‘Embrace the Stench’: White Sox Stay Hot Behind Plesac’s Rally Polo

The White Sox have been the hottest team in baseball since the All-Star break, winning four consecutive games while outscoring opponents 35-10. 

Their +25 run differential is the best in the MLB since the break, with the next closest team being the Blue Jays at +12.  In the process, the White Sox also became the first team in MLB history to open the second half with four straight wins by five or more runs. 

While the White Sox lineup has delivered across the board, it’s the team’s broadcaster — and his white polo — stealing the spotlight. The winning streak began Friday in Pittsburgh, the same night Dan Plesac, filling in for color analyst Steve Stone, donned a white polo featuring the team’s alternate diamond logo.

The White Sox proceeded to push across 10 runs on 11 hits, so Plesac decided to wear the polo again for game two of the series. Three games later, and the White Sox are undefeated since Pleasac put on the polo, logging 45 hits in the process. 

“I have not washed the shirt,” Plesac said on MLB Network before Monday night’s game in Tampa Bay. “On the flight from Pittsburgh to Tampa last night, I took it off on the flight, hung it up, and when I hung it up, I was like ‘oh man, this stench is getting real’ so just told my partner and everyone with the White Sox I’m affiliated with, ‘embrace the stench’. It’s the smell of winning.” 

Plesac has dubbed the shirt the “rally polo” on social media, and it’s hard to argue with the results. The team’s sweep of the Pirates marked the organization's first road sweep since 2022. 

Beating the hapless Pirates is one thing, but going to Tampa Bay and beating a Rays team that is still in playoff contention is another. On Monday, the White Sox jumped on Rays starter Shane Baz, with Brooks Baldwin launching a three-run homer in the second inning. They added three more in the third on a Luis Robert Jr. RBI single and a Colson Montgomery fielder’s choice. Miguel Vargas later added a two-run homer to add a pair of insurance runs in the top of the fifth inning as the White Sox would go on to win 8-2. 

The 4-0 run is the best second-half start for the team since 2005, when the White Sox went 5-0 after the break before going on to win the World Series. While the 2025 White Sox might not have a World Series in the future, they certainly have been embracing the stench of winning.