Ricky Speaks: Happy, and Sassy
Leave it to the unassuming Ricky Renteria to begin his first postseason media session just like any other White Sox fan would have today.
"Pretty cool," the White Sox manager said of Lucas Giolito's run at a perfect game. "It was neat to see."
And still, the manager couldn't resist a little dig at the many observers who balked at him letting Giolito throw a career-high 116 pitches in his last regular season game—last Wednesday.
"I know there was a question if his last outing would affect this one," Renteria offered. "Obviously, it did not."
Ricky's feeling it!
Another nice nugget buried in Renteria's postgame was another glimpse at how important the human side is to him as a manager. In praising Adam Engel ("huge spark. But Adam is always ready"), Ricky described a pretty elaborate plan to attack today's game, depending on Eloy Jiménez's (sprained foot) availability.
"I sent out three lineups, with three different scenarios," for his players, Renteria said. "I don’t want anybody to be caught off-guard."
Another thing, of many, that excited Renteria this afternoon was the play off leadoff man Tim Anderson, who snapped a season-ending slump with three hits in his first career playoff game.
As is often the case, Ricky spoke it plain: "If Timmy goes, we go. When that lineup starts to move, good things happen."
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Ricky Renteria footage courtesy of the Chicago White Sox.
Actor (final credit: murdered by Albert Einstein in "Carnage Hall"), musician (Ethnocentric Republicans), and Nerf hoops champion, Wiffleball aficionado and onetime bilingual kindergarten teacher, Brett Ballantini also writes about baseball, basketball and sometimes hockey, for the NBA, MLB, NHL, and Slam, Hoop, Sporting News, the Athletic, SB Nation and others. He was CSN Chicago’s Blackhawks beat writer when their 49-year Stanley Cup drought ended in 2009-10, and took over the White Sox beat after that. He currently is the editor-in-chief of South Side Hit Pen and beat writer for Inside the Rays. He also wrote a book about Ozzie Guillén but is running out of space, so follow him on Twitter @BrettBallantini and he'll probably tell you even more about himself than you ever wanted to know.