CHICAGO — The 2024 season didn’t end the way Ryan Galanie wanted on an individual level, leaving a bitter taste with the White Sox Minor Leaguer.

A quick way to get rid of that bitterness was to disengage from baseball. The first baseman/designated hitter purchased a Class C motor home and went on a journey from Sept. 28 until Halloween.

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Part of that trip was with friends. Part of it was a solo ride.

“I got to see a lot of the country,” the 25-year-old Galanie said recently. “I felt like it was one of the best things I ever did for my career.

“I’m one of those guys, I feel like I always have to be working. So I forced myself to put the bat down, put the glove down and leave it at home and just drive away.

“It’s a good mental cleanse for me. I hike a lot, connect with nature, and I do it typically right after the season. So when I come back, I feel like I’ve gotten that all out of my system. I can hit the ground hard and train my ass off for however long I have until I have to report.”

Galanie traveled through roughly 20 states, hit 10 to 15 national and state parks and made new friends. Maybe it was in some bar playing pool or at the RV parks.

Whatever the scenario, it strengthened Galanie, who was selected in the 13th round of the 2023 Draft out of Wofford College. His 94 RBIs in 2025 between stops with High-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham topped all White Sox Minor Leaguers. He also had 11 home runs, 26 doubles, 14 stolen bases and a .749 OPS.

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Galanie’s name isn’t among MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 White Sox prospects. But he is getting an ongoing chance to show his abilities playing for Glendale in the Arizona Fall League after drawing positive attention during the regular season.

“He’s a guy that hit a ton of doubles,” said Birmingham manager Guillermo Quiroz, who had Galanie on his Southern League championship team. “He can steal a bag when you need it. He is a fundamental, complete hitter. He’ll try to hit sac flies when we need it. He’ll hit the ball in the gap.

“If for some reason he gets in front of one, he’ll hit the ball out of the ballpark. He made a lot of adjustments this past offseason, started working on those high heaters, started chasing for pitches in the strike zone with spin. Those little adjustments took him to the next level, and that’s why he was so successful.”

As part of AFL life, Galanie is sharing a six-bedroom, three-bathroom home in Litchfield Park, Ariz., with Glendale teammates — and fellow White Sox prospects — Hagen Smith, Connor McCullough, Sam Antonacci, Caden Connor and Jarold Rosado. The residence also features a pool, pickleball/basketball court and a pool table, giving it a “Real World: AFL” feel.

Back in late May, White Sox director of hitting Ryan Fuller pointed to Galanie as one of the surprises of the organization’s ’25 Minor League season and praised him for arriving one month early to Spring Training, on his own dime, and putting in the extra work. Galanie shared the RV with catcher Calvin Harris for two months during Spring Training, and the plan is for similar living arrangements to start the ’26 campaign.

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Plans are set for that next offseason reset, although shortened by AFL action and what Galanie hopes is the Desert Dogs pushing for a championship. The itinerary includes Galanie flying his brother to Las Vegas for his 21st birthday, and the RV excursion winds its way to Yosemite National Park before Galanie returns home around Thanksgiving.