kind of keeps it within themselves.”
Well, let it out, guys!
The Sox have had blood feuds before. In the early days of the American League Central, the Sox and Brewers had a few memorable dust-ups, including one with managers Terry Bevington and Phil Garner going at it.
The Sox-Tigers brawl-game in 2000 is legendary. The Sox and Twins didn’t get along in the 2000s, so much so that Torii Hunter once bowled over catcher Jamie Burke, a cheap shot that still lives in infamy.
But none of those rivalries extended to the postseason. This could be the first of many playoff series between the Sox and Guardians. At some point, familiarity breeds contempt, right?
“You typically see these guys the most, so you kind of make a little conversation,” Guardians right fielder Chase DeLauter said.
That’s so sweet. Are they planning Tupperware parties, too?
Where’s Albert Belle when you need him?
I needed a kindred spirit in competitive chippiness, someone who isn’t afraid to spark a fire, someone who likes chicken wings.
I approached Sam Antonacci, who would have two minor penalties for elbowing if baseball included such infractions. Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras and Pirates second baseman Brandon Lowe have been recipients of Antonacci’s left elbow this season, the latter leading to the benches clearing.
In his rookie year with the Sox, Antonacci hasn’t felt a rivalry with anyone, saying such animosity seems reserved for fans. But he also said he’d like to see less chatter among combatants.
“Obviously, mutual respect before the game and after the game,” he said, “but across the white lines, you see guys chatting it up when they get to second base or third base, whereas back in the day, it feels like you weren’t talking to anybody. Not that it’s a bad thing, but it’s a change.”
A change for the worse. You can demonstrate sportsmanship without hugs and butt taps with the opposition. It’s OK to want to pulverize an opponent. No, this isn’t football or hockey — I love hockey; can you tell? — but feel free to push the envelope, guys, if only for fans’ entertainment.
Guardians-Sox could be a thing. We need a Chicago-Cleveland rivalry. Bears-Browns is nothing, and Bulls-Cavaliers has been dormant for a decade. Do the Sox harbor any resentment at all toward the team that stole the division crown from them?
“I feel like there’s no bad blood,” Hicks said. “We just want to beat them.”
That’s certainly mature and professional — not to mention boring.
“I guess it’s got to be set off by something,” Newcomb said. “I don’t think we’re going to search for it.”
Maybe this playoff series will be that spark, whether the Sox finish the sweep Wednesday or the Guardians rally. If the Sox are going to be good in the foreseeable future, games will mean more and rivalries figure to follow.
But there’s a ready-made one right in front of us. It just needs the fuel to ignite.