Wednesday, October 14

CHICAGO – There was no special recognition for Sam Antonacci when he made White Sox history Monday night during a 7-5 loss to the Cubs in 10 innings at Wrigley Field. 

The left fielder simply took off his right ankle guard and strolled to first base after absorbing a Shota Imanaga pitch off his right elbow protection. Imanaga didn’t agree with Antonacci’s wholehearted attempt at getting out of the way of that pitch, but the Cubs southpaw clearly didn’t realize the importance of the moment. 

Antonacci’s 23rd hit-by-pitch over 465 plate appearances tied him with Hall of Famer Minnie Minoso (1956) and Carlos Quentin (2011) for a franchise single-season high. To Antonacci, it’s really just another way to get on base, a skill he honestly developed while playing collegiately for Coastal Carolina. 

So, he didn’t even ask for the baseball to commemorate the accomplishment. 

“No, I wouldn’t do that,” a smiling Antonacci told me a few days before Imanaga hit him in the third inning. “I won’t even know. I’ll forget about it. Just happy I got on base if that happens. You will tell me and I’ll be like ‘Oh, that’s right. You did say that.’ 

“I guess it’s cool to have my name on something. I don’t know. Just trying to get on base like I’ve said. Nothing has really changed.”  

Here’s one point that has changed with Antonacci and the hit-by-pitches. Actually two. 

His wonderful mother, Nicki, no longer gets angry about her son getting in harm’s way as she did last year when he was hit 39 times across the Minor League season and the Arizona Fall League ledger.

“She doesn’t comment on it anymore,” Antonacci said. 

And Part Two centers on Antonacci’s hit-by-pitch battle with teammate Anthony Kay. Antonacci has the slight edge with his 23 HBPs, while Kay, the left-hander who has helped stabilize the White Sox rotation, has hit 21 batters. 

Those 21 raced past Chris Sale’s old franchise record of 17 from the 2016 campaign. 

“Kay jokes with me all the time about being tied. He says something but I don’t really know what it is,” Antonacci said. “We got that going back and forth.” 

“I joke with him every time he gets hit,” said a smiling Kay. “Hopefully he keeps getting on base in any way possible. For me, I’m trying to limit it. You can’t be afraid to hit anyone. If it happens, it happens. I’m not trying to hit anyone, but the way you pitch nowadays, you have to pitch inside.” 

There’s great value derived from Kay and Antonacci for the American League Central-leading White Sox beyond their hit-by-pitch battle. Kay currently stands as the No. 2 or No. 3 starter behind Sean Burke if a playoff rotation was being set up on Aug. 19, with a 3.46 ERA over his last 96 1/3 innings. And Antonacci is the sort of player every good baseball team needs in its lineup and clubhouse. 

Although he had never played left field before getting the opportunity during Spring Training, Antonacci handles the position. He’s hard-nosed but laid-back, and funny at times when he might not even be trying. 

Take Antonacci’s reaction when he was told of Ron Hunt's modern-day Major League Baseball record of 50 hit-by-pitches during the 1971 season. 

“50?” Antonacci said. “Dang, that’s a lot of hit-by-pitches.” 

“Sam is probably unique in that sense. It’s why he’s a psychopath. It’s what makes him great,” said White Sox hitting coach Derek Shomon, using his unique vernacular to describe Antonacci.

“It’s part of finding the way [on base] type deal. How do we create '90s? How do we touch a pillow as many times as we can? And that’s a way that Sammy can and will do it.” 

Some sort of special recognition aside from this story and a few social media posts has to follow Antonacci and his hit-by-pitches. A ring featuring the names of all the trainers who have helped him stay healthy could be one idea, or maybe part of the training room could be dedicated to Antonacci? 

How about a painting of all the bruises accrued by Antonacci over the ’26 season? Getting hit-by-pitches is a necessary part of Antonacci’s game, but it comes with its own set of side effects. 

“I definitely feel it,” Antonacci said. “If I said I don’t feel it, I would be lying.  

“We’ve got a good training staff, a bunch of stuff in the training room. Definitely spend a lot of time there taking care of it.”

Manager Will Venable decided to face Pete Crow-Armstrong with first base open in the 10th inning of Monday night's contest against the Cubs, with the game at a 5-5 deadlock. That decision came under much scrutiny across the city into Tuesday, after the National League Most Valuable Player candidate’s second home run of the night became a walk-off blast against Hagen Smith. 

Venable, who has made many more good decisions than questionable ones since taking over as manager, explained this call once again prior to Tuesday’s contest. 

“All these decisions are tough and ... PCA ... he's such a good player and such a good hitter,” Venable said. “But I trust the information that we have, that's been part of our process this entire year. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. 

“PCA is a really special player, does special things. [No. 2 hitter] [Seiya] Suzuki is too, and I had a choice to make. I just leaned on my information to make the best choice possible, and it didn't work out.” 

• That Cubs’ victory Monday, and the White Sox Sunday walk-off in Game 3 of the series played on the South Side back in May, are two of the best games I’ve ever witnessed from this crosstown rivalry. 

• A hearty mazel tov to James Fegan on his new gig covering the White Sox for the Sun-Times. 

• Whether you love it or not, Wrigley Field has great sight lines to watch baseball. Great atmosphere.  

• Two trips to Detroit for baseball coverage, and no visit to Ann Arbor? That’s just not right. 

“That’s not anywhere near anything that I’m thinking about. We are trying to win today. We understand what is ahead of us and how challenging this road is going to be.” – Venable on hanging on to the AL’s No. 2 seed

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