To say that the 2013 White Sox were terrible would be an understatement.
One of the worst teams in franchise history didn't have a single problem, they had a plethora of them. A glaring issue that could be attributed to the overall mediocrity was the attitude in the clubhouse.
Issues in the clubhouse were not the same as the ones that infested the team when Ozzie Guillen was the manager. There wasn't any yelling between Robin and his players. Ventura wasn't going on rants calling out his guys all the time while feeding the media with one liners that would come back to bite him in the end. Players were not pointing fingers at each other or fighting in the dugout. Instead, the 2013 Sox were hampered by what they did not do, rather than what they did do.
There was a lack of energy among the players. Granted the team knew that they were amid a season that continued on a downward spiral from the start, but guys who got paid millions of dollars acted like they did not want to be there.
Starting in 2006, every Sox team has and will be compared to the 2005 ball club that won the World Series. Stacking last year's squad against the '05 bunch, it was obvious that their talent level was not the same, along with the enthusiasm and personality levels.
2005 was centered around the whole grinder ball mentality that individuals like Scott Podsednik and Aaron Rowand displayed every game. There were characters on the team like Joe Crede and Mark Buehrle who genuinely enjoyed showing up to the the ballpark. Players played with a sense of purpose and their ability to come together as a team drastically changed the culture of the franchise, even though it was brief, which helped the team win it all for the first time since 1917.
The White Sox have been missing that "give it your all at all costs while enjoying every moment of every game" mindset until this season.
Enter Adam Eaton.
Eaton, or Spanky as he affectionately called, is the definition of a grinder. His first season with the Sox has been littered with spectacle catches that bring fans back to the days when Rowand was patrolling centerfield on the Southside.
Sometimes Eaton's aggressiveness does lead to trouble. He slammed violently into the wall last week after chasing a ball that was clearly going to clear the fence. After returning prematurely, he hurt himself and landed once again on the disabled list.
Eaton is a special type of player. Not only will he be a force at the top of the lineup for the White Sox moving forward, but he has gained the respect of his teammates for his team first mentality. The gathering of players helping his battered body off the field after crashing into the wall showed how much they care about the scrappy youngster.
Eaton's .304 average and .370 OBP speaks volumes about the impact his play has directly made to the White Sox exceeding moderate expectations. However, it is what the 25 year old does that doesn't show up in the box score that has made the biggest difference this season.
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