By Billy Watkins
As former Ole Miss star Tim Elko approached the dugout Sunday after slugging a three-run homer in his sixth Major League at-bat, his teammates gave him the old-fashioned silent treatment.
Never mind that the blast was his first big-league hit and had given the struggling Chicago White Sox a 4-1 lead over the Miami Marlins.
Nothing to see here, Elko’s teammates pretended.
Then, they mobbed him. And it was genuine. There were no quick hugs, no soft high-fives. You could see joy and hope in each one. Those emotions were also evident in the stands and the White Sox TV booth.
“First, we find out that the new pope is a Sox fan. And now Tim Elko to the south side? Let’s go!!!” said play-by-play announcer John Schriffen.
Veteran analyst Steve Stone added: “He was called up because of his power. He just showed you how strong he is. The ball is not flying to left field at all (because of the wind.) And he took it out easily.”
Chicago won, 4-2.
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The White Sox are a desperate organization. Entering Sunday’s game, they had the second-worst record (11-28) in baseball. In 2024, they suffered through the worst season (41-121) in the modern baseball era.
The fans needed something or someone to hang their hearts on. The team needed a power hitter to turn some of those one-and two-run losses into wins.
Now comes the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Elko, the White Sox’s 10th-round draft choice in 2022 who hit 61 homers in 325 minor league games.
Suddenly, the legendary stories during his time at Ole Miss are explaining to the the Major League world why there is a statue of Elko at Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.
Schriffen told the TV audience about Elko playing the second half of the 2021 season on a torn ACL He batted .325 in 49 games with 16 homers and 55 RBI.
“The Rebels were down 16-2 to Arizona in the finals of the Super Regional,” Schriffen said. “Elko hits a ball off the right field wall and instead of stopping at first base, he legs out a double on the torn ACL.
“That is what a lot of Ole Miss fans remember him for — a guy who just won’t give up.”
Elko, who grew up in Lutz, Fla., credits his faith for helping him handle rough patches such as the ’21 season.
In an interview with Sports Spectrum while playing with the torn ACL, Elko said: “My hope is that (fans) see Jesus’ love and His light and His joy within me.”
Schriffen also talked on-air about the 2022 season when Elko helped lead Ole Miss to the national championship. “A monster season,” Stone said of Elko’s .300 average with 24 homers and 75 RBI.
Ozzie Guillen, the former All-Star shortstop and manager with the White Sox who is part of the team’s pregame and postgame shows, said: “People will hear that stuff (about a statue, a torn ACL and a national title) and go ‘Ahhh, that doesn’t matter.’ Yes, it does matter. I don’t want him to change anything. Just be the player who got you here.”
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Ole Miss hitting coach Mike Clement received a text Saturday morning from Elko: “Do you have a second?”
Clement called him. “I said ‘Well, this can only be about a couple of things. Is your family OK?’ He assured me they were. So I said, ‘OK, then tell me.’ He’d been called up. He was excited, He knew he’d earned it. He was ready to go.
“Foundationally, Tim is different than a lot of players. Baseball has never been the most important thing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important and he’s super competitive. But he’s always had this incredible perspective and a peace about him.
“He signed for $35,000. I think he looked at it like, ‘What’s the worst thing that could happen — they release me? I was never supposed to make it anyway.’ Now he’s becoming this cult hero in Chicago, just like he did in Oxford. I’m one of the few who isn’t surprised. I saw it. I lived it.”
Ole Miss beat out Auburn and Miami to sign Elko, who was “a pretty famous recruit,” Clement recalled.
“What a lot of people forget is that Tim struggled his first couple of years,” said David Kellum, the radio voice of Ole Miss baseball, football and men’s basketball. “You really felt for the guy.”
“Tim is kind of a pleaser,” Clement said. “He wanted everybody to be happy with him. He wanted o fulfill his potential as a prospect. But he was sort of walking on egg shells a little bit.”
That soon changed. He became the face of the program. Fans will never forget him looking into a camera late in the 2022 season and saying, “Don’t let the Rebels get hot.” A few weeks later, they were hoisting the national title trophy in Omaha.
I asked Kellum where Elko ranks among Ole Miss fan favorites in all sports. “I’d say top 5, certainly top 10,” Kellum said. “He came back from the ACL that season, when few people thought he would.
“I know it’s certainly apples and oranges, but Tim reminds me of (the late Ole Miss football player) Chucky Mullins, who I got to know pretty well. Of course, Chucky had a much more serious injury, but I remember Chucky telling me many times, ‘I’m going to get out of this wheelchair one day and walk again.’ He worked and worked to do so before he passed.
“Tim was the same way when doctors told him he wouldn’t play again in 2021. He’s a strong Christian and just turns off anything negative in his mind.”
So why will Elko make it with the White Sox?
“He has a ton of power and he’s continued to improve,” Clement said. “He’s always been a swing-and-miss guy, but that’s OK if you’re also hitting it out of the yard. He’s a remarkable first baseman.
“Plus, he’s a force multiplier. He will make everybody around him better. He’ll hold people accountable, not by shoving them into a locker. He will make guys want to play with him.
“I know the White Sox are a long way from where they want to be, but he’s going to be a part of their success with his leadership qualities.”
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It was an incredible weekend for Elko and the White Sox.
He flew first class — his first time to do so — to Chicago in time for Saturday afternoon’s game.
When he came up for his first Major League at-bat, wearing the No. 30 instead of the 25 he wore as a Rebel, Schriffen noted that “you can feel the excitement in the ballpark. Fans taking out their cell phones, understanding how important a move it is for the organization.”
He went 0-for-3 in Chicago’s 3-1 loss. He was robbed of a hit his final time up by Marlins’ second basemen Javier Sanoja.
Elko’s parents (John and Cheryl) were at the game, along with other family members and friends. His cousin Kevin caught a foul ball smoothly, which drew a chuckle from Elko after the game.
He told reporters that his phone was loaded with messages from friends and former teammates. He apologized for not yet having time to answer everyone.
Elko wasted no time putting up a stat: He fielded Xavier Edwards’ leadoff ground ball to first and stepped on the bag for an unassisted putout.
He explained to the media postgame that the Marlins’ pitchers had a lot to do with his hitless debut.
“They made good pitches and didn’t give me much to hit. That’s baseball sometimes,” he said.
The Marlins weren’t so fortunate Sunday. Elko’s family and even more friends were there to see his game-deciding homer.
White Sox personnel were able to retrieve his home run ball. He said in an on-field TV interview after the game that he would give the ball and his Mother’s Day pink bat to his mom.
Asked by the media about the homer, he said he wasn’t focused on going deep. “I just wanted to get the run home from third base,” he explained. “I was trying to be on time and on top of the fastball. (Sandy Alcantara) left a slider over the middle of the plate and I was able to put a good swing on it.”
Composed. Friendly. More interested in talking about winning than personal goals. Typical Tim Elko.
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NOTE: The White Sox are in Cincinnati for a three-game series beginning Tuesday night, then travel back to Chicago for three games this weekend against the cross-town rival Cubs at Wrigley Field.
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