Sign of the Times

The White Sox finished the overhaul of their coaching staff this week. Of the ten coaches who’ll suit up for a game, only one, bullpen coach Matt Wise, has major-league experience. The assistant pitching coach is 29, one of the bullpen catchers 22 (!). Journalist Jimmy Breslin once wrote a book, Can’t Anyone Here Play This Game?, about the hapless ’62 Mets (more hapless than the 2024 Sox?). Breslin wrote back when teams tended to hire people with major-league experience out of the belief they could impart lessons learned playing to current players. Those were the days. Now teams hire callow youth that already seems to know it all.