Grady Sizemore didn’t get much sleep Thursday night.
“Just too excited, too anxious,” Sizemore said Friday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field. “Still doesn’t feel real.”
Sizemore stepped into the role of interim manager for the Chicago White Sox, replacing the fired Pedro Grifol. His first task: the City Series against the Cubs at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Sizemore said he was “surprised but excited” when approached with the chance to finish out the season as manager.
“I welcome the challenge and the opportunity,” he said. “I love this team. I love these guys. I’ve enjoyed working with these guys since Day 1, I want to help any way I can.
“I have a feeling that part of the reason (general manager) Chris (Getz) asked me to do this was the guys in the locker room. I owe it to them to do my best to get this team going in the right direction.”
Sizemore joined the Sox coaching staff during the offseason as the major-league coach. He previously was a minor-league instructor with Cleveland and a coach with the Arizona Complex League Diamondbacks in 2023.
Sizemore never imagined managing.
“Never saw that coming,” he said, adding that it was never the goal.
“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do,” Sizemore said. “I just knew I wanted to make an impact on players’ lives, on their game and just try to be a resource and help out any way I could.
“I didn’t come in this to manage. There was no appeal factor there. It was really getting to know these guys, building trust, trying to build relationships and make an impact. I started this because I enjoyed working with some players and I enjoyed the feedback I get from them when I was able to help. That’s what I’m trying to lean in to.”
Sizemore was a career .265 hitter with 252 doubles, 47 triples, 150 home runs, 518 RBIs, 660 runs and 143 stolen bases in 1,101 games over 10 major-league seasons with Cleveland (2004-11), Boston (2014), Philadelphia (2014-15) and Tampa Bay (2015). He was a three-time All-Star, earned two Gold Glove awards and was a Silver Slugger Award winner with Cleveland.
“I’ve been so lucky, I’ve had so many guys,” Sizemore said of coaches along the way. “When I think back to some of the coaches, when I first got to Cleveland, Buddy Bell made me feel really comfortable. Sandy Alomar was a guy, had a great career and was really respected by a lot of guys. There’s been so many. I couldn’t sit here and list them all off right now.
“I’ve had great managers throughout my career, great coaches and great players to play with. It’s not just the coaches you lean on, it’s the teammates, it’s trying to create that family environment and just that environment that we’re going to play hard, we’re going to put it all out there.”
Sox players said Sizemore brings a lot to the table.
“First off, an unbelievable player, a guy who played every day, 162 games, knows exactly what the grind’s all about,” outfielder/first baseman Gavin Sheets said. “And an extremely talented player. So obviously a lot of respect from that side of the ball too.
“Just an awesome voice in the clubhouse, very level-headed, knows how difficult the game is and also knows what it takes to play at a really high level. Having him bring that side of it to it is really cool, to pick his brain all year and to play for now.”
First baseman Andrew Vaughn said Sizemore has a “great baseball mind.”
“He gets the game and he gets what it takes,” Vaughn said.
After Thursday’s firings that included the manager and three coaches, Getz looked at Friday as a chance to “turn the page and focus on today.”
“(Sizemore) spoke of some of the better coaches and best managers he was around, a lot of them — it was because they were authentic, real, honest,” Getz said. “And Grady, he presents that on a daily basis.”
Sizemore said the Sox (28-89 entering Friday) are “putting the work in, we just haven’t been executing.”
“It’s our job as coaches to put them in the best position to win those battles and execute,” he said. “I just want them to keep bringing the energy, keep bringing the focus, look for opportunities and try to do their best to capitalize on them.”
One of those first assignments as manager was writing out the lineup card.
“I talked to (hitting coach) Marcus (Thames) last night, we were going over some ideas,” Sizemore said. “Talked to some of the other guys and this is what we came up with.
“Making a lineup is something I’ve done since I was a little kid playing video games. This is on a different level, a different scale, but it’s still fun and I can’t wait to go out there and compete.”
