CHICAGO -- Mike Vasil’s sorcery with a magic dugout wand. His foray into broadcasting.
Sam Antonacci’s bow at home plate. Miguel Vargas’ post-home run barks. The pregame handshakes. The sushi dinner in San Diego.
Yes, this 2026 White Sox team is having fun. The wins, mixed with a solid level of talent and a walk-off home run or two in their 24-22 start, are a byproduct of that team-wide camaraderie.
“We just create a fun working environment for ourselves,” said Antonacci, the White Sox leadoff hitter and left fielder. “We have fun and see success doing it. So we just keep doing it. There’s nothing really for a criterion we have to meet.”
“When you can genuinely like some of the players that are playing, and you can root for them, you like the team even more,” White Sox executive vice president Brooks Boyer told MLB.com. “We have so many personalities on this team. And the fact that these guys are playing hard, they are having fun, our fans are seeing it.”
Boyer stressed his happiness for White Sox fans, who clearly have been through some dark times following the team over the past four years. He has seen an uptick in ticket sales but also in show rate at the ballpark.
Attendance for Friday’s opener against the Cubs was 38,723, Saturday’s attendance checked in at 38,795 and Sunday finished at 38,608, for the first three sellouts of the season. But there legitimately were 38,000 in the ballpark for all three games, marking the first time the White Sox accomplished that show-rate feat since before the COVID season of 2020, according to Boyer.
“Hopefully, we see a significant uptick in tickets sold, especially getting into the summer,” Boyer said. “People believe in the team more, they know the team more. We are playing a very entertaining brand of baseball and hopefully that resonates with our fan base.”
Let’s go back to that entertaining White Sox baseball, which already has been translated to “F-U-N.”
Antonacci bows to Munetaka Murakami near home plate after home runs, as a sign of respect to the star from Japan.
“Definitely just trying to make him feel at home,” Antonacci said.
The Omakase-style dinner in San Diego, hosted by Murakami, taught some White Sox players not all sushi was for them. They enjoyed the time together nonetheless.
Since Jordan Leasure spent $20 on a wand, shipped to Chicago via Amazon to be used by Vasil, the White Sox have a 13-5 record. There’s no limit to Vasil’s magic or sorcery, but he tapped Murakami on the hat prior to Saturday’s game, and Murakami posted his first two-homer game.
“One hundred percent,” said Murakami, through interpreter Kenzo Yagi, when asked if the Vasil wand had helped.
Vasil is working his way back from Tommy John surgery, which took place during Spring Training. But the players wanted Vasil with the White Sox all season, and manager Will Venable also wanted Vasil with the team.
So, the White Sox are benefiting from his energy and his good humor. On Friday, it was White Sox broadcasts getting the Vasil bump, as he worked the second inning with John Schriffen and Steve Stone on CHSN and did the third inning on the ESPN 1000 radio side with Len Kasper and Darrin Jackson.
“He’s a celebrity. He’s our personal celebrity,” White Sox ace hurler Davis Martin said. “He brings together so many types of players with his energy and he’s consistent every night. I give him a lot of credit for not only understanding where he’s at and bringing that energy, even though he’s going through a tough time in his baseball career.”
“Playing baseball makes it a little bit easier to be able to pick up things in the game,” said Vasil of his broadcasting debut, which he said he would like to do again. “It was just a really cool vantage point during a game. You never really get to watch a game from up there and kind of see the game differently. It’s honestly awesome up there. I really loved it.”
None of this upbeat atmosphere is contrived or done for the cameras. The White Sox are a family, or at the baseline, a cohesive workforce. Anyone who has ever had a job can attest how it’s easier to produce standing alongside those you like.
“It all clicks. It all works,” Boyer said. “So much credit should be given to that clubhouse for creating and sustaining a culture that is just fun, and you say it all the time. These are grown men playing a kids’ game. It is fun to see the grown men play it like a kids’ game.”