Culture Club

The White Sox are reaping what they’ve sown for ever so long, which is funny in a way, because what they’re stepped in generally doesn’t come out of the ground but lands there. Saturday it was Tim Anderson hitting the canvas and then going mute (except for a series of profanity-laced tweets). Sunday it was ex-Sox reliever Keynan Middleton alleging, among other things, that a Sox pitcher fell asleep in the bullpen and people didn’t show up for assorted meetings and practices. Then came Monday. According to 670 The Score sports-talk radio, catcher Yasmani Grandal slapped Tim Anderson just before the All-Star break. Imagine that, Grandal making solid contact. Ironically, if the story proves true, Anderson comes out the good guy. Apparently, Grandal indicated he wanted to leave the team and get an early start on his All-Star break because he wasn’t starting that day. This didn’t sit well with Anderson, who, the story goes, offered to pay his ticket if he wanted to be somewhere else. You can’t tell the heroes from the villains on this team, I swear. Meanwhile, Sox GM Rick Hahn addressed the media and admitted the team has had some longstanding “cultural issues,” an admission backed up by manager Mickey Mouse, who said, “Over time, I realized that the leaders I thought we had in there weren’t leaders. So we took a step back, we regrouped and here we are.” [Steve Greenberg, today’s Sun-Times] Where they are is where they stepped in it and remain. If Hahn or Mouse wants fans to believe that Lucas Giolito and Jake Burger were part of the problem, they’re as clueless as everyone thinks. Not that owner Jerry Reinsdorf cares. The enigmatic one was spotted on the field before last night’s 5-1 Sox win over the Yankees at Guranteed Rate Whatever. Asked to comment, all Reindorf could come up with was, “No.” As in nothing, which Reinsdorf and his team have a whole lot of.