GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Tim Anderson stood outside the White Sox complex at Camelback Ranch, located a short distance from the batting cages, and professed to be a little nervous.

No, the White Sox shortstop and one of the faces of Major League Baseball wasn’t leery about taking some swings, as he already put in the first official workout on Friday morning since the lockout ended after 99 days. Anderson was preparing for his first media interaction since early October.

Nothing really rattles one of the smoothest players in the game, and Anderson handled somewhere around 30 questions with a usual live-in-the-present, laid-back sort of approach. Anderson’s overall tenor rarely wavered from the White Sox desire to win it all in 2022.

“I mean, there’s nothing really exciting. We’ve been doing this for a while. It’s the same thing every year. So, I mean, nothing is really going on,” Anderson said. “You know what we are trying to do, it’s to win the World Series. We are going to come here and play hard, and try to win.

“If not,” Anderson quickly added, “we’ll try again next year.”

Anderson’s overall profile is relatable to the White Sox as a team. Once an under-the-radar up-and-comer, Anderson is now one of the best individual overall performers. He won the 2019 American League batting title with a .335 average, just missed a second straight batting title in an abbreviated 2020 campaign with a .322 mark and hit .309 with 94 runs scored as the White Sox made the playoffs for a second straight season for the first time in franchise history in ’21.

Anderson’s walk-off blast against the Yankees at the Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa, was the 93-win team’s highlight of the season, with all due respect to Leury García’s three-run blast in Game 3 of the AL Division Series or Carlos Rodón’s no-hitter against Cleveland. Anderson is a 30-home run, 30-stolen base candidate when he steps on the field, not to mention the most entertaining player in action.

And he lives his life in the present. Anderson acknowledged the 2021 White Sox effort illustrated a great run, a major step forward and something to build off for this season. He talked about having fun as a group and staying healthy, but he also focused upon the 162-game schedule ahead leading toward their postseason target.

As for additions needed within this already talented squad, Anderson wasn’t about to play general manager.

“Right now, we just got we got, so I can’t really speak up on the front office or what they are going to do,” Anderson said. “I can just take care of what I can take care of and that’s go out there and play, and do my job.

“I’m always going to try to strive to be the best. Try to continue to win so I’m always motivated, and I always want to keep pushing. Come here to work and try to win. And see what happens.”

Closer Liam Hendriks, whose gregarious White Sox debut last season featured an AL-best 38 saves, moved past Anderson at that point as he walked to the back field to throw live batting practice. He yelled to Anderson to tell the media how he really feels, with Anderson responding he was trying to but he kept getting the same questions.

“Just different ways,” Anderson said with a laugh.

This veteran duo struck up a humorously interactive friendship, with Anderson vowing to “crush his confidence” when facing Hendriks in live BP. He went to Hendriks’ offseason birthday party, although he hadn’t bought a present yet, instead choosing to take Hendriks shopping.

“His wardrobe is pretty bad,” said a smiling Anderson, drawing laughs from the assembled media.

“He told me to tell you how I feel,” added Anderson, agreeing with an assertion made by a White Sox media relations member. “So, I’ll tell you.”

Despite the long absence from baseball, Anderson remains the same. He wants to win, he wants to have fun, he wants to work hard, and he still can spin a phrase.

“I keep coming here telling you all I want to get better defensively and offensively,” Anderson said. “That’s all I can do is try to get better each and every year. Just overall game in general.

“Everything is the same. Nothing has changed. Everything the same. If I keep everything the same, I can be consistent and hopefully have the same year I had last year.”