​CHICAGO — Will Venable and Craig Counsell were in good position heading into the All-Star break with teams that had been through various struggles and came out ahead.Progress is not always accomplished in a conventional manner, as both managers can attest.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Chicago White Sox were tied for first in the American League Central, despite starting 1-5 and being outscored 52-21 in those six games, looking like a repeat of 2025, or perhaps even ’24. They lost slugger Munetaka Murakami for six weeks in a stretch where they faced the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees in consecutive series, a season-wrecking road to destruction.But the Sox went 5-3 over the stretch with a rainout, and have gone 11-11 since, staying above water with Murakami now back.The Sox enter the second half with a 50-45 record, and Venable is on track for the AL Manager of the Year award.“We just settled in, and these guys are really all major leaguers, but if you’re going to survive in this league you have to deal with adversity,” Venable said Sunday. “I thought we did a good job and stayed the course in the early going when it was really tough. We just didn’t feel stable, so to find our way means a lot.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThere have been many surprises in the half, including rookies Sam Antonacci and Tristan Peters, Miguel Vargas’ improvement, and relievers Sean Newcomb and Bryan Hudson. But Murakami is the one who changed the way fans feel about the Sox, and maybe the way the Sox feel about themselves.It all started when the Sox agreed to his request to install bidets in the locker room.“We got him the bidet, and that just speaks to trying to get him as comfortable as possible,” general manager Chris Getz told me in spring training.As the old saying goes, the team that bidets together, stays together.“It’s a game-changer,” one Sox outfielder told a Japanese reporter.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementGame changed.I asked Murakami in spring training if he was ready to become the face of the franchise.“I haven’t really gotten to a point where I’ve had any results in the major league yet,” Murakami replied through his interpreter. “So I don’t think of myself as the face of the franchise yet. I’ll try to build on that this season.”It didn’t take long before he proved himself worthy of the designation. Even the six-week absence with a hamstring injury couldn’t stop the Mune Train from rolling along, and this week he made the All-Star team and participated in the Home Run Derby.In Murakami, the Sox found a slugger who could help lift a team with his bat and help lift a fan base with his mere presence. The Sox have not had a free agent make a first impression like Mune for a long time.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHe’s not the only one to generate interest in a Sox team that stunned the experts in the first half after being pegged for another s