WITH LIVING DONE, REINSDORF FIRES TWO AND MIGHT HIRE A WEAK CHRIS GETZ
At 87, he finally dumped his longtime executive vice president and general manager before continuing what looks like the end in Chicago, where he can’t continue five years after Al Davis died
Before he makes his first move after the firing of Ken Williams and Rick Hahn, who have outlasted stadium mice, Jerry Reinsdorf cannot consider the next man. That would be Chris Getz, who blew a major wad of institutional dirt only months before he became an assistant general manager. On Nov. 20, 2019, about a week before Thanksgiving, Getz was asked to explain why Omar Vizquel was let go that season as manager of the Class AA Birmingham Barons.
You remember this bizarre episode, if you read me regularly. Vizquel was gone after one year because he sexually harassed an autistic batboy on Aug. 22, 2019. The batboy sued the White Sox and the Barons two summers later, claiming a naked Vizquel gave the 23-year-old plaintiff a bar of soap and told him to “wash my damn back!”
Said the complaint: “Humiliated, intimidated and frightened of what would happen if he disobeyed, (the batboy) complied with Vizquel's demand. As he washed Vizquel's back, Vizquel's hands were in front of his body near the level of his waist." When the back-washing lasted a minute, the lawsuit said, “Vizquel's penis was fully erect. He made no effort to hide his erection ... rather, he proudly displayed it.”
I wrote this as the Sox were trying to win last season under manager Tony La Russa, who was not there mentally as his close buddy, Reinsdorf, apparently failed to comprehend. No one cared much then, but I sure bet they do now. After the Sox and Barons investigated those and other allegations filed by the batboy, the Sox had Getz speak to MLB.com’s Scott Merkin, who asked professional questions and didn’t sense being duped as Getz called the parting an “amicable” one.
“Listen, Omar, ultra-talented player, very good instructor, created a good environment for our players," Getz said. "We just felt with where things are at, our player development system, that it was time to go separate ways. But not only for himself, but for the organization as well and we wish Omar well. He was a positive influence while he was here.”
A positive influence! Right then and there, Getz should have left the team. This month, he was one of several candidates for the Northwestern position that went to Ben Greenspan. Imagine if Getz, after his Vizquel screwup, got the NU job after Jim Foster was let go for hazing after football coach Pat Fitzgerald was let go for hazing. He stuck around the South Side and might think he’s ready for the GM job left by Hahn, who finally was fired with Williams in what some think is a terrestrial development. Some might think this is Reinsdorf’s way of returning to Planet Earth.
No, it’s his long-ass, much-too-late reminder that he’s six months from his 88th birthday and should be running only the American Geriatric Society threshold. If he gives the job to Getz, Reinsdorf not only isn’t with the rest of us on this planet and should be put in a straitjacket. As he wrote at the end of his statement, he said, “This has led me to the conclusion that the best decision for the organization moving forward is to make a change in our baseball department leadership.”
Who? Please, which man on any Major League Baseball sound system would want a gig under Reinsdorf? He’s one of only three owners, including the Kansas City Royals and Oakland (to Las Vegas) Athletics who have failed to employ one $100 million free-agent. Why would anyone — as fans soak in Reinsdorf’s Monday load that he might sell the team to a Chicago developer, or agree to ship the Sox to Nashville — want to work in such a hellstorm? Who would work for another team in Chicago, where home attendance is among the worst in MLB, when the Cubs have a good thing going in a reconstructed Wrigley Field on the North Side?
At 87, Reinsdorf might be the oldest man ever to hire main people in a major organization. I’ve been through his various problems through time — ending the Bulls dynasty before it was ready, 1 for 43 with the Sox, 1 for a very-long-time without Michael Jordan — but this one might be his worst of all. This team was supposed to win a championship and let him retire. The Sox were 49-76 on Tuesday night against the Seattle Mariners, who are looking to make a title run with young Julio Rodriguez.
“This is an incredibly difficult decision for me to make because they are both talented individuals with long-term relationships at the White Sox,” Reinsdorf said in a statement. “Ken is like a son to me, and I will always consider him a member of my family. Ultimately, the well-worn cliche that professional sports is results-oriented is correct. While we have enjoyed successes as an organization and were optimistic heading into the competitive window of this rebuild, this year has proven to be very disappointing for us all on many levels.”
He went on to thank Williams, who took over in 2000 until giving the GM job to Hahn in 2012. No one bothered to thank Williams for snarling at me on a Chicago rooftop as I was dealing with friends. I’m sure Reinsdorf, who used everyone from Williams to one-time field manager Ozzie Guillen to play-by-play announcer Hawk Harrelson to get under my skin.
They never did. I told you this would happen at some point. That day came Tuesday, and soon enough, Jerry Reinsdorf will be gone, too. The White Sox? I’m about to make a call to Nashville for them, assuming that town wants them.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.