Former big-league outfielder Grady Sizemore was named interim manager of the last-place Chicago White Sox on Thursday, hours after the club dismissed skipper Pedro Grifol following a historic losing streak that ended earlier this week.
Sizemore was a three-time All-Star and Gold Glove center fielder for the first eight years of his career in Cleveland before spending parts of his final two seasons in the majors in Philadelphia in 2014 and 2015. The 42-year-old was hired to be a first-time member of Chicago’s major-league coaching staff before this season. He now takes over a White Sox team that sits comfortably in last place in all of Major League Baseball at 22-89.
After previously posting a 14-game losing streak that ended in early June, the club recently lost 21 straight to tie an American League record, just short of the modern-day MLB record of 23 consecutive losses set by the 1961 Phillies. The White Sox beat the A’s on Tuesday to end their winning drought, but lost again on Wednesday.
Chicago announced the firing of Grifol on Thursday morning, also letting go of bench coach Charlie Montoyo, third-base coach Eddie Rodriguez and assistant hitting coach Mike Tosar. Doug Sisson will join Sizemore’s staff as bench coach with Justin Jirschele as third-base coach and Mike Gellinger as assistant hitting coach. The shake-up is a result of a top-to-bottom dumpster fire that has persisted in the White Sox organization this season.
Sizemore is the first former Phillie to take over a big-league team as manager since the Reds hired David Bell ahead of the 2019 season. But it could be a short stint as the White Sox said in a statement that the club is starting its search for a new permanent manager “immediately” and that a replacement is “expected to be announced after the conclusion of the 2024 season.”
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