Like Jericho’s, White Sox walls should come tumblin’ down

Time to go against the grain in MLB, to save big money and win lots of games

Lots and lots of commentators lament the fact the White Sox don’t have more power hitting, specifically more home runs. But they’re wrong, guilty of groupthink.

The Sox are never going to compete in free agency for the Juan Sotos of the world, even after Jerry Reinsdorf heads to that great tax shelter in the sky. So why not go in another direction, one that can lead to plenty of success without $700 million contracts?

“What direction?” you ask.

Speed. Speed and more speed. And defense, even if Chris Getz is horrible at figuring out good D. If only other bad teams are looking for it, it’ll be much easier to obtain.

It’s not like the Sox have had much success looking for dingers. They were outhomered 201-138 in 2024; barely edged opponents (190-182) in the division-winning season of 2021; got outswatted 238-182 in the just sorta-miserable season of 2017; weren’t even the runaway winners in bombs in 2005 (200-167).

So if you can’t outslug ’em, why join ’em? It’s not like there’s much in the way of power in the farm system. The Montgomerys — Colson and new guy Braden? Possibly. George Wolkow? Even less possibly.

With everybody else — at least all the big spenders — looking for the next Henry Aaron or Babe Ruth, why not look for the next Rod Carew (81.2 bWAR, just .101 ISO, 92 HRs in 10,558 trips to the plate, .393 OBP) or Tony Gwynn (69.2 bWAR, .121 ISO, 135 HRs in 10,232 appearances, .338 BA) instead?

Besides, it’s a lot more fun to watch games where people get on base. Consider these scenarios:

1. In the spirit of the three true outcomes, Batter 1 hits 450-foot solo HR. Batter 2 strikes out.
2. In the spirit of actual baseball, Batter 1 walks and steals second. Batter 2 drives him in with a single.

In both versions, you get one run. But in the former you have one out and no one on, while the latter leaves you with no outs and a man on base. It’s obvious which result is better.

BUY WHAT ABOUT THE HOME PARK?

A lot of the fan cries about the White Sox needing more power refer to the dimensions of the GuRF, which is fair enough. Even before the fence-shortening in 2001 it was, if not a bandbox, at least a just a shipping container. But it doesn’t have to stay that way.

Field dimensions get changed every now and then, most notably of late in Baltimore, where the left field wall in Camden Yards went way back and then, as the O’s got more power, got partly moved back in. It’s as sure a way of catering to the some team as soaking the basepaths when facing Rickey Henderson or angling the foul lines if you’ve got a couple of good bunters.

So as you avoid the crush of clubs seeking power hitters and go for guys who can get on base (basic Moneyball), make the GuRF fit the team you’re creating. Right now, it’s wrong for that kind of team:

andrewclem.com

But this field form isn’t cast in stone. Well, it is, but not in stone you can’t move:

• Move the bullpens from along the outfield walls and put them in the corners. You’d lose some seats, but the Sox don’t need all the of their current seats except on Opening Day and Cubs games, and those are lousy places to sit, anyway. The left field pen starts at the foul line for easy carving, the right field bullpen for visitors sits farther into the stands, but the seats in between are easy to eliminate.
• Then taper the way to and around center field, slicing back maybe three rows, assuring that virtually no attendance income will be lost. The project wouldn’t be cheap, but it would cost less than a few Soto at-bats (and a tiny, tiny fraction of The 78’s price tag) and should help produce a really good and exciting team. Pitchers would love it.

Note that this is not a call for higher walls: The GuRF walls are perfect for leaps to steal homers, which is one of the most exciting things that can happen in a game — even more exciting than triples, which there should be a lot more of.

Naturally, you’ll need some speedy outfielders to cover the extra ground, but that usually (though not always) comes along with getting speedier batters. Getz has talked a lot about approving MLB’s worst defense, and maybe with the additions to the front office someone will be able to figure out how actually to do that.

So, as Ronald Reagan advised Mikhail Gorbachev: Tear down that wall, Mr. Reinsdorf. Sure, Jerry, you don’t care if the White Sox get better. But if you think of all the money you can save not trying to sign sluggers, you should go for it just to lard on more billions.