Chris Chambliss says he knows nothing, so he just might have the right stuff to be next White Sox manager.
But seriously, folks. I come from Chicago, a city that produced 175 baseball losses this summer, to Tuesday night’s opening game of the American League Division Series between the Indians and Yankees. I am scouting out a replacement for the fired Terry Bevington, and all I get are blank stares.
“I only know what I’ve heard, that I’m supposedly on the White Sox list of candidates,” says Chambliss, 49, New York’s batting coach. “If that’s true, of course, I’m interested. I’ll never know unless I try, but I think I’m ready.”
Chambliss has thought that before, but previous interviews with Oakland, Texas, Kansas City, Florida, Anaheim and Baltimore have produced no offers.
Now, however, the talk is that this 16-year major-league veteran finally will be offered his dream job, either in Chicago or Tampa, where the expansion Devil Rays are generally managed by Chuck LaMar, who worked for Atlanta when Chambliss managed in the Braves’ system.
“I’ve heard that one, too,” Chambliss says, “but not from them. Normal procedure, I guess, is other teams don’t make contact until we’re done playing here, which I hope won’t be a while. And then, they have to go through the Yankees.”
Which means Bob Watson, their general manager.
“If Chris has a chance in Chicago, he has my blessing,” Watson says. “He has what it takes. He finished second (to Terry Collins as managerial choice) with the Angels. I’d be surprised if another minority, Kenny Williams, isn’t the next White Sox GM. All signs point that way, but, no, they haven’t asked permission on Chris.”
Jeff Torborg, a former Sox manager, is also here as a broadcaster and also rumored as a possibility.
“I’d love to go back there,” he says. “I didn’t want to leave in the first place. But if they were interested, I’d know by now, don’t you think? Same with Chambliss.”
More Top Picks Deck Cleaners
Don Zimmer, who led the 1989 Cubs to a division title, drops by. He’s a Yankee coach. His large face is beet red.
“I just watched Ron Schueler on TV,” Zimmer says. “He claims the White Sox weren’t prepared when they left spring training. Isn’t that the excuse they used when they fired Gene Lamont? Well, I saw Bevington in Florida and I happen to know he went through basics and fundamentals every day.
“What a bunch of crap. If I’m the owner of the White Sox, and my general manager claims in September that his team wasn’t ready in March, I have to ask Schueler what he was doing in spring training. Sleeping at his desk?”
Guess that scratches Zimmer. But wait.
“If the White Sox asked me to manage, would I take it?” Zimmer says. “In a minute. I love Chicago.”
But so does Jose Cardenal, another Yankee coach who still follows his former team, the Cubs.
“They finish last and they fire Mako Oliveras?” he says. “How many games did their first-base coach lose for them? No, I can’t manage anybody anywhere. Too much baby-sitting.”
So it’s back to Chambliss, who is being likened to Joe Torre, the Yankee manager. Even-tempered. Fair. Strong but silent. But does that qualify Chambliss for those nightly monologues in the Albert Belle Memorial Interview Room, where Bevington looked so uncomfortable.
“No problem,” says Torre. “Chris is a student of the game. He’d be outstanding, if he gets the call.”
Chambliss, meanwhile, awaits another kind of ring, the kind you get for winning a World Series. He has three already and, as a minor-league manager, he’s 24 games better than .500.
Maybe he’s not ready for the White Sox, after all. Not unless he has a really strong stomach.