Sizemore has the support of this Hall of Famer

This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO – Jim Thome was in the same Cleveland lineup with Grady Sizemore for six September games during the 2011 season.

Sizemore was at the end of an eight-year-run with the Indians, including three straight All-Star campaigns from 2006-08. Thome was on his way to the Hall of Fame with one final stop at the place where it all began.

So, Thome possesses an extra level of knowledge regarding the White Sox interim manager, who took over the position on Aug. 8 when the organization dismissed Pedro Grifol.

“To watch him play the game, it was great,” Thome told MLB.com during a recent interview after Sizemore’s first victory. “He’s a quiet guy, but there’s a lot of passion.

“The way he played, I think that’s kind of what you are going to see with him. Everybody really respects the human being and who he is as a man, which I think is going to be great.”

Thome and Sizemore are teammates again, with Sizemore starting the 2024 season as a Major League coach on Grifol’s staff and Thome being in his 12th season with the White Sox as a special assistant to the general manager. In Sizemore’s newest role, Thome sees a 42-year-old who is a great communicator with outstanding ideas and big-time top-step presence in the dugout.

General manager Chris Getz talked about looking for a full-time manager outside of the organization and someone currently in uniform. But count Thome as a believer in Sizemore if he wanted to push for this job to go beyond interim.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Thome said. “In life or in the game, you have these guys that there’s just this feel of watching him. Obviously, it’s very short term right now and at the beginning, but boy you could see the making of someone that really could do very well.

“Great respect and I know the other side of him because trust me, guys like him, there’s a passion to win and [will to] go to that cost to win and be that guy on the field. He was special, he really was.”

Special, as in an MVP-caliber, franchise-changing producer as a player, according to Thome. Special, as in an individual who has engendered positive vibes in the clubhouse and on the field since taking over, despite a 2-7 record.

Doug Sisson, who is Sizemore’s co-bench coach on this revamped staff, migrated toward Sizemore during Spring Training since neither of them had a specific role. They became friends and talked a great deal of baseball.

“He’s a stud,” said Sisson of Sizemore. “Just sat there nine innings every day and talked through everything from effort to execution to situational baseball. What would you do here? How would you run practice? And I was immediately impressed with him.

“Leadership comes in all forms and sizes, but he’s just real. He immediately commands respect because he’s a genuine guy. He knows what he’s looking at, he knows what good baseball looks like. And he knows how to get guys to play good baseball. I just have tremendous respect. His ceiling is as high as anybody in this game.”

Sisson’s opinion is like that of Thome, who was one of the most respected players to ever wear a uniform.

“Everybody is really excited about him. How do you not be, right?” Thome said. “He works really hard at whatever he does.

“When he played, he worked hard. Me being around Spring Training, I would describe it as someone who is an extremely great listener. And when he spoke, the room stopped because of his credibility.”