White Sox rib teammate Adam Eaton with custom T-shirts

SHARE White Sox rib teammate Adam Eaton with custom T-shirts

The White Sox continued to sport the 1983 throwback jerseys Thursday. The uniforms can claim at least partial credit for spurring the White Sox to a two-game winning streak.

The Sox had more fun with apparel in the clubhouse, too, sporting bright green T-shirts with the line “I’m the straw that stirs the drink” on them.

The line is a nod to struggling White Sox leadoff man Adam Eaton, who has used the phrase multiple times this season. His face appears on the straw of a martini glass on the front, and the quote appears on the back.

The line was perhaps originally used in a self-descriptive manner by Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson.

“When we scuffle early and we don’t score a lot of runs early, I’ve put a lot of that on myself,” Eaton said on April 21. “I’m supposed to stir the drink. I’m the straw. That’s my job. When we don’t do that, I definitely take it personally.”

Eaton used the line again last week in the middle of the team’s five-game losing streak.

Eaton has been struggling this season, batting just .209 and still seeking his first RBI. He didn’t want to talk to media before the game about the shirts but after the game, a Sox 4-1 loss in which Eaton went 0-for-4, the subject came up.

“It’s a good rally shirt,’’ he said. “I’m glad people think enough of me to make one.’’

It’s unclear which player or players made the T-shirts, but it was a popular choice in the clubhouse before Thursday’s series finale against the Tigers. John Danks wore his underneath his warmup shirt as the team headed out for conditioning.

“I just saw it,” said manager Robin Ventura, who denied having a hand in making the shirts. “Guys do that all the time. You look at good teams over time, you get thick skin in the clubhouse. It’s just fun stuff.

“I don’t think I’m gonna wear it,” Ventura added. “It’s a bit bright.”

The Latest
The Sun-Times’ experts pick whom they think the team will take with the No. 9 pick in Thursday night’s draft:
They have abandoned their mom and say relationship won’t resume until she stops ‘taking the money’ from her alcoholic ex.
Twenty-five years later, the gun industry’s greed and elected leaders’ cowardice continue to prevail, the head of the National Urban League writes.
Riverside Fishing Club’s Fishing Tackle & Outdoors Swap Meet on Saturday and the continuing North American Vintage Decoy & Sporting Collectibles Show are Go & Show this week.