Yahoo Finance Dallas Keuchel's mom gives White Sox inspiring, profane slogan for 2020: 'Playoffs or die, b------'
The Chicago White Sox know what they have to do. After an 11-year playoff drought, the team is hungry for meaningful games in October. Armed with the best talent they’ve had in years, the White Sox actually have a shot at breaking that streak in 2020.
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But it would help if they had a good rallying cry.
Enter Dallas Keuchel’s mom, who — at a massive team dinner — gave about 125 members of the White Sox organization some much-needed words to live by, according to Chuck Garfien of NBC Sports.
Keuchel’s mom looked over the entire room of White Sox representatives and provided a rally cry for ages.
“Playoffs or die, b———!”
How did the room react? Just like you’d expect.
“Everyone cheered,” said pitcher Dylan Cease.
Keuchel hosted and paid for the dinner for team guests including coaches, staffers, trainers, wives and girlfriends, at a cost of about $25,000.
Where did the White Sox’s slogan come from?
While it’s amusing to assume Keuchel’s mom, Teresa, came up with the rallying cry, that’s not actually the case. Sorry, but we’re about to slightly ruin a fun thing. Turns out, Dallas Keuchel put his mom up to it, according to Garfien.
“She hadn’t paid up on a few bets before that, so she wasn’t the happiest. So she did it for me,” Keuchel said in an interview on Tuesday. “We’ve gone back and forth on numerous bets over the years. She doesn’t like public speaking by any means, so that was the gist of it for her to get up there and keep it light hearted. Just say, ‘Hey, hope everyone had a great time. Good luck on the season,’ and then I had her say the b-word.”
That revelation definitely sucks some of the fun out of her quote.
White Sox need every advantage possible to make playoffs in 2020
The slogan may not be as authentic as it first appeared, but Keuchel’s gesture is what really matters here. Numerous White Sox players were thankful that Keuchel — who signed a three-year, $55 million deal with the team in the offseason — went out of his way to buy dinner for so many people. If nothing else, it brought the team closer together. Maybe that won’t result in extra wins on the field, but good chemistry is better than the alternative.
For the White Sox to actually fulfill Teresa’s wishes, the team needs any advantage it can get. Rallying behind a lighthearted slogan that also gives the team a sense of urgency can’t hurt.
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