This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
CHICAGO -- Through the trials and tribulations of the 2023 White Sox season, Pedro Grifol never has lost confidence in his ability to manage at the Major League level.
“This is what I love to do, and this is what I was born to do,” Grifol told me during a one-on-one interview in his office Friday evening at Fenway Park. “So, even through adversity, there’s nothing more I like -- other than my faith and my family -- than coming to the ballpark and competing and winning.”
A 60-96 record approaching the final six-game homestand against the D-backs and Padres illustrates the job Grifol worked toward for 23 years has not gone as planned. The White Sox started 2-2 over a competitive opening series in Houston and only saw .500 one more time at 3-3.
There were moments where Grifol got down and got beaten down by the disappointing run, as would be the case for any highly competitive individual.
But Grifol’s wife, Ali, and his three daughters played crucial roles in quickly getting him back on track.
“You don’t ever envision it going this way, whether you have a good team or a rebuilding team,” Grifol said. “You are supposed to think you are going out to win every single day, but when I am down, and they see me down, they are just that rock: Pick yourself back up. This is what you’ve been working on all your life. This is what we sacrificed for all our lives.
“One of my daughters just did it a couple of days ago. She’s like, ‘Hey, pick it up.’ I didn’t react to them at the time. When we start walking and I think to myself, I’m like, ‘You know what? She’s right.’
“I have too much faith in the man upstairs and too much faith in what we’ve gone through to ever think and know, 'This is how this ends,'” Grifol added. “This is not the way this ends, put it that way.”
So, how will things be different in 2024? There are some things Grifol -- who writes ideas down quite frequently in moments of great reflection -- will do differently in terms of how he runs the team, but he prefers not to discuss those changes. As for the team itself? Even championship-caliber crews rarely come back completely intact.
“I’m going to tell you this: It better look different, and I don’t mean personnel-wise,” Grifol said. “Personnel-wise, it is what it is. Depending on what [general manager] Chris [Getz] and his staff can do, that part is the unknown.
“The mindset better look different. The approach to the game better look different. When you say, 'How different is it going to look?' -- it better look a lot different than what it looks like right now. Especially from things we can control: Preparation, mindset and focus. We can’t let that get away from us. We have to change some things. If not, then I failed.”