I asked Liam Hendriks on Sunday morning to show me his man bun after hearing the Chicago White Sox closer came up with an idea to call the team’s late-inning crew — Michael Kopech, Craig Kimbrel and himself — the “Ponytail Gang.”
Hendriks doffed his cap to reveal a mop of unkempt, oddly cut hair, but it wasn’t enough to form a true man bun, making the nickname a non-starter in my book.
A more appropriate name would be the “Sox Zoo,” as this team could be a modern version of the 1978 New York Yankees squad remembered as the “Bronx Zoo” after closer Sparky Lyle’s tell-all book of the same name.
The 2021 Sox already had a premier closer in Hendriks when they acquired Kimbrel from the Chicago Cubs on Friday. Likewise, the ’78 Yankees had a star closer in Lyle, who won the American League Cy Young Award in 1977 only to see owner George Steinbrenner sign dominant free-agent closer Rich “Goose” Gossage.
Lyle became the primary setup man to Gossage, a future Hall of Famer, which led teammate Graig Nettles to remark that Lyle went “from Cy Young to sayonara.”
Manager Tony La Russa, the Sox zookeeper, has a plan for handling Kimbrel and Hendriks that he insists will keep both happy and avoid any “quarterback controversy.”
Kimbrel and Hendriks pitched together for the first time in Sunday’s 2-1 win over the Cleveland Indians, with Hendriks getting the victory on Brian Goodwin’s walk-off home run in the ninth.
Both closers entered to their own anthems. Kimbrel came in to begin the eighth to his traditional song, “Sweet Child o’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses, though it took a while for the Sox to play it. Hendriks used a remix of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” when he entered to start the ninth.
Kimbrel had a 1-2-3 inning throwing seven knuckle-curves and five four-seam fastballs. Hendriks retired three of four with a mix of four-seamers, sliders and a couple of curves, jumping and shouting after striking out Oscar Mercado for the final out.
It should be much easier for La Russa to handle his two-closer conundrum than it was for either Billy Martin, the former Yankees manager, or Bob Lemon, who replaced Martin midseason in 1978. Lyle was disgruntled enough over the setup role and Gossage’s much higher salary that he wrote a best-selling book about it. A Sports Illustrated review of “The Bronx Zoo” said, “Lyle whines so loudly and so often about his miserable 1978 salary — it was $135,000 — that a muzzle is in order.”
No muzzle is necessary here. Kimbrel and Hendriks are the game’s third- and fifth-highest-paid relievers, so jealousy over compensation won’t be an issue. The low-key Kimbrel is likely on his way to the Hall of Fame, so the loss of a few save opportunities in August and September won’t really matter. The high-strung Hendriks doesn’t care about saves as long as he’s called on to pitch, and he said he’s working on being more “pissed off,” which apparently makes him work more efficiently.
Both Sox closers are in this for one thing, and that thing is a ring.
The addition of Kimbrel makes La Russa’s job easier, and the Sox are nine games ahead of the Indians, so no one has to worry about getting to October. Barring one of those pesky 11-game losing streaks that Kimbrel’s former team experienced this summer, the next two months will be pressure-free.
Still, if the Sox hope to beat teams such as the Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays or even the Yankees in the postseason, they have to go into the postseason peaking.
The Sox had four hits Sunday and are hitting .211 in their last 11 games, going 4-7. The stellar rotation ended July with an 8-9 record and 4.04 ERA, 13th in the majors, while the bullpen posted a 4.44 ERA, which ranked 16th. If not for the Indians starters’ 6.27 July ERA — the worst in baseball — the Sox might not have so much breathing room.
La Russa and pitching coach Ethan Katz decided to give all of the starters added rest this week, except for Dallas Keuchel, the one who looks like he needs it most. The Sox put Billy Hamilton on the 10-day injured list Sunday with an oblique strain and called up Jimmy Lambert from Triple-A Charlotte for a spot start.
Lambert and Reynaldo Lopez threw three solid innings apiece, and Aaron Bummer, Kimbrel and Hendricks finished with three scoreless innings. The Sox tied it in the fifth when José Abreu was hit on the left shoulder by a Cal Quantrill pitch with the bases loaded, and Goodwin’s one-out homer in the ninth ended it, preceding an epic bat flip.
The Sox outfielder, who signed a minor-league deal in early May, said the clubhouse is full of kindred spirits who don’t back down.
“We’ve just got dogs, a bunch of dudes who give you everything you want and then some,” Goodwin said.
These are heady days for the Sox, who hope to get Eloy Jiménez back Tuesday from his groin injury and have a pillow-soft schedule ahead of them.
After a day off Monday, they get the rebuilding Kansas City Royals for a three-game series at Sox Park. Then they travel 8.1 miles north to face the Cubs, who are in the opening stage of President Jed Hoyer’s “don’t-call-it-a-rebuild” rebuild, followed by three with the torn-apart Twins in Minneapolis.
August is here, and with two closers and a bunch of dogs, the Sox appear ready for anything that comes their way.
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