Why do the White Sox have a Randy Moss jersey? originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
There’s a lot of ways to reward a teammate.
There’s a high five, a pat on the back, a nod of acknowledgement. For some teams, they take it a step further. For example, the University of Miami has a “turnover chain” they give out to a defensive player on the sideline after a player creates a turnover.
For the White Sox, it’s a Minnesota Vikings-Randy Moss jersey.
“That’s something that AJ [Pollock] introduced to us a couple months back,” pitcher Lucas Giolito said on NBC Sports Chicago’s White Sox Talk podcast. “We wanted to find a way to come together after a game and be able to recognize and enjoy the win. The Randy Moss jersey. We got the pitcher one and the hitter one. The pitcher of the day gets it and the position player of the day gets it. It’s been a very nice, post-game, guys coming together. It’s good for the chemistry for sure.”
Usually, in baseball, teams give out a game ball to the player(s) of the day. But for the Sox, they decided to be unique among themselves.
One question comes to mind with the jersey — who decides who gets it?
“It’s generally obvious,” Giolito said. “Obvious to us. Maybe not to everybody.”
The Chicago White Sox official Twitter posts a poll asking fans to pick who they believe was the “player of the game.” Sometimes the player that gets the Moss award isn’t on the list of two or three players the poll picks, according to Giolito.
“There’s little areas of the game that make a huge difference that sometimes we want to recognize amongst ourselves,” Giolito said. “It gets a little boring if the winning starting pitcher gets it every single time, right?”
Certainly, Johnny Cueto got the No. 84 jersey for his performance in a 4-2 win versus the Houston Astros on Monday night. In arguably the biggest win of the season so far for the Sox, Cueto pitched eight innings, allowing six hits and one earned run. He walked one batter and struck out three before handing the baton to closer Liam Hendriks — who closed out the game with his 26th save.
The Sox continue their four-game series against the Astros on Tuesday night with Dylan Cease facing off against Justin Verlander in a duel between AL Cy Young leaders. Certainly, if Cease performs how he’s been pitching all season, he’ll be decked out in the purple and gold after the game.
It’s not always the obvious, stat-stuffing games deserving of the award. But sometimes, it is.
“I got it two starts ago for a game I pitched in Texas where I went five-and-dive,” Giolito said. “I was like ‘Eh, I don’t know if I deserve it for this one.’ Bullpen had to cover four innings.”
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