Entries associated with the tag "Ozzie Guillen":

Ozzie Guillen threw not just his players, but his general manager under the bus Sunday after the White Sox were swept by the Rays in Tampa Bay, suggesting he didn't like his roster and that major changes needed to be made. But come on: the White Sox were still in first.

True, for anyone who remembers the 2005 Sox, this year's team did not look like championship contenders; there were holes, quite obvious to the fan, and therefore glaring to the opposition. True too, this year's Sox were not built to play "Ozzieball," not after GM Kenny Williams extended Jermaine Dye's contract last year. Considering the Sox were already committed to Paul Konerko and Jim Thome, it left them with a slow (if sometimes powerful) middle of the lineup prone to double plays. True again the team was not equipped with a true leadoff man: Nick Swisher and Orlando Cabrera have both failed in the uncomfortable position. So what's a manager to do?

Deal with it, dude. The GM traditionally sets the roster, and the manager has to put it to the best possible use. Look at what the Cubs' Lou Piniella did with a bulbous, misshapen, corner-heavy roster last year: he played Jacque Jones in center, shifted Ryan Theriot to short (both of which the experts said couldn't be done), and generally found a way to put the best eight players on the field.

So look, Ozzie, do the same. If you're not scoring runs, stress defense. Put Brian Anderson in center and leave him there. Play the three hot hands (or not-so-cold bats) between Dye, Swisher, Thome, and Konerko between first, right field, and designated hitter. If you want to run more, by all means put in someone like Alexei Ramirez and run and hit-and-run. Yes, it's a bulbous, misshapen roster, but the Sox are in first place -- remember? -- and it's your job to find a way to keep them there as long as possible. Given the roster, stress defense, on-base percentage, and power -- in that order -- and you'll get the most out of the players Wiliams has given you. And if wholesale changes are made and the Sox drop from first place? It's all on you, Ozzie.

With the Cubs and the White Sox going south the last few days, both Lou Piniella and Ozzie Guillen lost it. Yet Sweet Lou's tirades seemed real, while Ozzie's seemed a bit of a masquerade, even though his language was harsher. Piniella barely made it through a minute of a post-game media conference after last Thursday's blown save by Kerry Wood, triggered by a key misplay by left fielder Alfonso Soriano, and that was after bashing a Gatorade cooler. (No doubt he wished he'd had a water cooler on hand to get real satisfaction.) When some scribe wondered afterward if he'd thought about replacing Soriano with a better defender, say Reed Johnson, in the ninth inning, Lou blasted back, "You're damn right I thought about it. You think I'm stupid or something?" Then he stormed out muttering profanities, perhaps having learned something from the recent Lee Elia anniversary.

Guillen, by contrast, held no profanities back after the Sox' fourth straight loss before the game on Sunday, but word is he was actually quite subdued and not angry while making the comments, and the old scapegoat -- the idea that the Cubs get preferential media treatment while the Sox are "the bitch of Chicago" -- made it seem he was just throwing up a smoke screen for his players, especially as he was talking about the situation in Chicago while on the road in Toronto, where there would soon be a much better whipping boy available in a badly blown call by umpire Dale Scott (something that no doubt would have cost Guillen money in fines if he had blamed the loss on it). As it was, neither outburst worked to inspire the teams. The Cubs lost their ensuing series in Saint Louis and Monday's series opener in Cincinnati, while the Sox were swept in Toronto with losses Sunday and Monday night. Time perhaps to start shouting at the players.

I've had Ozzie Plan season tickets the last couple of years, and in 2007 for my $300 I saw the White Sox win all of two games, one in May, the other in September. Flipping through my ticket stubs brings it all back to me:  L 11-1, L 10-3, L 3-0, L 11-1, L13-3,  etc, etc. At the start of the second half of the season I bet Reader sportswriter Ted Cox that the Sox would finish behind the lowly Royals, and during a miserable August in which they went 9-20 it was looking like a sure thing. But a late September run of four wins--they had no streak longer than this all season--deprived me of a bottle of Blanton's. I wish I'd bet they'd lose 90.

Fortunately for those of us with PTSD from last year, the Sox are already into a five-game winning streak, and signs of life have included not just a sweep over the Tigers (0 and 7 after Tuesday's 5-0 blanking by the BoSox, who got their World Series rings) but a five-RBI game by A.J. Pierzynski, who capped it off with a game-winning three-run homer. That still didn't prepare this A.J.-jersey-wearing fan for the flashback to 2005 at Monday's home opener against the Twins.

The first couple innings looked like the bad old days, with Javy Vazquez laboring to give up three runs on seven hits through four and the Sox stranding eight base runners in that same span. Ozzie got himself thrown out in the third, arguing balls and strikes for no good reason that I could see. By the sixth, when reliever Matt Guerrier took over for Twins starter Nick Blackburn, the Sox were down 3-2 and Ted Cox and I were dissing the Sox pitcher in song ("Javier Vazquez / You're slow as molasses . . ."). But in the bottom of the seventh, Guerrier walked Jim Thome, and Paul Konerko followed with a single to center. This brought in Twins reliever Pat Neshek, who can't feel very happy about it. Dye, with another single to center, batted in Thome, and after Pierzynski struck out swinging, new outfielder Carlos Quentin, playing in left, followed with yet another hard-hit single.

Konerko, a runner so slow the Sox should raise money for charity by offering fans the chance to challenge him in a footrace, was at third, and with two outs, Ted was feeling tetchy: "Why aren't they pinch running for Paulie?" he griped. "They should pull him, move [Nick] Swisher to first, and play Blondie [i.e., Brian Anderson] in center."

"They're just trying to make a hero out of Joe with his grand slam," I joked. Then it happened: Crede connected on a shattered-bat drive over the left field fence. The kids to my left went nuts, waving their complimentary Sox car flags and screaming with glee. A guy in front of them was so overcome with joy and generosity that when the inning was over he ran to buy them ice cream.

I haven't jumped up and down so much in, oh, three years, and the moment really did recall that charmed season. The Sox won 7-4, but I'd point to bright spots more modest than a game-winning grand slam, beginning with Vazquez, who finally got it together and retired the next 11 batters ("I no worry about him," Ozzie said). Every single player got a hit, and--stop the presses--Juan Uribe took a walk. And there were two crucially timed 6-4-3 double plays, including the last two outs that gave Bobby Jenks (now sporting the team's wackiest chin beard) his fourth save. The Sox are in first place, with the Royals in a surprise second--they beat the Yankees Tuesday--and I'm thinking I won't be making bets like last year's anytime soon.

When I look at this year's White Sox -- at least, in their everyday lineup -- I see last year's Cubs. Both have abundant talent but lumpy roster configurations, bulbous at the corners and thin up the middle. Yet when Lou Piniella came in as the Cubs' manager a year ago, he was free to experiment. He used more than 120 different lineups over the 162 games -- seemingly trying something new every day early in the year -- until he arrived at things that worked that had previously been discounted, such as playing Ryan Theriot at shortstop, where he hadn't played since the low minors, and putting Jacque Jones in center field.

Can Ozzie Guillen work the same magic? Although Ozzie earned praise for his intuitive approach during the championship 2005 season, ever since he's been overly devoted to players and their set positions -- on the field and in the batting order. The Sox have two players at third and a hole at second, but has Ozzie even considered moving Josh Fields across the infield, the way Lou moved Theriot a year ago?

Apparently not. What's more, it's still unclear how Ozzie will solve the outfield clutter involving Jerry Owens, Nick Swisher, Carlos Quentin, and Brian Anderson -- four players and two spots, with Jermaine Dye apparently set in right. If Ozzie goes with a set lineup, he'll likely put Owens in center and bat him leadoff, with Swisher in left hitting second. General manager Kenny Williams faces a similar dilemma in whether to deal Joe Crede for whatever they can get for him -- not fair value, evidently -- or stick with Crede at third and send Fields back to Triple A Charlotte.

For what it's worth, here's what I'd do: Stick Crede at third and Anderson in center, purely for their stellar defense early in the season, when the weather will make homers scarce and defense imperative. I'd stick Fields at second and deal with his poor range and hope that Joey Cora can teach him to turn a double play in short order. I'd stick Swisher in left and bat him leadoff, but freely insert Owens -- with Swisher, Paul Konerko, or Jim Thome sitting -- depending on the weather conditions and the pitching matchup. Here's my 13-man Sox offensive roster:

Catchers

A.J. Pierzynski, Toby Hall

Infielders

Paul Konerko, Josh Fields, Joe Crede, Orlando Cabrera, Jim Thome, Juan Uribe

Outfielders

Brian Anderson, Nick Swisher, Jermaine Dye, Jerry Owens, Carlos Quentin

I'm sending Danny Richar and Alexei Ramirez to the minors as a double-play combination, both to be returned ASAP or in the event of a Fields catastrophe at second. Here's my opening day lineup in Cleveland against C.C. Sabathia, to be tinkered with on a daily basis after that:

Cabrera, ss
Quentin, lf 
Thome, DH
Konerko, 1b
Dye, rf
Crede, 3b
Fields, 2b
A.J., c
Anderson, cf

Look, I'm not saying I have all the answers. I'm suggesting that Lou found a way to put the best eight position players on the field at the same time last year for the Cubs and it worked out pretty well for them, and with their roster the Sox need to seek out unconventional ways to do the same. If second base is a hole and Richar or Ramirez isn't ready (don't talk to me about Uribe as an everyday player), why not try Fields at second? If a trade needs to be made, and Crede can't be moved, shop Dye instead with an idea of opening right for Swisher and platooning Owens and Quentin in left. What I know is that Anderson and Crede are so good defensively they belong on the field on a daily basis, at least early in the season, when the weather's cold. It will make the pitching better at a time when pitching dominates.

"It's killing me, it's killing my family. It's killing my coaching staff, it's killing White Sox fans, it kills the owner. It's killing everyone. I just hope it's killing [the players] the same way we feel."

As the fall of the 2005 White Sox entered its grim endgame, a four-alarm Ozzie meltdown was inevitable, but the full-team tongue-lashing he delivered following yesterday's loss--their eighth straight on the road and their 15th in their last 18 tries--was by all acounts scorched-earth Lee Elia-level stuff. Color me child-on-Christmas-Eve breathless with anticipation for the triumphant Mariotti column presumably being composed at this moment (though I'll bet Jay is kicking himself for having wasted so many bullets on this greatest hits piece he phoned in a couple weeks back).

Not that Ozzie doesn't have cause for disgust. Over the last week I've stumbled into more than a few fans, wide-eyed as somnabulists jarred awake in midstride, and had the same exchange: "I mean, I knew we were done, but can you believe we're the second worst team in baseball?!" Ted Cox nails the fundamental failures of Ken Williams's postchampionship strategy in this week's Sports Section, though he's too much of a gentleman to echo the oft-cited crux of the off-season's trading mistakes: a philosophy of "Let's build a bullpen out of firethrowers without strike zones! Preferably pitchers who've already failed in Kansas City!"

But then, that's a level of snark more appropriate to Boers & Bernstein-style broadcasting and its fan-chatter counterpart than sportswriting proper. Speaking of which, I've always felt that deep Sox fandom, for all its famous "What've you done for me lately?" fickleness, shows its finest colors when things are at their worst onfield. Fans may stop attending games, but they don't stop paying attention, and the utterly knowledgable vituperation they'll idly shower on a team this bad makes for some of the finest gallows humor going. Case in point: my favorite sports blog, Southsidesox.com, whose punch-drunk cheerful hatred for the sadly denuded champions is achingly hilarious. Posters weigh in on the story so far--and the tossing under the Greyhound--here.

The Cubs sent Felix Pie down to Triple-A Iowa before opening the second half of the season after the All-Star break. The writing was on the wall: manager Lou Piniella had been favoring Angel Pagan of late in center field. Pie was hitting only .216 with two homers and 18 runs batted in, while Pagan was hitting .267 with three homers and 13 RBI in fewer at-bats. Yet, as Paul Sullivan pointed out today in the Tribune, the Cubs were 32-16 in games Pie appeared in. Some of that was no doubt padded slightly by games where Pie was inserted late as a defensive replacement with the Cubs ahead, but a .667 winning percentage speaks for itself, especially on a team only one game over .500 overall. Pie had six stolen bases to Pagan's three, and also had shown progress in plate discipline, with 11 walks against 139 at-bats, for an on-base percentage of .272 -- not great by any means, but not abysmal. Most important, the Cubs simply looked better with Pie in center field. He has great range and had yet to make an error, and that played a factor in the team's improved pitching since his arrival. If the Cubs sent him down because they think he was overmatched and needs more seasoning, fine, but if they think the team is better without him, they're wrong. A sharp-fielding center fielder brings a lot of intangibles to a team, and those intangibes are made tangible when a record of 32-16 turns up in games a center fielder plays. That's no accident.

Which brings to mind the White Sox and Brian Anderson. Anderson played center field like Jesus' son last season. Baseball Prospectus estimated he saved the team 12 runs over the average center fielder -- almost a run every 10 games he played in, which is considerable. The Sox looked better early in the season, when Anderson was playing more, than they did later, when manager Ozzie Guillen was giving Rob Mackowiak more time in center. There's no denying Anderson struggled early, but when he bottomed out at .152 on June 10, the Sox were already 38-23 and about to run off nine straight wins. Yet for some reason the Sox and Guillen did nothing but doubt Anderson, even after he started hitting. They urged him to play winter ball, attacked him when he resisted, and pooh-poohed it when he came home from Venezuela early with stomach problems. They never really seemed to want to play him this season with the acquisition of Darin Erstad, and at one point Guillen even played Anderson in left with Erstad in center -- inexcusable. True, he was hitting an anemic .118 when sent back to Triple-A Charlotte April 29, but that was in 17 at-bats over 13 games.

I'm not necessarily saying Anderson would have saved the Sox' season. He's hit only .255 at Charlotte, with eight homers and 31 RBI, while suffering from a shoulder injury. But it couldn't have been any worse. The Sox were 12-11 when Anderson was sent down, meaning they're 28-36 without him on the roster. Also, small sample size or not, I can't resist pointing out that the Sox' record with Anderson starting in center this season was 2-1 for a winning percentage of, you guessed it, .667.

With our baseball teams racing each other into the abyss heading toward next weekend's interleague city series rematch, the managers are doing their best to keep the media and the fans entertained -- with their quotes off the field. My favorite of the season so far has come from the Cubs' Lou Piniella, who when asked about the club's offensive woes said, "Let's talk about some bikinis on the beach or surfers on La Jolla." The White Sox' Ozzie Guillen is no piker in that regard, and offered this after the Sox' loss Monday night: "It's the same game over and over. It's like watching ESPN News after 11 o'clock at night, the same thing over and over for 24 hours." The Cubs may have won two in a row against the suprising Mariners, but both teams are still sitting well under .500, and after getting swept by Phillies, the Sox have lost an abysmal 15 of their last 18 games. The managers aren't managing so much as providing comic relief.

But you know what? Even when it comes to providing great quotes they're getting beat. My favorite sports line of the year so far came from none other than tennis's Maria Sharapova at the French Open. When fans booed her after she went ahead and served an ace when an early-round opponent tried to signal for a timeout, Sharapova ignored them and went on to win, saying afterward, "It's tough playing tennis and being Mother Teresa at the same time." Roll over, Leo Durocher, and tell Ozzie and Sweet Lou the news.

We won't know about the White Sox until Monday's season opener, but manager Ozzie Guillen returned in midseason form when his team worked out at White Sox Park Sunday. In spite of the Sox' major-league-worst 10-22 record in exhibitions this spring, Guillen maintained he didn't call the workout for the players -- "My guys don't need this," he said -- but for the media, "the great Chicago media." As usual, Guillen was playing, clowning, giving the reporters, beat writers, and odd columnists what they wanted, while insulting them as they all huddled in the dugout while the players on the field dodged fast-moving showers during batting practice. "Wait," responded Cheryl Raye-Stout of WBEZ 91.5-FM, rising to the bait, "even your son is in the media now," referring to Ozzie Jr., who has a show on WSCR 670-AM. "And he's an asshole too," Guillen said. Everyone laughed. Guillen has done a great job drawing the attention to himself while letting his players work their way into shape this spring, but when the games start in earnest Monday they'd better hit the ground running and leave their spring lethargy behind, else the laughs all around will be harder to come by.

I love spring training--the relaxed playfulness mixed with the gradual increase in the tension of the competition as the regular season approaches, pitchers running sprints in the outfield as the game goes on. And one doesn't necessarily need to be there in person. Chicago fans watching this this afternoon's spring exhibition rematch between the Cubs and the White Sox at Tucson Electric Park on Channel 9 got an unusual taste of that mixture.

With the game at the Sox' spring base, the Sox broadcast team of Ken "Hawk" Harrelson and Darrin Jackson was doing the call, joined in the booth in the second inning by Sox general manager Kenny Williams. In the bottom half Ozzie Guillen joined them as well, via headset in one of those midgame interviews that are such an intrusion during a real game and such a pleasant diversion in an exhibition. Williams remarked that he never got to talk to Guillen during a game and said he wanted Ozzie to get in "championship mode" and call a hit-and-run on the next pitch if Joe Crede got on. "Get a hit, Joe!" Hawk said. Guillen grudgingly said all right.

Lo and behold, Crede yanked a single into left. Guillen dusted off his intricate hand signals--he had to alert new third-base coach Razor Shines he was actually calling something--and Crede took off on the first pitch. The playful competition almost went awry when Rob Mackowiak fouled a bad pitch into the dirt and back up off the bill of his cap, almost getting hit in the face. "Kenny, you're gonna get guys hurt," DJ said. "That's why you're up here and Ozzie is down there."

Still, the unexpected aggressiveness paid off when Mackowiak singled the next pitch up the middle and Crede went from first to third. Both came in to score when Cubs left fielder Cliff Floyd misplayed a Tadahito Iguchi liner into a triple. The Sox went on to win, 7-6, after Sox closer Bobby Jenks blew the save in the top of the ninth, loading the bases, then giving up a three-run double to Casey McGehee. Mackowiak hit the game winner with his fourth single of the day.

Watching on TV was almost better than being there--almost. After all, it was 91 and sunny in Tuscon. 

Ozzie Guillen's much discussed Friday interview with Mike North of the Score. I don't care what he said about Brandon McCarthy; what worries me is that, for the first time I have noticed, Ozzie refers to himself in the third person.