Year 1 in review: Manager Will Venable still embracing White Sox ‘challenge’ as club culture locks into place

Will Venable knew his first season managing the White Sox was going to be tough.

After all, the team he was taking over lost 121 times last season.

But he knew what he signed up for and was ready for it. He even was looking forward to it.

‘‘This is an opportunity to continue to help build and be part of the foundation that’s already being laid here,’’ he said the day he was introduced as the Sox’ manager. ‘‘Every group going into every year has their work cut out for them, and I’m excited for the challenge that this group presents.’’

Nearly a full year later, if Venable is at all worn-down by what is likely to be the Sox’ third consecutive season with 100 or more losses, he’s not showing it.

‘‘I’ve enjoyed it a lot,’’ Venable said Saturday. ‘‘With some of the results that we get, we’re not happy, and it’s not easy to lose some of these games, especially as hard as these guys are going out there and competing.

‘‘I’ve enjoyed the challenge because of the way these guys show up to the ballpark every day: excited and energized to play and having another opportunity to win a game. We’ve had our things that we continue to work on and continue to try and learn from and grow from, but we’ve had a really good time doing it.

‘‘It’s a challenge that doesn’t end at all.’’

The Sox’ rebuild has been a slow-moving and ongoing project. Venable is a central figure, undoubtedly, given the task not only of developing young major-leaguers into successful, winning players but also of constructing a culture and franchise identity that general manager Chris Getz said had been missing as he launched his overhaul.

Certainly, Getz — who hired Venable — has expectedly rave reviews.

‘‘Will’s had an excellent first season as a manager,’’ Getz said.

But those feelings extend to those who didn’t have a hand in giving Venable his first managerial gig after years spent on major-league staffs.

In the culture-building department, it seems, Venable is accomplishing big things, even as the win-loss record continues to show the Sox as the worst team in the American League.

‘‘He came in and said: ‘This is our team. This is what we’re going to do,’ ’’ starting pitcher Davis Martin said in a conversation Sunday with the Sun-Times. ‘‘He didn’t put out a 10-point plan, like: ‘Hey, this is how we’re going to do it.’ He understands that clubhouses form organically. He’s been in plenty of them.

‘‘He let everybody be themselves and let the group organically come together, which we have [done] over the course of the year, and put ourselves in a really good position going into next year.

‘‘We actually have a culture in place now. For years, we’ve been trying to figure out what a culture is: ‘What is the Chicago White Sox’ culture?’ We’ve tried every different route. We’ve tried different things. We’ve tried taking things from other organizations. Finally, we know who we are, what we want to do, what our day-to-day operation looks like and what the expectations are for everyone in this locker room.’’

That sounds like significant progress.

Now the Sox just need to get it together on the field. Obviously, that’s still at the top of Venable’s to-do list.

But he has overseen growth in less tangible areas — growth that might provide the foundation Getz is looking for as he tries to bring winning back to the South Side and growth these Sox already have seen produce positives, despite another losing season.

‘‘You see it every day,’’ Martin said. ‘‘It’s play hard. It’s do your job. It’s be yourself. It’s super-simple. It’s laying it on the line for nine innings for everybody in this locker room every time you take the field. It’s simple.’’