Morale may be low in the Chicago White Sox clubhouse amid the team’s disappointing season, but tensions are certainly high.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale revealed on Sunday that murmurs of “unrest, cliques and [a] lack of player leadership” inside the White Sox clubhouse have spread like wildfire across the league. Nightingale doubled down on his statement while appearing on 670 The Score’s “Parkins & Spiegel Show” Monday, claiming the rumors have come directly from White Sox players expressing their displeasure to other teams and coaches.
“The answer I get just inside the clubhouse, I mean, guys are complaining about Tony La Russa, guys complain about the front office and things like that,” Nightengale said. “But when it comes down to it, everybody is saying there’s really no leadership in that clubhouse.
As the White Sox continue to sink further below .500 and flounder in the American League’s worst division – they fell to 41-44 following a loss to Cleveland on Monday night – Nightingale claims nobody is stepping up to right the ship.
Luis Robert drops a fly ball in the eighth inning, allowing a Detroit Tigers run to score.Getty“It seems like a relaxed atmosphere, like, ‘It’s early, it’s early,’” Nightingale added. “There’s nobody to really jump on guys and say, ‘What are you guys doing here? You’re embarrassing yourselves wasting this kind of talent in a very mediocre division.’ So, players and teams have been talking about this a lot the last few weeks.”
Chicago came into the season with World Series expectations, yet so far have only been left with head scratching moments and inept performances. Their sloppy play on defense and the base paths – as exemplified by the atrocious triple play Minnesota pulled on them last week – has largely contributed to their record, which has them sitting 5.5 games out of first in the AL Central.
La Russa additionally deserves some of the blame for his poor managerial decisions, which have included telling his players not to hustle to first on routine outs and intentionally walking Dodgers shortstop Trea Turner on a 1-2 count.
Tony La Russa additionally deserves some of the blame for his poor managerial decisions.Getty With the All-Star break quickly approaching, perhaps the White Sox could use some time off to solve their internal issues and salvage their season.
