Editor’s note: The White Sox have fired manager Pedro Grifol, the team announced Thursday morning.

OAKLAND, Calif. — It was two hours before first pitch, and Chicago White Sox manager Pedro Grifol sat in his office this week as he would before any other game. As his scuffling club prepared to face the Oakland Athletics, he settled in behind his desk, in uniform, and projected a sense of calm that belied his predicament.

On the day he was hired, in November of 2022, Grifol flashed the intensity of a baseball coaching lifer, a quality that helped him land the job. “We’re going to prepare every night to kick your ass, and that’s just what we’re gonna do,” Grifol said, a comment that has since gone viral because there have been precious few ass-kickings delivered by the White Sox. In this second year at the helm, Grifol is 89-190. And on this day, with his team on a 20-game losing streak, the conversation brought all the expected questions about his job performance.

In the public discourse, the end of his tenure has been referred to as a question of when, not if. Sitting back in his chair, Grifol politely introduced himself. For the next 10 minutes, he was at times thoughtful, acknowledging the desperate desire to win a game. When asked about a radio report that claimed Grifol had pinned all the losing on his players — part of a motivational tactic gone wrong earlier this season — his denial indicated a firm sense of the demands of leadership.

“What coach or manager in their right mind would try to separate themselves from adversity?” Grifol said. “When you’re in a group setting, when you’re all in this thing together. … It’s not my personality, it’s not who I am.”

But at other times, he flashed an edge.

When asked if he felt the talent in his clubhouse was better than the team’s record, Grifol said, “I’m not going to answer that question. What’s behind that question?”

When asked if he felt the conversation surrounding his team wasn’t fair, Grifol said: “I don’t read (the) media. I don’t have social media. So that’s a tough question. I know where we’re at as a team. I know where we’re trying to go, and what we’re trying to get accomplished. But as far as what’s happening out there, I can just imagine it.

“I’m not avoiding anything because I don’t hear the noise. I come here to work with the players.”

Just hours later, those same players would tie an American League record with their 21st consecutive loss. And though they’d come back the next day to end the losing streak, it proved to be a temporary reprieve.  On Wednesday, the White Sox left Oakland on the heels of another loss, a 3-2 defeat that dropped them to 61 games below .500, 15 games worse than any other big league team.

With the season entering the homestretch, the White Sox remain on track to break one of baseball’s most dubious records.

In 1962, in the first year of their existence, the New York Mets did what no club had done in baseball’s modern era. In a single season, they lost a staggering 120 games. The 2024 White Sox are on pace to lose 123 games. They’ll need to win 15 of their next 45 games to avoid tying the Mets’ ignominious mark. It won’t be easy.

The rest of the season is now a race to avoid infamy, one that has become a national storyline, though the beleaguered manager seems taken aback by the scrutiny.

“This is a close-knit group,” Grifol said. “Here, you come from the outside, and nobody knows you.”

In 2023, when Chicago was expected to compete, their abysmal record necessitated a trade deadline sell-off. A year later, a team that began with low expectations has found a way to massively underperform, with a roster littered with hitters who have failed to live up to their career numbers. Luis Robert Jr. hit 38 home runs last year; he has just 12 this season. Andrew Benintendi was an All-Star two years ago; this season his OPS+ is 70.

Andrew Vaughn, Gavin Sheets, Nick Senzel and the recently traded Eloy Jimenez have all disappointed. Meanwhile, Robbie Grossman and Kevin Pillar struggled earlier in the year with the White Sox but have vastly improved with their new teams.

All this failure begs the question: Where is this all headed, and what is the plan to right the ship?

White Sox general manager Chris Getz, a 40-year-old former player, was elevated into his position late last season after the dismissal of longtime executives Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn. He hammered home the idea of getting back to contention, called this season the first year of a “multi-layered, multi-year project” and boasted about what he believes is growth in the organization’s pitching department.

“We made a pretty strong run at the major-league level with some of our starting pitchers — for two months time being at the top of the American League with our starters,” Getz said in an interview this week. “That is not something I think many people believed we were going to be able to accomplish.”

Yes, there was a stretch where the team’s starting pitching excelled, however, as a whole the staff has accomplished very little. The White Sox team ERA is 4.83, better than only the Colorado Rockies.

This season is more painful than anyone expected, Getz acknowledged. He knows it’s hard to watch. He came in unproven, and his previous work as the club’s director of player development hadn’t yielded many positive results. But as a GM, he believes the organization is in a better place now, overall, than when he inherited it.

“At the end of the day, nobody’s going to feel or believe that we’re building toward something until it shows up in the win-loss record,” Getz said. “That’s the reality of our sport. That’s the reality of fan bases. Until that happens, there’s going to be a high level of skepticism.

“But for those of us that are living under the hood and understand this multi-layered project in front of us, they understand that this is part of the process that was set out.”

Many of those fans questioning the rebuild’s credibility also don’t believe that owner Jerry Reinsdorf will ever fully invest what’s needed to build the White Sox into a sustainable winner. After all, the most expensive contract in White Sox history is the $75 million that Andrew Benintendi earned before last season.

White Sox GM Chris Getz. (Kamil Krzaczynski / USA Today)

When asked if Reinsdorf would eventually increase his financial investment, Getz answered definitively: “Yes.”

“There’s going to be times when we’re going to have to tap into some financial resources to go after free agents, or pour infrastructure and technology and continue to expand and strengthen our front or departments throughout the organization,” Getz said.

“That’s all part of this plan that’s in place.”

That plan seems hard to envision, especially as the disheartening losses pile up, though like most big-league teams the White Sox don’t let on. This week, the clubhouse functioned like almost any other around the league. Before the game, players occupied themselves with card games or their phones. The mood was light. Even the quiet after Monday’s game seemed typical for a big league team. Whether a team is in first place — or in the running for worst team ever —  there is mostly silence.

The most obvious difference: In this clubhouse, and with this team, the players are being asked to explain what feels almost inexplicable.

“We’re handling it fine, as best as we can,” outfielder Corey Julks said quietly. “We’ve got to rally as a team.”

The trade deadline similarly gave cold comfort to those hoping to see Chicago’s plan substantively advance. The White Sox were universally criticized for their return in a three-team trade that netted Miguel Vargas and two 19-year-old prospects for Erik Fedde, Tommy Pham and Michael Kopech.

Getz said he knew ahead of time the trade might be criticized. But he said he remains very happy with the return and hopes it can represent an organizational shift.

“Obviously, that’s why I’m here,” Vargas said. “I’m trying to bring that LA energy, trying to bring that here. Have that culture … trying to bring that here, that energy to be able to, in the future, have success.”

Vargas left a first-place club and joined one that was, at the time, on a 15-game losing streak.

In the days following, the toll of talking to the media about the club’s struggles was evident in its players.

“We just haven’t scored as many runs as the other team has for 20 games in a row,” pitcher Garrett Crochet said before a game this week.

When asked, probably not for the first or last time, about the anxiety of avoiding an all-time loss record, he said: “I’m done with this interview.”

John Brebbia, a 34-year-old workhorse reliever in his first season with the White Sox, is the oldest and most veteran player on the roster, and he believes the talent is better than the record. He understands the concerns over finishing with a worse record than the ‘62 Mets.

“It’s fair, it should be asked,” Brebbia said. “If it’s trending that way, we’re gonna get asked about it. It’s part of the job. I can’t speak for everyone’s motivation. But from my perspective, it looks like everyone shows up and wants to win as much as possible.”

But outside the lines, the White Sox have become a sideshow. Even the team-run postgame show has piled on with criticisms.

Prior to Grifol’s hiring, Ozzie Guillen reportedly was one of several candidates interviewed by the organization. His ties to the White Sox run deep, both as a player and later as the manager during Chicago’s World Series championship in 2005. He ultimately was not selected for a reunion and now serves as an analyst. After a recent loss, Guillen brought up the team’s choice of Grifol, and quipped on air: “I don’t think I was that bad a manager.”

The fans, too, have seen enough. Paper bags have become part of the standard uniform for some White Sox loyalists who still show up for games. In Oakland, in the stands behind the visiting dugout, White Sox fan Matt Verplaetse bought a ticket and sat alone. He wore a T-shirt that displayed what has long been a common refrain among the fanbase: “Sell the team Jerry.”

Verplaetse grew up in the Chicago area and has since moved to Northern California. He likes baseball and remains a die-hard fan, though he was still self-aware enough to poke fun at his attendance.

There is a lot to ask about the franchise’s future. The legitimacy of their long-term plan — and the quality of staff and players they’ll be able to bring in — are chief among them. But for now, over the final 45 games, Verplaetse has zeroed in on perhaps the most important question.

“I think everyone, going in, expected it to be pretty bad,” he said. “But (they) never predicted it being this bad. And now, it’s almost a morbid curiosity.

“How bad is it going to get?”

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic. Photos: Getty Images / David Berding, Lachlan Cunningham)

Former Tottenham and Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino is a top target for the U.S. men’s national team opening, according to multiple sources briefed on the coaching search.

The sources said that the federation was still considering multiple candidates as of last week, but Pochettino is seen by some as the favorite in the pool, and U.S. Soccer is engaged in conversations with his camp.

U.S. Soccer has declined to comment on any specific candidates for the job.

Hiring Pochettino would be seen as a huge splash, especially at a time the U.S. fanbase is looking for a big-name manager. The Argentine has never managed a national team, but has had plenty of success at club level. He guided Southampton to an eighth-place finish in the Premier League in 2013, achieved record league finishes with Spurs, including a Champions League final appearance in 2019, and secured a Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain. Most recently, Pochettino led Chelsea to a sixth-place finish and European qualification before departing at the end of the 2023-24 season.

U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker and Pochettino overlapped during the Argentine coach’s year at Southampton. Crocker led Southampton’s academy at the time, and left in November 2013 to join the Football Association.

Argentine outlet Olé previously reported Pochettino was a candidate for the job.

While it is possible that U.S. Soccer could make and announce a hire before the September window, the federation is planning to have former U.S. under-20 men’s national team coach and current USMNT assistant Mikey Varas to lead the senior team in friendlies against Canada and New Zealand on September 7 and September 10, respectively, according to sources briefed on the program’s planning.

The USMNT have been without a coach since firing Gregg Berhalter after a group-stage exit in the Copa América this summer. Berhalter served as the manager from December 2018 through to December 2022, taking the U.S. back to the World Cup after they failed to qualify for the tournament in 2018, and then again from June 2023 until July 2024.

The U.S. fell flat in the Copa, beating Bolivia in their opening group game before losing to Panama after playing a man down for more than an hour following a red card to winger Tim Weah. The U.S. then lost 1-0 in the group finale to Uruguay.

GO DEEPER

Pochettino’s Chelsea departure won’t see him left on the scrapheap

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Pochettino would be the highest-profile coach of the U.S. since Jurgen Klinsmann, a World Cup winner. While Klinsmann coached the German national team and Bayern Munich before taking on the U.S. job, his fame came more from his on-field accomplishments as a player. Pochettino has made his name as a manager, with teams that use positional play to try to dominate space, but that also like to press and attack opposition.

The 52-year-old will likely command a top-level salary, as reports have indicated he was one of the highest-paid coaches in the world at PSG and Chelsea. However, Crocker has said the federation won’t be limited by financial restrictions.

“It’s a really competitive market out there, salary-wise, and we have to be competitive to get the level of coach that I believe can take the program forward in terms of achieving the results that we want on the field,” Crocker said. “It’s a priority. It’s something we’re prepared to invest in and something that we will be investing in.”

(Top photo: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

PARIS — Stephen Curry just wanted to feel like one of the Olympians.

During the July 26 opening ceremonies, he was floating down the Seine River on the Team USA boat, surrounded by hundreds of elite athletes. But the Golden State Warriors star’s celebrity status kept getting in the way of this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“I didn’t feel like just one of (the athletes) at first, because people were coming up to me saying, ‘Can I have a picture with you?’” said Curry, who, at 36, is competing in his first Olympics. “It was that type of vibe. I had to actually stop and tell them, like, ‘No, I want to know who you are, what you do and level the playing field, because you’re here for a reason too.’”

Hours later, Curry had taken more than 200 pictures with other athletes on his phone while learning all about the timeless tradition of Olympic pin-trading. This would become Curry’s favorite off-court moment of them all.

“I got to be a fan,” he said. “It was special.”

For the players on this American men’s Olympic basketball team — who are among the most famous athletes on the planet, and whose collective star power is the primary reason they stay away from the athlete villages during the Games — they’ve cherished these chances to connect with and marvel at their contemporaries these past few weeks.

And as the Games near an end, with Team USA set to play in a semifinal Thursday against Serbia and the potential gold-medal game two days later, the reminiscing has already begun.

When Kevin Durant was asked to pick his favorite memory of these Games, the answer came without hesitation.

”Seeing Simone,” he said with a smile.

Much like LeBron or KD or Steph, legendary American gymnast Simone Biles is one of the few athletes here whose Q rating is so astronomical that no last name is needed. So on Aug. 1, one night after the men’s basketball team beat South Sudan in pool play and two nights before the Americans would rout Puerto Rico, a group that included Durant, Curry, Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday and Tyrese Haliburton went to watch Biles in action.

She won her sixth gold medal that night, winning the all-around event while fellow American Suni Lee took bronze.

“I’d never been to a gymnastic event up close like that,” said Durant, the Phoenix Suns star and three-time gold medalist who is hoping to become the program’s first ever to win a fourth. “Obviously I’d watched (gymnastics) on TV, but it’s different when you’re there. And just to see her greatness, along with the other girls who put so much time into their craft, it’s just amazing to see how great they’ve become.”

But Durant’s observations went well beyond the thrilling result.

Until that evening, he wasn’t aware that gymnastics is such a youthful sport. He heard all about how the 27-year-old Biles is considered “old” in her sporting space, and how there are so many gymnasts — like 16-year-old American Hezly Rivera — who become elite before they can vote.

He heard the widespread criticism Biles received back in 2021, when she pulled out of the Tokyo Olympics despite being a gold-medal favorite in most of her events while citing a condition known as “the twisties.” Biles, who would later open up about the mental health challenges she was facing at the time, would become disoriented in the air and chose to shut it down as a result. To Durant, that decision — and the roaring comeback that has unfolded since — are just as much of a part of her legend as everything that came before.

But what Durant admires most about Biles, it seems, is how unafraid she is to tell the world how she feels, no matter what scrutiny comes her way. In front of the cameras. On social media. Wherever it may be.

Durant, no stranger to scrutiny himself, is notorious for engaging with fans and media members on public platforms. Biles, in that way and so many more, is now one of his inspirations.

“When people see so much potential in you at an early age, you’re gonna get nitpicked like that, and she’s been through it at the highest of highest levels,” Durant said. “For her to continue to come out and showcase the brilliance every day, and also let people know that they sound crazy talking against her? To be able to do both is inspiring.”

Durant paused.

“So yeah, she’s inspired me to keep tweeting and keep doing what I do on the court too,” he said with a laugh.

Of all the American hoopers creating memories, Booker is the most qualified to actually document them. Way back in 2016, when he was looking for creative methods of chronicling his first-ever All-Star experience in Toronto, Booker decided to go the vintage route and use a camcorder rather than a cell phone.

“I have some really good friends of mine who introduced me to cameras in my rookie year, and they were like, ‘Yo, keep a handycam on you (because) it feels more authentic than an iPhone,” said Booker, the 27-year-old who won a gold medal in the Tokyo Games and is in his second Olympics. “You get that old-school-style feel. It makes you pay attention to it more, makes you listen a little bit more. With an iPhone camera, the camera’s too good.”

Fast-forward to these Paris Games, two of Booker’s friends who assist with the production of his online content came along with him, and he has been sharing high-quality, well-edited video that routinely goes viral on his Instagram feed.

“We watch all the video back, then just cut it up,” Booker said. “The handicam is easy. We just take the coolest moments, and put them all into one.”

Like Durant, Booker said the chance to see Biles up close ranks at the top of his personal list. But there were plenty more.

On Sunday afternoon, Booker went to watch his “good friend,” the American fencer Miles Chamley-Watson, in a bronze-medal team match against France, then made the trek out to Stade de France to witness Noah Lyles’ stunning 100-meter final victory that required a photo-finish.

If he had to choose a favorite experience besides Biles — that was Durant’s pick, after all — Booker said it was the July 29 trip to La Concorde when his passion for skateboarding was fulfilled like never before.

“Seeing (American skateboarders) Nyjah (Huston), seeing Jagger (Eaton), Yuto (Horigome) from Japan — who all went top three — those are guys I admire,” Booker said. “I’ve tried to be on a skateboard, and I grew out of that very quick. But I’m in tune with skate culture, and how they go about their business, and I f— with it.

“The experience has been second to none for me. It’s getting around all the other events and seeing all the other talented people in the world at the same time. It’s something that I’ll pass down to generations of mine. I’ll send my handycam footage down to my kids’ kids’ kids, and hopefully they feel it.”

As Curry thinks back on all the different interactions that brought him joy, he starts listing the mementos that came his way during some of those moments. None of them would compare to the gold they’re all striving for, of course, but they’re still special.

He had a pingpong ball signed by the American women’s table tennis team when they came to watch the men’s basketball team practice. And yes, for those who wondered, that’s the same group of women who told Minnesota Timberwolves star and self-proclaimed table tennis extraordinaire Anthony Edwards that he wouldn’t be able to score a single point against any of them during their opening ceremonies boat ride.

Anthony Edwards thinks he can compete with the USA table tennis team 😂 pic.twitter.com/30GdJOmR3G

— Sideline Sources (@sidelinesources) July 27, 2024

And then there are the pins. So many cool pins.

“My (USA) skateboarding one is my favorite,” Curry said. “I got one from Team Jamaica, which was cool since I’ve got a lot of family on my wife’s side that’s from Jamaica. Pistol shooting too.”

He has a plan for the pictures too.

“I’m sentimental like that,” he said. “So once I get the prints, I might actually archive this and put it in a way where you pull out a bottle of wine six months from now, or six years from now, and just go through them and reminisce a little bit. I just want to have all those memories, to be able to relive it.”

Required Reading

(Top photo of Steph Curry cheering on Simone Biles: Jean Catuffe / Getty Images)