KSBY Sports continues its countdown of the top 11 local sports stories of 2011. Our second nominee is the Chicago White Sox decision to hire Arroyo Grande resident Robin Ventura as its 39th manager in club history.

The news broke on October 5 and culminated with an introduction in the Windy City on the 11th. The Righetti High graduate returned to a White Sox uniform, sporting number 23 like he did for the first ten seasons of his 16 year Major League career. Tuesday, the 44 year old officially the 39th manager in franchise history. “Being where I was and being able to do this for a franchise that I love and for people that are in the organization that I love, I’m confident and I’m excited about being able to do this,” said Ventura. “Obviously I’m overjoyed about the opportunity to wear a White Sox uniform and to be the manager is an honor and I’m humbled to be able to do it.”

The press conference came barely four months after Robin was hired as a special advisor to the team that ended his six year absence from the major leagues. Ventura spent that time with his family living in Arroyo Grande. Robin sees his break as a strength because he is able to look at the game from the outside. “I’ve lived life and I’ve enjoyed it. But I’ve also enjoyed baseball and I think that helps me to be able to see beyond whether a guy got a hit or not,” added Ventura.

White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams said Robin was always at the top of his list because of his integrity, character and knowledge for the game. Despite this being Ventura’s first managerial job, the six-time gold glove third baseman is confident he can go from the hot corner to the hot seat.

Ventura is the 17th former White Sox player to become the team’s manager. The White Sox went 79-83 last season and are six years removed from a World Series title.

The White Sox open the 2012 season April 6 at the home of the Texas Rangers.

KSBY will unveil one story every day. Once all eleven nominees are announced, the public will be allowed to vote on the top local sports story of 2011.

TOP 11 STORIES OF 2011
- Meteoric rise to the Major Leagues by 22 year old Lompoc native Danny Duffy
- Chicago White Sox hiring of Central Coast resident Robin Ventura as team’s manager

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Read More: John Danks (P – CWS), Chicago White Sox

White Sox lefthander John Danks’ name has come up a lot in various trade rumors this offseason as general manager Ken Williams is actively shopping a number of players on his roster in an effort to remake the team. But Danks hasn’t been sent anywhere yet, and he told the Sun-Times‘ Joe Cowley in an interview that he’s “not losing an ounce of sleep” over the situation. He’s also heard about the king’s ransom Williams has been asking teams in return for Danks:

“More than anything, this is the business of baseball,’’ Danks said. “I don’t blame Kenny for trying to get as much as he can. I took that as him being early in the process. I took it as him throwing feelers out there.’’

It’s still possible for Danks to stay in Chicago for the long term, though he says the White Sox have yet to get serious about a contract extension.

Stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the Chicago White Sox be sure to visit South Side Sox. Visit Baseball Nation for more news and notes around the league, and check out MLB Daily Dish for off-season rumors and reports.

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CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox have named Marco Paddy special assistant to general manager Ken Williams in charge of international operations.

Paddy spent the last five seasons as director of Latin America operations with the Toronto Blue Jays and will now direct the White Sox’s Latin American scouting efforts with an emphasis on international signings.

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHICAGO — Authorities say a homeless man broke into Chicago White Sox general manager Kenny Williams’ downtown townhouse, had a bite to eat and drank a beer before he left wearing Williams’ clothes and his World Series ring.

On Tuesday, a Cook County judge ordered 51-year-old Wayne Field III jailed in lieu of US$100,000 bond on a residential burglary charge.

Prosecutors say Williams discovered the Monday burglary when he returned home from a trip on Tuesday.

Prosecutors say police noticed Field standing near the home.

When they questioned him, police found he was wearing Williams’ clothes and carrying his watch and World Series ring. Authorities say Field admitted to the break in after police found a hospital bracelet with Field’s name on it inside the home.

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A man was found inside the Chicago White Sox general manager Kenny Williams’ house on Monday wearing Williams’ clothes and eating his food, according to NBC Chicago.

The 51-year-old man, Wayne Field, was wearing Williams’ clothes and his 2005 championship ring. He also defrosted a lobster, ate his frozen pizza, drank his beer, and laid in his bed. Weird.

Field was arrested for burglary and will appear in court today.

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BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox are interviewing Gene Lamont for their managerial opening.

The former Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox manager is the last of five candidates scheduled to interview. New Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington has already brought in Torey Lovullo, Sandy Alomar Jr., Pete Mackanin and Dale Sveum.

The Red Sox have been looking for a manager since parting ways with Terry Francona after the team’s 7-20 record in September left them out of the playoffs for the second straight year.

Lamont has been the third base coach for the Detroit Tigers since 2006. He also had that job with Boston in 2001.

He managed the White Sox from 1992-95 and Pirates from 1997-2000.

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There is the quick update of the day.

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Greg Walker is stepping down as White Sox hitting coach. (Phil Velasquez/Tribune Photo)

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When Chicago White Sox general manager Kenny Williams heard about manager Ozzie Guillen’s most recent controversial comments this past weekend in Toronto, he had a familiar feeling.

“[My reaction was] not too dissimilar from what my normal reaction is when he says something that is a little unusual,” Williams said. “‘What?’”

Williams was referring to a lengthy rant Guillen had over the weekend in Toronto. While the majority of Guillen’s critical comments were in reference to certain members of the media, the initial reports were that Guillen had lashed out against the fans.

Williams immediately approached Guillen about the firestorm his comments had started. Guillen, who was unaware of any controversy, told him to listen to the tape and he’d know that what was being reported was not accurate.

“I didn’t even bother listening to the tape, because I trusted the man at his word,” Williams said. “I think it’s a mischaracterization of what the actual comments were. Can you take a piece of the comments and work it however you like to? Absolutely.”

While Williams knows that what Guillen said was misconstrued, he didn’t absolve his manager of any blame in the situation.

“I’ve tried to talk to him, not as general manager to manager, but friend to friend and explain to him, this has happened before,” Williams said. “You have to understand that you’re a lightning rod, you are going to be dissected in every way, because you sell papers, you sell TV time, you sell radio time.”

Sahadev Sharma is a regular contributor to ESPNChicago.com.

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ANAHEIM, Calif. – Former Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy made his long-awaited return to the Chicago White Sox rotation Wednesday night after getting activated from the 15-day disabled list — 10 months after he had season-ending shoulder surgery.

“I think it’s exciting for everyone to see him back on the mound,” manager Ozzie Guillen said before the finale of a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels. “I feel very happy because this guy went through a lot to be here today — the surgery, the rehab assignments, traveling all over the country to see different doctors, getting more treatment and more treatment. Finally this day has arrived, and hopefully he can stay here all year long and help us.”

Peavy detached a muscle in his right shoulder against the Angels July 6 and had surgery eight days later.

“The way he walked off the mound that night against us, you knew it was serious,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said Wednesday.

Peavy made five rehabilitation starts with Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte. He had a slight setback during that stretch because of shoulder discomfort, resulting in an 11-day wait between outings.

The 29-year-old right-hander, a two-time All-Star who won the Cy Young Award with San Diego in 2007, was acquired in a trade with the Padres on July 31, 2009, going 10-6 with a 4.11 ERA in 20 starts for the White Sox. He was 7-6 with a 4.63 ERA in 17 starts last season. Guillen said there would be no designated pitch limit on Peavy in his first game back.

“I’m not expecting him to throw nine innings,” Guillen said. “But I expect him to throw five or six, and that when he leaves the mound, he’ll be healthy. That’s what we’re looking for. He worked so hard, so quick to be back. He did everything the doctors said, everything the trainers said, everything the general manager said, everything the pitching coach said, and he did it right. That’s why I have more respect for him than anybody else.”

Peavy won the major league ERA title in 2004 and 2007, the same year he led the majors in strikeouts. To make room for him on the 25-man roster, the White Sox designated reliever Jeff Gray for assignment. The 29-year-old right-hander allowed four earned runs in 13 1-3 innings over his six appearances, including three scoreless innings Tuesday night in Chicago’s 6-2 loss.

“It was a very tough decision, maybe one of the toughest you can even make,” Guillen said. “But sometimes you have to make decisions that are very hard. We talked about different ways to look at it, and unfortunately, that’s the decision we made and it’s best for the ballclub. But this kid was great. I was worried about losing him, and I hope we can keep him down there and he can come back here pretty soon.”

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CLEVELAND, Ohio — Adam Dunn hit at least 38 homers in his previous seven seasons, leaving him tied with Babe Ruth (1926-1932) for the second-longest such streak. Rafael Palmeiro hit 38-plus in nine straight from 1995 through 2003.

Dunn wasted little time — one at-bat — getting busy extending the power run. His two-run homer off Fausto Carmona in the third inning helped the White Sox defeat the Indians, 15-10, Friday at Progressive Field in the season opener.

Dunn finished 2-for-4 with four RBI as the designated hitter in his American League debut. He signed with the White Sox in the off-season after hitting 354 homers in 1,448 combined games with Cincinnati, Arizona and Washington.

The White Sox amassed 18 hits, including six doubles and two homers. They led, 14-0, through four innings.

“This is the first game; I’m assuming we’re going to do this every time,” Dunn said. “We’re 1-for-1, right?”

Opening Day brings out the beast in Dunn. He is 10-for-36 with seven homers and 19 RBI in those games. The homer total is one shy of the record held by Frank Robinson and Ken Griffey Jr.

“Opening Day is such a special day because of all the hype surrounding the season, and everyone’s tied for first,” Dunn said. “What I set out to do all off-season and spring training is to be ready for Opening Day.”

With runners on second and third and none out in the first, Dunn struck out swinging. Carmona made him look bad with a backdoor slider. Dunn’s payback came in the third. After Gordon Beckham opened with a single up the middle, Dunn homered to right on a full-count pitch.

“I was actually just trying to get a pitch I could put in play, and I kind of caught one of his sinkers out front,” he said.

Indians right fielder Shin-Soo Choo’s body language indicated that he planned to catch the ball well in front of the track. But it kept carrying. Estimated distance: 386 feet.

As a Texas schoolboy quarterback, Dunn once threw a football 80-plus yards in warmups before a playoff game. So it should be no shock when a seemingly harmless fly ball hit by the 6-6, 285-pounder ends up traveling over the wall.

“I don’t really care how far they go, as long as they go over,” he said.

Dunn’s two-run double in the fourth knocked out Carmona.

In landing Dunn, White Sox General Manager Ken Williams significantly improved his club’s chances of overtaking the Twins in the Central Division. Last season, the White Sox finished 88-74 and in second place, six back.

“The people in Chicago are expecting him to do well,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said of Dunn. “When you start the way he did, all of a sudden you create confidence in yourself. I don’t expect anything less. That’s the reason we brought him here.”

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