Levine: Hahn Praises Ventura, Coaches After Strong Boston Series
By Bruce Levine--
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Many times in recent weeks as his team has struggled, White Sox general manager Rick Hahn has been asked to critique manager Robin Ventura and give a report card update. In each case, the savvy and professional Hahn said that he would't be giving updates or status rankings on anyone in the organization.
Hahn was careful to say each time he was asked about Ventura that it would be wrong to be critical of anyone in the White Sox organization in public. On Friday, he was more direct about his manager and coaches.
After his resilient team won three out of four against the Red Sox, the best offensive team in baseball, Hahn was in praise mode of Ventura and his coaches.
"We have seen it repeatedly throughout this year, and its one of the things we have taken heart in," Hahn said about his team's continued great effort. "There is so much fight in this club. Early in this year, when we were going well, the damage we were doing was from the seventh inning and later. We had a lot of comeback wins; just a lot of fight from top to bottom of the lineup and obviously on the pitching staff."
At one point recently, Ventura seemed on the verge of being let go. The fact he has stayed even and in control of his club through all kinds of adversity hasn't been missed by the White Sox brass, who have been monitoring the situation closely.
"One of the things when things have been going poorly at certain stretches of the year that we have been able to count on is that team showing up the next day and being prepared," Hahn said proudly. "They come with high energy and focused enough to win a ballgame. They obviously showed that the last four days in Boston."
Hahn, of course, was alluding to the fact his team didn't lay down after a crushing three-game series in Cleveland last weekend. The White Sox were suffered walk-off losses to the Indians on Friday and Sunday and were blown out on Saturday.
I asked Hahn how much credit he gives to Ventura and the coaches for the upbeat clubhouse and professional approach they bring to the field every day.
"A lot," Hahn said "If you ever have concerns about a staff, one of the things you need to look at is whether the proper information is getting to the players. Are they putting them in a position to succeed? Also, whether the team is responding to that. Are they fighting for that staff? We have certainly seen since spring training, a group of players that have fought for this staff."
The White Sox had the best record in the American League at 23-10 in early May. Since then, they are 13-27. Despite the bad turn of events, they are just three games behind the Royals for the second wild-card spot in the AL.
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
