As White Sox close in on '62 Mets record for futility, ex-manager Pedro Grifol hurts for former players

SAN DIEGO -- Pedro Grifol got over the firing quickly.

“Twenty-four hours,” he said.

Having his dream job handed to someone else on Aug. 9 stung, even though he had seen it coming during a road trip that saw the White Sox tie the American League record with 21 straight defeats.

“I knew,” Grifol told the Sun-Times by phone Friday. “There were warning signs all over me. The record, the losing streak and other things. Instincts play a big part of life. You hear people talk and you hear little things in conversations.”

But Grifol suffered the pain of having general manager Chris Getz replace him as White Sox manager with interim Grady Sizemore only briefly, he said.

“People don’t believe me but I have God, my faith, my family and baseball,” he said. “That’s all I do. I don’t golf, I don’t fish, I don’t do anything else. That’s it. That’s what I got.”

Since the firing, the Sox continue at an even worse win percentage under Sizemore en route to breaking the 1962 Mets record of 120 losses. Wanting to stay in the game, Grifol is watching major league games almost every day. Some Sox, plenty of AL Central and pennant race games.

“It’s been great. I’ve taken a lot of notes, I’ve gotten better as a baseball guy and a person,” Grifol said.

With 33 years in the game, Grifol, 54, is not ready to leave it.

“Come on. I’m married to the game,” Grifol said. “And I don’t believe in divorce.”

He wants to manage again, but having an extensive background in coaching, player development, scouting and managing equips him to work in a front office, Grifol believes.

While away from it at home in Miami, Grifol has welcomed having time to be with his father, who is in poor health.

“My time with him has been priceless,” he said.

He has also had time to “reflect and get better” and think about what might be next.

Grifol piloted the Sox through a 101-loss season in his first year in 2023 and was fired with a 28-89 record this season with a year left on his contract.

“The good thing is I’ve touched on every department in baseball other than the general manager,” he said. “The game itself is important to me. I have a lot of passion for it. If I get another opportunity to get the in the dugout I will. And if somebody believes I can help in the front office I’ll do that. I’ll do anything.”

It might be unfair to evaluate both Grifol and Sizemore knowing Getz recently said a second season of more than 100 losses wasn’t surprising.

The beating chairman Jerry Reinsdorf has taken a beating from fans and media reached another level in recent days. Grifol respects and admires Reinsdorf, saying, “I know what he wants – he wants to win and he’s hurting right now. Jerry is a winner.” But when asked if the Sox can turn things around as is, there was a long pause.

“I’ll answer it this way,’ he said. “Pedro Grifol is not the White Sox problem anymore. And the White Sox are not Pedro Grifol’s problem anymore.”

Meanwhile, the players face the problem of completing an historic season without him.

“Those guys are going through it,” Grifol said. “I know what I felt in that dugout, in that thing losing every day, and it’s really hard what those kids are going through, man. And I feel for them and have empathy for them.

“People are laughing that they’re going to break a record. Come on guys, these are human beings. I hope they don’t break it. But I pray for them. I don’t them to go through that.”

Grifol noted that Hall of Famer Casey Stengel managed the ’62 Mets, and he questions whether he should be judged by the Sox’ record. He believes he would bring “a lot of value to a front office,” a la Marlins assistant GM Gabe Kapler, fired by the Giants last season.

“It’s really important for the front office to understand the manager and vice versa,” he said.

“This is not my last hurrah.”