Dinner’s on Dallas

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This article was published 08/03/2020 (2204 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PHOENIX — Dallas Keuchel barely knew his new Chicago White Sox teammates.

Many of the employees in the organization, he hadn’t even met.

He may be a Cy Young award winner and World Series champion, but as the new guy in town, this was going to take some time.

So, he decided to invite every player in the White Sox major-league clubhouse, clubhouse attendants, trainers, equipment managers, secretaries, batboys, the entire coaching staff and front office, out to dinner.

There were 125 folks in all, including spouses and girlfriends, who showed up at the steakhouse near their spring training complex.

They spent the evening together, eating, drinking, and getting to know one another, with Keuchel paying for the entire tab, dropping about $25,000 for a night his new teammates will never forget.

It was the first time anyone in the organization can recall anyone ever doing anything like this. Oh, sure, there are occasional team dinners during the season. There are organized kickoff banquets.

But a player who invites the entire organization to dinner simply to have everyone get to know one another and bond?

Uh-uh.

“I don’t know what made me do it,” Keuchel told USA Today Sports, talking about the secret dinner for the first time. “I haven’t done anything like that before. I was originally thinking to have a dinner just for the pitchers and catchers. Then, I thought, well, it’s a new organization that really put a lot of thought into making this a playoff team, so why not get everybody in that clubhouse together. I wanted to show the young guys, like, this is what a big-league spread is.

“It was a long time coming. And with the earnings I’ve made the last five years, I feel good with giving it away in one night, making other people happy.”

Certainly, this wasn’t a matter of money. Keuchel, 32, signed a three-year, US$55.5 million free-agent contract with the White Sox.

Undoubtedly, they’ll never forget the evening, particularly with the toast given by Keuchel’s mother, Teresa. She welcomed everyone, brought up the White Sox’s lofty expectations, raised her glass, and then brought the house down:

“Playoffs or die, (expletive)!”

“Man, that was unbelievable,” said shortstop Tim Anderson, last year’s AL batting champion. “That definitely helps team chemistry, letting you know the bond we have, and that we’re cool with each other. It says a lot about the man for doing that.”

Prospects Andrew Vaughn and Gavin Sheets were marvelling over the gesture a week later, saying if they ever make it big in the game, they hope to reciprocate the gesture.

“That was super cool,” starter Lucas Giolito said. “I mean, this wasn’t a team dinner, it was an organizational dinner. I’ve never seen anything like that in my experience in professional baseball. He sent a message that guys being close off the field, as well as on it, can go a long way.”

The White Sox knew they were signing one of the most dependable and accountable left-handed pitchers in baseball, but even management has been taken aback by his clubhouse leadership.

“Well, contrary to popular belief,” White Sox vice president Ken Williams said, “numbers don’t tell the whole story. There is a human element to this game. There is a very real leadership and motivational component. And presence will always remain something that is very hard to quantify. You know it when you see it.

“And this guy has got it.”

The White Sox, who have endured seven consecutive losing seasons, reaching the post-season once since winning the 2005 World Series, believe that Keuchel and their US$266.5-million winter of expenditures will finally end their painful rebuild.

They could be baseball’s best rags-to-riches story since the Houston Astros, a team that lost 324 games in 2011-13 only to make the postseason two years later, and win the World Series in 2017, albeit a little assistance from live video feed and trash cans.

“It reminds me of the transition from 2014 to ’15 when we shocked everybody and made it as a wild-card team,” said Keuchel, who went 20-8 with a 2.48 ERA in his Cy Young season in 2015. “I told a number of guys that this reminds me of that year, but honestly, I see more of a jump in talent transitioning to the big leagues here than I did with the Braves last year or any year with the Astros.

“If we don’t win the Central, to me, it’s a failure of a season.”

Well, considering the Minnesota Twins won the division by 28 1/2 games over the White Sox last year, and picked up third baseman Josh Donaldson in the off-season, it may be a little bit of a stretch to believe they could topple the Twins.

Yet, they finally have hope that the future is now.

“I tell guys that reaching the post-season is the most seducing feeling you’ll ever get,” Keuchel said. “Once you get one playoff experience in, it’s addicting. I’ve made the playoffs four of the last five years. I told (GM) Rick Hahn I personally don’t plan on breaking that percentage.”

Keuchel, who plans to prove there’s more ways to have success than throwing 98 mph and striking out 10 batters an outing, believes another trip to the World Series will validate the role soft-tossing lefties have in this game.

He has one World Series ring, and no matter how much people insist the 2017 Astros World Series title is tainted, Keuchel still wears it with pride.

“Absolutely,” Keuchel said. “Just where we came from, where I personally came from, what I became and still am, nobody can take away the strides I personally made. That ring shows a set of stairs leap, and reminds me of how bad it was in 2013 (51-111) to the culmination of where you want to go, to the top of the mountains.

“I love that ring as much as anything I have.”

No one will ever take away Keuchel’s memories of winning that championship. One of his proudest possessions is his framed World Series jersey at home. But now it’s time for new celebrations, with new teammates, and a place he can finally call home.

“The joy I’ve gotten already this spring, you can’t measure that,” Keuchel said. “My family notices it. My girlfriend notices it. Everybody and their dog can notice it.

“I can’t wait to get back to the playoffs again, and doing it with this team, man, is it going to be special.”

— USA Today