Showing posts with label Ozzie Guillen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ozzie Guillen. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Oh Ozzie, You Fountain of Knowledge
What would Chicago reporters do with out Ozzie Guillen? I mean really. The middle of the summer, what else do you have to write about? And some columnists want to see him get fired. That's like killing the frickin Goose. For example:
Ozzie Guillen addresses challenges for Latino players
Sox manager contrasts situation with that of Japanese players
I'm guessing he'll handle this with same cultural sensitivity as he does everything else.
With MLB Network cameras filming for "The Club," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen reiterated his position Sunday morning on tough conditions facing Latino baseball players, many of whom come from poverty and don't speak English. Guillen spends time each spring in the minor-league camp talking to young Spanish-speaking players about drugs, alcohol and other problems they may face in the United States.
That's actually very good of him to do. He doesn't have to and he takes time out to help
people who came from the same conditions he came from. There is something very honorable about that.
"I'm the only one to teach the Latinos not to use (drugs)," said Guillen, who got on a long roll about the subject. "
Really? He's the only one? On the face of the planet, Ozzie Guillen is the lone ethical guiding light to these players?
I'm the only one, and Major League Baseball doesn't (care) about that, all they care about is how many times I argue with the umpires, what I say to the media.
I guess he really is the only one. He said it twice, it has to be true.
"But I'm the only one in baseball to come up to the Latino kids and say not to use this, and I don't get any credit for that. "
Except when you have a TV series soley about your ball club and you mention 3 times in under a minute that you are the only one to help these kids.
"And they look at it and they say … 'Ozzie said it, don't worry about it.' If somebody else said it, they would be playing (it) every day on the Jumbotron."
Why won't people just pay more attention of Guillen? Someone notice this guy for gosh sake!
Guillen said Latino players on the White Sox "are lucky we speak Spanish, but some people don't have that privilege to come here and (have that). That's why I always criticize why Japanese players have interpreters and Latinos don't have one. Very bad."
I'm not really qualified to comment on this, Guillen probably has a point. Though I would venture to guess every team has at least one player who can act as an interpreter for someone who speaks Spanish, where most teams don't have players who speak both Japanese and English.
Don't take this wrong, but they take advantage of us. We bring a Japanese player and they are very good and they bring all these privileges to them. We bring a Dominican kid (and say), '(Bleep) you, you go to the minor leagues, good luck.
Well, Guillen might say that. I'd hope Kenny William (GM of White Sox) would put it nicer than that.
And it's always going to be like that. It's never going to change."Guillen, who is from Venezuela, was 19 when he came to the major leagues and worked to speak English. When asked if most minor-league coaches could speak Spanish, Guillen said:"They don't have to, we're in the United States. We don't have to bring any coaches that speak Spanish to help anybody. You choose to come to this country and you better speak English."
I don't know if that actually answers the question. Maybe it has to do with the idea that Latino players are expected to speak English and Japanese players aren't.
Case Closed.
Ozzie Guillen addresses challenges for Latino players
Sox manager contrasts situation with that of Japanese players
I'm guessing he'll handle this with same cultural sensitivity as he does everything else.
With MLB Network cameras filming for "The Club," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen reiterated his position Sunday morning on tough conditions facing Latino baseball players, many of whom come from poverty and don't speak English. Guillen spends time each spring in the minor-league camp talking to young Spanish-speaking players about drugs, alcohol and other problems they may face in the United States.
That's actually very good of him to do. He doesn't have to and he takes time out to help
people who came from the same conditions he came from. There is something very honorable about that.
"I'm the only one to teach the Latinos not to use (drugs)," said Guillen, who got on a long roll about the subject. "
Really? He's the only one? On the face of the planet, Ozzie Guillen is the lone ethical guiding light to these players?
I'm the only one, and Major League Baseball doesn't (care) about that, all they care about is how many times I argue with the umpires, what I say to the media.
I guess he really is the only one. He said it twice, it has to be true.
"But I'm the only one in baseball to come up to the Latino kids and say not to use this, and I don't get any credit for that. "
Except when you have a TV series soley about your ball club and you mention 3 times in under a minute that you are the only one to help these kids.
"And they look at it and they say … 'Ozzie said it, don't worry about it.' If somebody else said it, they would be playing (it) every day on the Jumbotron."
Why won't people just pay more attention of Guillen? Someone notice this guy for gosh sake!
Guillen said Latino players on the White Sox "are lucky we speak Spanish, but some people don't have that privilege to come here and (have that). That's why I always criticize why Japanese players have interpreters and Latinos don't have one. Very bad."
I'm not really qualified to comment on this, Guillen probably has a point. Though I would venture to guess every team has at least one player who can act as an interpreter for someone who speaks Spanish, where most teams don't have players who speak both Japanese and English.
Don't take this wrong, but they take advantage of us. We bring a Japanese player and they are very good and they bring all these privileges to them. We bring a Dominican kid (and say), '(Bleep) you, you go to the minor leagues, good luck.
Well, Guillen might say that. I'd hope Kenny William (GM of White Sox) would put it nicer than that.
And it's always going to be like that. It's never going to change."Guillen, who is from Venezuela, was 19 when he came to the major leagues and worked to speak English. When asked if most minor-league coaches could speak Spanish, Guillen said:"They don't have to, we're in the United States. We don't have to bring any coaches that speak Spanish to help anybody. You choose to come to this country and you better speak English."
I don't know if that actually answers the question. Maybe it has to do with the idea that Latino players are expected to speak English and Japanese players aren't.
Case Closed.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Haugh-Ball!
After a brief hiatus to clean up the 'Great Bronson Flood' of 2010, we're back. So far in the flood, the town has lost the barber shop, Chubby's Diner (which has a great fish sandwich), and the town's only mailbox. Chaos ensued as Charlie skinny dipped in the flooded street in full view of the adjacent pre-school. But enough about that, we're here to meta-criticize the media. Take us away David Haugh:
Sox's Williams weighs pros, cons of tinkering with 1st-place club
Pros include: getting better
Cons include: crazed science experiments involving something called team-chemistry...I'm not familiar.
When Ken Williams talks about the status quo like it is a bigger enemy than the Tigers or Twins, it is what you admire most about the football coach trapped inside a baseball executive's body.
How come every time some baseball player/manager/gm shows a desire to win they compare the guy to a football player (Erstad). Do high school cheerleading coaches not want to win? I say we start going with that one.
He oversees one of baseball's most overachieving teams, one that only Hawk Harrelson and the Guillen family thought would be in first place this late in July.
Both are, of course, completely insane.
Instinctively, Williams wants more. He wants the left-handed bat, the fifth starting pitcher, the bullpen lefty and Albert Pujols too, if that's not too much to ask. The compulsive competitor in Williams wants it all mostly because he can't possibly have it.
How do you prove that last statement? I thought he wanted it because he wanted to win like football coaches do.
"When we won the World Series (in 2005), I was on the bus thinking what we could have done to make this easier,'' Williams recalled Monday at U.S. Cellular Field.
Nerd. Take that kettle!
This is the trademark intensity many Sox fans love most about Williams. Five days before the non-waiver trading deadline, it also should be what scares them out of their black pinstriped slippers.Williams was asked if the Sox team that beat the Mariners 6-1 Monday night is good enough, as is, to accomplish all the things he wants to accomplish this season. He hesitated, supplying the kind of dramatic pause producers of MLB's "The Club'' surely have come to appreciate."I don't know,'' Williams answered.
Honest at least.
The confident answer the 25 players in the clubhouse wanted to hear was yes. The answer Ozzie Guillen has maintained is yes.
Semantically I'll argue that it is the Manager's job to lie to the players and tell them they're better than they are. The GM's job is mostly dealing with media and fans where it does pay to be a little more honest.
The man spending the week with his ear pressed to the phone listening to trade proposals, given a chance to cast a vote of confidence, abstained. Uh-oh. Somewhere, Daniel Hudson's heart just skipped a beat.
He should get that looked at. Tachycardia is a serious issue.
"You've got to be cognizant of making a move that's a little too shortsighted and jeopardizing your future (and) I certainly don't want to do that,'' Williams said. "However … you guys know me, I can't B.S. you. If there's something to do in a major way that doesn't disrupt what we have, and adds to what do have, I'll take that shot.
Sounds prudent.
'If Williams' aim is for his team to win the American League Central, he may want to think twice about pulling that trigger.For about 30 minutes before Monday night's game, Williams leaned patiently against a dugout railing as Guillen spoke within earshot about 15 feet away. He really should have been listening to Sox captain Paul Konerko.Inside the Sox's clubhouse before either Williams or Guillen addressed baseball's Hallmark holiday — the manufactured, overhyped July 31 trade deadline — Konerko spoke in a volume much lower than his bosses. But with words that should carry the most weight in this potentially pivotal week."The character of this team and the makeup is why we're probably competing at all,'' Konerko said. "That's a fragile thing and you have to watch that … but who knows, you could add somebody in a move that actually enhances that.''
Sure, Adam Dunn may fit in as well as Jake Peavy did even if Dunn would grudgingly have to accept a DH role. Prince Fielder may have no effect on the Sox chemistry despite giving Konerko the occasional day off at first base he doesn't need and Guillen a lineup conundrum he doesn't want.
So Guillen doesn't want Fielder because...it would give the 34-year-old Paul Konerko some days off. And Guillen would have to learn how to spell 'Fielder' for the lineup card.
But adding either player guarantees the Sox nothing but change.
That is just a stupidly obvious statement. Really really stupid.
And change makes a first-place team as uncomfortable as Konerko seemed discussing that possibility.
Why? Why would it make them uncomfortable? One reason? Anything?
If Williams somehow can engineer a trade that involves prospects who haven't contributed to this turnaround season, then applaud and nominate him for baseball executive of the year.
Nope. No reason. It just would.
But subtracting anything from the Sox's current roster now would only make it trickier to add another division title this year ...
Why? Because Fielder is a Mounds guy and Konerko likes Almond Joy? I've never heard anything about Prince being a club house cancer. Or Dunn for that matter.
Please don't start complaining about the Sox's viability in the playoffs if they stand pat. That's like worrying how you would pay the taxes after winning the lottery.
That is NOT a cheerleading coach's mentality. "Well our cheers are good enough to get us TO state, lets stop here and just be happy for ourselves...everyone gets ice cream!"
It's all about winning the Central first, and tinkering with the roster would disrupt the flow of a team that thinks it has something special going.
Please someone explain to me what that last sentence means. I have no clue. So first you have to win the Central division to make the playoffs. Right. Then you can't get a stud left-handed hitter because it would cause A.J. to become incontinent or something.
It doesn't matter if you agree or if the Sox actually do. It only matters that they believe they do.
David, do you have an editor? If so, he should have printed his paragraph out, slapped you, and rubbed your nose in the printed copy while yelling "No!".
"I don't know why this is, but baseball just seems like a certain vibe you get in the clubhouse where you feel like you can win and sometimes when pieces move or one little thing gets altered, it changes things to where teams that believe don't believe and something gets out of kilter,'' Konerko said.
I don't really buy that logic, but I'll defer to an ALCS MVP on that one.
For the record, Guillen would rather acknowledge Wrigley Field as a baseball landmark than team chemistry as a factor in his team's success."You know how you make chemistry? Win games,'' Guillen said.
YES!!!! Dead frickin on!!!! Ozzie Guillen is now the smarted person in the room.
Yet in the next breath, Guillen allowed that there was something inexplicable about this team that he would like to keep in tact, and that is the message he keeps sending Williams.The quality that's easier to pinpoint than for anybody to explain."Big names don't win games, good teams win games,'' Guillen said.
Hmmmm...true, but big time talent tends to win more games than it losses.
There's only one person Guillen has to worry about not feeling satisfied with the Sox roster before the trade deadline, and he's busy pacing in his office at 35th and Shields.
Case closed!
Sox's Williams weighs pros, cons of tinkering with 1st-place club
Pros include: getting better
Cons include: crazed science experiments involving something called team-chemistry...I'm not familiar.
When Ken Williams talks about the status quo like it is a bigger enemy than the Tigers or Twins, it is what you admire most about the football coach trapped inside a baseball executive's body.
How come every time some baseball player/manager/gm shows a desire to win they compare the guy to a football player (Erstad). Do high school cheerleading coaches not want to win? I say we start going with that one.
He oversees one of baseball's most overachieving teams, one that only Hawk Harrelson and the Guillen family thought would be in first place this late in July.
Both are, of course, completely insane.
Instinctively, Williams wants more. He wants the left-handed bat, the fifth starting pitcher, the bullpen lefty and Albert Pujols too, if that's not too much to ask. The compulsive competitor in Williams wants it all mostly because he can't possibly have it.
How do you prove that last statement? I thought he wanted it because he wanted to win like football coaches do.
"When we won the World Series (in 2005), I was on the bus thinking what we could have done to make this easier,'' Williams recalled Monday at U.S. Cellular Field.
Nerd. Take that kettle!
This is the trademark intensity many Sox fans love most about Williams. Five days before the non-waiver trading deadline, it also should be what scares them out of their black pinstriped slippers.Williams was asked if the Sox team that beat the Mariners 6-1 Monday night is good enough, as is, to accomplish all the things he wants to accomplish this season. He hesitated, supplying the kind of dramatic pause producers of MLB's "The Club'' surely have come to appreciate."I don't know,'' Williams answered.
Honest at least.
The confident answer the 25 players in the clubhouse wanted to hear was yes. The answer Ozzie Guillen has maintained is yes.
Semantically I'll argue that it is the Manager's job to lie to the players and tell them they're better than they are. The GM's job is mostly dealing with media and fans where it does pay to be a little more honest.
The man spending the week with his ear pressed to the phone listening to trade proposals, given a chance to cast a vote of confidence, abstained. Uh-oh. Somewhere, Daniel Hudson's heart just skipped a beat.
He should get that looked at. Tachycardia is a serious issue.
"You've got to be cognizant of making a move that's a little too shortsighted and jeopardizing your future (and) I certainly don't want to do that,'' Williams said. "However … you guys know me, I can't B.S. you. If there's something to do in a major way that doesn't disrupt what we have, and adds to what do have, I'll take that shot.
Sounds prudent.
'If Williams' aim is for his team to win the American League Central, he may want to think twice about pulling that trigger.For about 30 minutes before Monday night's game, Williams leaned patiently against a dugout railing as Guillen spoke within earshot about 15 feet away. He really should have been listening to Sox captain Paul Konerko.Inside the Sox's clubhouse before either Williams or Guillen addressed baseball's Hallmark holiday — the manufactured, overhyped July 31 trade deadline — Konerko spoke in a volume much lower than his bosses. But with words that should carry the most weight in this potentially pivotal week."The character of this team and the makeup is why we're probably competing at all,'' Konerko said. "That's a fragile thing and you have to watch that … but who knows, you could add somebody in a move that actually enhances that.''
Sure, Adam Dunn may fit in as well as Jake Peavy did even if Dunn would grudgingly have to accept a DH role. Prince Fielder may have no effect on the Sox chemistry despite giving Konerko the occasional day off at first base he doesn't need and Guillen a lineup conundrum he doesn't want.
So Guillen doesn't want Fielder because...it would give the 34-year-old Paul Konerko some days off. And Guillen would have to learn how to spell 'Fielder' for the lineup card.
But adding either player guarantees the Sox nothing but change.
That is just a stupidly obvious statement. Really really stupid.
And change makes a first-place team as uncomfortable as Konerko seemed discussing that possibility.
Why? Why would it make them uncomfortable? One reason? Anything?
If Williams somehow can engineer a trade that involves prospects who haven't contributed to this turnaround season, then applaud and nominate him for baseball executive of the year.
Nope. No reason. It just would.
But subtracting anything from the Sox's current roster now would only make it trickier to add another division title this year ...
Why? Because Fielder is a Mounds guy and Konerko likes Almond Joy? I've never heard anything about Prince being a club house cancer. Or Dunn for that matter.
Please don't start complaining about the Sox's viability in the playoffs if they stand pat. That's like worrying how you would pay the taxes after winning the lottery.
That is NOT a cheerleading coach's mentality. "Well our cheers are good enough to get us TO state, lets stop here and just be happy for ourselves...everyone gets ice cream!"
It's all about winning the Central first, and tinkering with the roster would disrupt the flow of a team that thinks it has something special going.
Please someone explain to me what that last sentence means. I have no clue. So first you have to win the Central division to make the playoffs. Right. Then you can't get a stud left-handed hitter because it would cause A.J. to become incontinent or something.
It doesn't matter if you agree or if the Sox actually do. It only matters that they believe they do.
David, do you have an editor? If so, he should have printed his paragraph out, slapped you, and rubbed your nose in the printed copy while yelling "No!".
"I don't know why this is, but baseball just seems like a certain vibe you get in the clubhouse where you feel like you can win and sometimes when pieces move or one little thing gets altered, it changes things to where teams that believe don't believe and something gets out of kilter,'' Konerko said.
I don't really buy that logic, but I'll defer to an ALCS MVP on that one.
For the record, Guillen would rather acknowledge Wrigley Field as a baseball landmark than team chemistry as a factor in his team's success."You know how you make chemistry? Win games,'' Guillen said.
YES!!!! Dead frickin on!!!! Ozzie Guillen is now the smarted person in the room.
Yet in the next breath, Guillen allowed that there was something inexplicable about this team that he would like to keep in tact, and that is the message he keeps sending Williams.The quality that's easier to pinpoint than for anybody to explain."Big names don't win games, good teams win games,'' Guillen said.
Hmmmm...true, but big time talent tends to win more games than it losses.
There's only one person Guillen has to worry about not feeling satisfied with the Sox roster before the trade deadline, and he's busy pacing in his office at 35th and Shields.
Case closed!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Funny Quote
This is from Ozzie Guillen discussing whether or not Kenny Williams (Sox GM) give Ozzie any input into what players are brought in:
''Kenny should know what we need, what we [don't need],'' Guillen said. ''I'm not the type of manager who gets involved in players, who should be here, who should not. We always talk about this club. We don't have a meeting about anything. Every time me and Kenny have a meeting, it's just because something stupid I did. "
''Kenny should know what we need, what we [don't need],'' Guillen said. ''I'm not the type of manager who gets involved in players, who should be here, who should not. We always talk about this club. We don't have a meeting about anything. Every time me and Kenny have a meeting, it's just because something stupid I did. "
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Who's to Blame?
I'm not sure. But yesterday, with the White Sox down 5-0, Juan Pierre, who actually reached base somehow, tried to steal. He was unceremoniously thrown out.
The White Sox were down by 5 runs. So Pierre, or whomever was in charge of the move, decided to risk an out when stealing 2nd did almost nothing to improve your odds of winning. The White Sox would go on to lose 6-5. Huh. Makes you think.
The White Sox were down by 5 runs. So Pierre, or whomever was in charge of the move, decided to risk an out when stealing 2nd did almost nothing to improve your odds of winning. The White Sox would go on to lose 6-5. Huh. Makes you think.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Let's Bring the Other Chicago Team in Here
No, not the Bears. Not the Blackhawks. Not the Fire or the Wolves. The White Sox (a singular, distant, unenthusiastic "yay" rings out on the South Side). Take it away Mike Rosenthal (me in regular/Mike in italics):
Taking a stab at 2010 season picks
I guess that's appropriate phrasing for picking a team on the South Side of Chicago.
Here is my vision for the end of the 2010 season: White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen and general manager Ken Williams knocking FOX’s Chris Rose to the ground while wrestling for the World Series trophy.
That is actually the most realistic prediction in this article. Assuming they both crash some other teams World Series Trophy presentation. Which would be so great I can barely stand the idea.
Ozzie’s youngest son, Oney, ripping Williams in a tweet delivered straight from the victory podium.
Not as funny.
Ozzie’s oldest son, Ozzie Jr., pouring champagne on his girlfriend and fellow reality TV star, Kim Kardashian.
That's gonna happen anyway.
That’s right, I’m picking Team Wacko to win the World Series.
Ridiculous? Perhaps. But so is the notion of trying to predict the actual Series champ seven months in advance.
I don't know if it's ridiculous. The playoffs throw a wrench in the whole thing since they're such a crapshoot, but it doesn't mean you're going to run out and pick the Royals to win it all. You can use statistical analysis and complicated calculations to come to a pretty decent guess.
Spare me those computer simulations with their “deadly accurate” forecasts of exactly how many games each team will win.
Oh, I guess you can't.
Tell me which players will get hurt.
They have stats for that, it's called PAP for pitchers. Most, if not all projection systems take into account how many games a player will play based on his age and injury history.
Tell me which teams will provide the best replacements.
Projection systems do that also. Have you never heard of Baseball Prospectus?
Tell me which moves will be made in the July and August trading periods.
Call Peter Gammons, I'm sure he knows.
Tell me all that, and I will tell you which team will win the 2010 Series — or, at least, give you a reasonably good guess.
Well Mike, you are expected to look some things up. I'm sure SI has interns that can do that for you and compile the information in a readable way. I'm also starting to see how you picked the White Sox, you did no research and picked the team you could make the most jokes about.
Allow me to share my philosophy for this column, which my ruthless, unrelenting bosses demand, without fail, on the eve of every season:
I'm guessing it involves chicken bones and the blood of a virgin.
Never pick the Yankees.
Really? That's the beauty of the game? Cynicism?
Bear with me now
Da Bears!!
as I harp on the weaknesses of every club that dares threatens my anointed champions. The Yankees largely avoided injuries with an older roster last season, and I’m not sure they can do it again.
Taking a stab at 2010 season picks
I guess that's appropriate phrasing for picking a team on the South Side of Chicago.
Here is my vision for the end of the 2010 season: White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen and general manager Ken Williams knocking FOX’s Chris Rose to the ground while wrestling for the World Series trophy.
That is actually the most realistic prediction in this article. Assuming they both crash some other teams World Series Trophy presentation. Which would be so great I can barely stand the idea.
Ozzie’s youngest son, Oney, ripping Williams in a tweet delivered straight from the victory podium.
Not as funny.
Ozzie’s oldest son, Ozzie Jr., pouring champagne on his girlfriend and fellow reality TV star, Kim Kardashian.
That's gonna happen anyway.
That’s right, I’m picking Team Wacko to win the World Series.
Ridiculous? Perhaps. But so is the notion of trying to predict the actual Series champ seven months in advance.
I don't know if it's ridiculous. The playoffs throw a wrench in the whole thing since they're such a crapshoot, but it doesn't mean you're going to run out and pick the Royals to win it all. You can use statistical analysis and complicated calculations to come to a pretty decent guess.
Spare me those computer simulations with their “deadly accurate” forecasts of exactly how many games each team will win.
Oh, I guess you can't.
Tell me which players will get hurt.
They have stats for that, it's called PAP for pitchers. Most, if not all projection systems take into account how many games a player will play based on his age and injury history.
Tell me which teams will provide the best replacements.
Projection systems do that also. Have you never heard of Baseball Prospectus?
Tell me which moves will be made in the July and August trading periods.
Call Peter Gammons, I'm sure he knows.
Tell me all that, and I will tell you which team will win the 2010 Series — or, at least, give you a reasonably good guess.
Well Mike, you are expected to look some things up. I'm sure SI has interns that can do that for you and compile the information in a readable way. I'm also starting to see how you picked the White Sox, you did no research and picked the team you could make the most jokes about.
Allow me to share my philosophy for this column, which my ruthless, unrelenting bosses demand, without fail, on the eve of every season:
I'm guessing it involves chicken bones and the blood of a virgin.
Never pick the Yankees.
Great, you've been wrong 27 times then. (yes I know he didn't do prediction for SI back in the 20's). The 90's must have been a tough time for you at the sports book Mike.
Almost never pick the Red Sox.
Last decade must have been a tough time for you at the sports book Mike.
Try to approach the column seriously, assessing each team’s strengths and weaknesses.
Hey, a logical step, way to go.
But then, at the precise moment my head is about to explode, go off the board. Hence, the White Sox.
I'm going to point out that I get what he's trying to do here, saying that predictions are nothing more than guesses so why not just have fun with them. But this is kinda his job, and he's blatantly admitting he put almost no time or effort into this column.
This season, the Yankees and Phillies look like the two best teams on paper. I can easily foresee a World Series rematch if the Series started, like, tomorrow. But a 162-game regular season and two playoff rounds will come first. The trick to identifying a potential champion is not simply picking the most talented outfit. The winner will need financial flexibility to add payroll, a strong farm system to deliver both quality depth and trade fodder and, last but not least, luck.
OK. All those things might help, but I would strongly recommend picking the most talented outfit. And not just the team with the strongest farm system. And to be honest, luck evens out over the course of a season. The Yankees weren't just lucky last year. The Phillies weren't just lucky. There were the most talented teams in their respective leagues.
The White Sox, at the very least, will be a better team than most people think.
Wow, Phil sounds really confident about that, I wonder why...
Their pitching, starting and relief, could be astonishingly good.
Alllllllright...it could also be astonishingly bad. Phil didn't give us any reason to believe him there.
They will score enough runs only if center fielder Alex Rios and right fielder Carlos Quentin produce monster seasons, and that’s a lot to ask.
So why would you pick them if you think their offense can't produce?
But the Twins’ loss of closer Joe Nathan created an opening, and if the Sox reach the postseason, a rotation of Peavy, Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd and John Danks could evoke memories of their title run in ’05.
There we go, a reasonable scenario where the White Sox could win it all. Though that offense still looks poor.
The White Sox probably are not as flush with cash as they were last season,
"Probably"? God knows you couldn't use any resource at SI to find that out.
when they obtained two pricey players, right-hander Jake Peavy and center fielder Alex Rios, within a two-week period. Their farm system, too, is not as deep as those of some other clubs,
Yeah, as reported by SI they ranked 25th. Not good.
but when Williams needs a piece, he usually gets it. Of course, Team Wacko annually leads the league in volatility, and the potential for controversy is even greater this season. Guillen, Williams and owner Jerry Reinsdorf will be the stars of a reality show on the MLB Network. Little good can come of such an endeavor, at least from a baseball perspective.
By the time that airs (mid-season) the press will have a whole litany of quotes to work with from Guillen already. Some racist, some sexist, some homophobic, but all offensive.
The beauty of the game is that virtually every contender can be viewed through the same cynical prism.Really? That's the beauty of the game? Cynicism?
Bear with me now
Da Bears!!
as I harp on the weaknesses of every club that dares threatens my anointed champions. The Yankees largely avoided injuries with an older roster last season, and I’m not sure they can do it again.
Good point.
The Red Sox will excel at run prevention and reinforce their offense if necessary. But let’s see right-handers John Lackey and Josh Beckett both produce 30-plus starts.
So we're going with the injury thing again...alright.
The Rays’ starting pitching is not at the level of the two AL East super-powers, their bullpen will miss setup left-hander J.P. Howell early and their budget already is shot — not good.
Last year the Ray's were 7th in the league in ERA. 0.01 behind the super-powered Red Sox. And you just talked about how the starters for the Red Sox won't stay healthy. While you're at it, you could have pointed out that last year the White Sox had better pitching than the Yankees, and that was without Jake Peavy for most of the year.
So then Phil goes over a few other teams, nothing of note there.
Now to the inferior league
The Phillies already are worried about their pitching depth, though my guess is they will re-sign Pedro Martinez, who unfortunately cannot both start and relieve.
K, pitching depth, got it.
I love the Braves, but worry about the age/injury factor with closer Billy Wagner, setup man Takashi Saito and third baseman Chipper Jones.
K, pitching depth again.
The Marlins will hit, but their rotation beyond Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco is a crapshoot. The Brewers are similar, though their pitching is stronger overall.
Alright, chalk up two more for pitching depth.
Talk to me about the Cardinals, and I’ll bet you that at least one of their core players — most likely right-hander Chris Carpenter, maybe first baseman Albert Pujols — will miss significant time.
Injuries, a change of pace, thank god. Though he does point out Carpenter as a candidate for injury which implies (dun dun dunnnn) pitching depth.
The Cubs? Good luck to Lou managing that bullpen.
Arrr...Another for ye depths of pitchin'. Are we seeing a trend yet?
In the N.L. West, the suddenly trendy Rockies possess enough young talent to patch any weakness. My only question is...
Let me guess...
whether they can handle expectations, something they did not do well in ’08 coming off their only World Series appearance.
Ha, that's their biggest problem? Handling expectations? Bet the White Sox wish they had that as their only conundrum.
As for the Divorce Court Dodgers, manager Joe Torre has spoken openly about the team’ lack of a No. 1 starter, and owner Frank McCourt refused to add payroll in midseason even when he was, ahem, happily married.
This is just laughable now. Though in a way, lack of a number one starter isn't exactly pitching depth right? I mean kinda, but I want to give Phil one here.
The Giants’ pitching is terrific,
YES!!! Finally.
but I’m sorry, first baseman Aubrey Huff and super-utility man Mark DeRosa will not make enough of a difference offensively.
Damn, the one team in the league that can pitch, what a shame.
OK, that about does it. The White Sox are my only team left standing, though it’s always possible that Ozzie and Kenny will end up rolling in the mud.
Sounds like a main event for lockdown. Someone tell Hogan.
Hold off on your Internet snark, your vicious blogs and those ever-cheerful comments that appear at the bottom of my columns.
Dude, don't tell me how to run my blog.
The best part is, you can play the exact same process-of-elimination game that I just did, substituting your favorite team as champion. It’s baseball. It’s unpredictable.
I defy any Pirates fan to do this.
And it will consume us all for the next seven months. Enjoy the season, everyone.
Well that was a pleasant ending at least.
Case Closed!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
George Bremer Puts The Big Hurt On the English Language
George, like the rest of us heard about Frank Thomas' retirement on Friday. I'm hoping he did not spend the next 3 days working on this stinker of an article. (Me in regular/George in italics)
Big Hurt Truly Did It His Way
At 6-foot-5, 257 pounds, Frank Thomas is a giant literally and figuratively.
Going by that sentence you just mean literally unless you're going to point out that he is the greatest White Sox hitter in the next sentence.
The man Ken Harrelson dubbed "The Big Hurt" also is a walking contradiction.
Guess not. Also, keep that "walking contradiction" thing in mind. That should be the theme of the article.
A former tight end at Auburn, he once reportedly cried softly at his locker after being dressed down by then-shortstop Ozzie Guillen early in his career.
If Ozzie Guillen dressed me down, I'd spend the night in shower eating chocolate ice cream and sobbing like child. So Frank beats me on that one.
A man allegedly obsessed with his personal statistics, he talked longingly of playing his entire career with the Chicago White Sox and bringing a World Series championship to the South Siders.
Still looking for a contradiction...or that figurative giant thing you pointed out...
Thomas officially retired Friday, though he hasn’t played in the majors since 2008. With The Big Hurt, however, nothing’s simple.
He retired. How complicated is that? The man held on last year hoping to get picked up by a team. It didn't happen. Lots of players do this in their final years. They just aren't huge stars like Thomas.
He spent the first nine seasons of his career hitting like Ted Williams and the final 10 hewing closer to Dave Kingman.
Is that supposed to be the contradiction thing? I don't understand...
When the White Sox finally won the World Series in 2005, an injured Thomas played in just 34 games. He still managed to hit 12 home runs.
Yes, that was a sweet month for him, and White Sox fans I presume. However...not a contradiction.
After the season, he was released by the franchise that drafted him with the seventh overall pick of the 1989 amateur draft. He played 60 games in the majors a year later and won back-to-back American League MVP awards in 1993 and 1994.
Wait. He played in 60 games a year after he was released or a year after being drafted? Nice Timecop trick there, starting the paragraph in 2005, jumping back to 1989, then ending in 1994. Van Damme would be proud.
Much of his early career in the Windy City was overshadowed by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. By the time Jordan left the city for good following the 1997-98 NBA season, the Cubs’ Sammy Sosa became the new favorite son.
Yeah, not a contradiction. It also argues against the whole "figurative giant" statement from earlier.
Perhaps that’s why Thomas never seemed to get the recognition his numbers said he deserved. In 1993, when the White Sox won their final American League West Division title, he hit .317 with 41 homers and 128 RBIs. A year later, in a strike-shortened year, he hit .353 with 38 homers and 101 RBIs.
Um, two league MVP's aren't recognition? Also a lot of people I heard talking about it on the airwaves think he's a first-ballot hall-of-famer. That would seem to be recognition.
But his most impressive contribution came off the field.
During an era plagued by performance-enhancing drugs, Thomas was never questioned. In fact, he was the only active player to volunteer to speak with George Mitchell, the former senator investigating the depth of steroid use in the sport.
Good for him. However...not his MOST IMPRESSIVE contribution. That was most definitely ON THE FIELD. If he cures Alzheimer's, then we'll talk.
Thomas reportedly wasn’t always the best teammate. He certainly wasn’t always great with the media. And he once embarrassingly admitted he wasn’t familiar with Jackie Robinson’s career.
That's actually pretty sad. But not a contradiction.
But he was -- with apologies to Nellie Fox, Luis Aparicio and Harold Baines -- the greatest player ever to don a White Sox jersey.
Not...a...contra...diction.
Thomas showed hard work and determination can outdistance pharmacology.
And, despite his faults, he was a hero in a game in dire need of them.
One of baseball’s all-time greats rode into the sunset Friday, and we’re all a little poorer for it.
Terrific George. You completely ignored the main point of your own article. And, if I may quote from you, "We're all a little poorer for it."
Case Closed.
Big Hurt Truly Did It His Way
At 6-foot-5, 257 pounds, Frank Thomas is a giant literally and figuratively.
Going by that sentence you just mean literally unless you're going to point out that he is the greatest White Sox hitter in the next sentence.
The man Ken Harrelson dubbed "The Big Hurt" also is a walking contradiction.
Guess not. Also, keep that "walking contradiction" thing in mind. That should be the theme of the article.
A former tight end at Auburn, he once reportedly cried softly at his locker after being dressed down by then-shortstop Ozzie Guillen early in his career.
If Ozzie Guillen dressed me down, I'd spend the night in shower eating chocolate ice cream and sobbing like child. So Frank beats me on that one.
A man allegedly obsessed with his personal statistics, he talked longingly of playing his entire career with the Chicago White Sox and bringing a World Series championship to the South Siders.
Still looking for a contradiction...or that figurative giant thing you pointed out...
Thomas officially retired Friday, though he hasn’t played in the majors since 2008. With The Big Hurt, however, nothing’s simple.
He retired. How complicated is that? The man held on last year hoping to get picked up by a team. It didn't happen. Lots of players do this in their final years. They just aren't huge stars like Thomas.
He spent the first nine seasons of his career hitting like Ted Williams and the final 10 hewing closer to Dave Kingman.
Is that supposed to be the contradiction thing? I don't understand...
When the White Sox finally won the World Series in 2005, an injured Thomas played in just 34 games. He still managed to hit 12 home runs.
Yes, that was a sweet month for him, and White Sox fans I presume. However...not a contradiction.
After the season, he was released by the franchise that drafted him with the seventh overall pick of the 1989 amateur draft. He played 60 games in the majors a year later and won back-to-back American League MVP awards in 1993 and 1994.
Wait. He played in 60 games a year after he was released or a year after being drafted? Nice Timecop trick there, starting the paragraph in 2005, jumping back to 1989, then ending in 1994. Van Damme would be proud.
Much of his early career in the Windy City was overshadowed by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. By the time Jordan left the city for good following the 1997-98 NBA season, the Cubs’ Sammy Sosa became the new favorite son.
Yeah, not a contradiction. It also argues against the whole "figurative giant" statement from earlier.
Perhaps that’s why Thomas never seemed to get the recognition his numbers said he deserved. In 1993, when the White Sox won their final American League West Division title, he hit .317 with 41 homers and 128 RBIs. A year later, in a strike-shortened year, he hit .353 with 38 homers and 101 RBIs.
Um, two league MVP's aren't recognition? Also a lot of people I heard talking about it on the airwaves think he's a first-ballot hall-of-famer. That would seem to be recognition.
But his most impressive contribution came off the field.
During an era plagued by performance-enhancing drugs, Thomas was never questioned. In fact, he was the only active player to volunteer to speak with George Mitchell, the former senator investigating the depth of steroid use in the sport.
Good for him. However...not his MOST IMPRESSIVE contribution. That was most definitely ON THE FIELD. If he cures Alzheimer's, then we'll talk.
Thomas reportedly wasn’t always the best teammate. He certainly wasn’t always great with the media. And he once embarrassingly admitted he wasn’t familiar with Jackie Robinson’s career.
That's actually pretty sad. But not a contradiction.
But he was -- with apologies to Nellie Fox, Luis Aparicio and Harold Baines -- the greatest player ever to don a White Sox jersey.
Not...a...contra...diction.
Thomas showed hard work and determination can outdistance pharmacology.
And, despite his faults, he was a hero in a game in dire need of them.
One of baseball’s all-time greats rode into the sunset Friday, and we’re all a little poorer for it.
Terrific George. You completely ignored the main point of your own article. And, if I may quote from you, "We're all a little poorer for it."
Case Closed.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Here's the Oz-a-roo
In 1996 there was a movie called Chain Reaction. It stared Keanu Reeves as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago who works as a technician for a scientific experiment. Keanu Reeves as a scientist? Ah, the magic of Hollywood. Well move over Charlie Kaufman, Rick Morrissey is taking the human imagination where it dare not go in a movie called:
Thome's popularity complicating Ozzie's plans
Alright not the catchiest title, but still, don't judge a book by it's cover. Let's look at the synopsis:
Ozzie Guillen has always wanted to play the mad scientist with his lineup card, to pour the smoking contents of one beaker into the bubbling mixture of another.
I'm going to spruce this movie pitch up for Rick since it's just a treatment. A Refugee from a far away planet; Ozzie Guillen struggles to balance the tasks of everyday baseball managing and being a Nobel Prize winning scientist. But even with all his scientific knowhow, he can't find a mixture to cure the one thing that ails him...his heart. Co-staring Jim Thome as his homerun-hitting robot sidekick.
OK, Ozzie, it's your chemistry set. Go have fun with it.
I would like to say, in all seriousness that giving Ozzie Guillen a chemistry set does not seem like a good idea. Though to be fair I have never met the man.
Guillen likes Thome, as do the slugger's former Sox teammates. He's as genuine, nice and polite as a person can be, which is a more difficult trifecta for a pro baseball player than the Triple Crown.
I'm going to take a stand and say that being a pro baseball player who is genuine, nice and polite is not harder than the triple crown. Off the top of my head: Derrek Lee; Mark Buehrle; Pujols; Figgins; Dunn; anybody not on the 'Nasty Boys' era Phillies. My point is the media seems to fall into this 'all players are self-absorbed jerks' trap that they themselves create by constantly reporting on players like T.O. or Bradley or A-Rod.
But one thing is even clearer: Guillen wants to run the team his way, which this season involves small ball and a designated hitter-by-committee.
That sounds like an absolutely terrific idea...in 1981.
''Whoever wants to come to the White Sox as long as I'm here, he's not going to be a full-time DH,'' Guillen said. ''Nobody. I don't care who it is.''
Somehow I believe certain exceptions (Pujols/Teixeira/A-rod) would be made. But the general idea is good, to use a flexible position to set up the best match ups batter vs. pitcher.
It's hard to move the pieces around like a chess genius when one of the pieces is 39 and weighs 250 pounds. That would be Thome, who can bash with the best of them but would be a wrench in Ozzie's small-ball plans.
So now Ozzie Guillen is a chemist and a chess genius. Rick, chess genius is a totally different movie from brilliant chemist. Let's save that for the sequel. And yes, a guy hitting a bunch of home runs would totally wreck Ozzie's plans of not scoring any runs ever.
''You know what I'd like to see?'' he told fans Sunday. ''I'd like to see a man on third base, less than two outs, run in. I don't like to see fireworks anymore.''
I know Guillen says things a lot of times just to say things, so he can't be serious here. He does NOT want to see fireworks? Are they too loud for him? Do the bright colors give him acid flashbacks?
Also, don't the White Sox shoot them off after they win a game, not just when a homerun is hit? I guess if you're going to abandon the homerun, they won't have to worry about fireworks in either capacity.
There are two potential downsides to having a rotating DH: a lack of production and vertigo.
Yes I know, you think I'm going to attack the vertigo joke. But no. A lack of production is the potential downside to just about any decision a manager makes, that goes without saying. The downside to NOT having a rotating DH is a lack of production.
On Sunday, a fan pleaded with Guillen to consider batting newcomer Juan Pierre ninth instead of first and perhaps putting Gordon Beckham in the leadoff spot.
This fan is an idiot. He should of pleaded with Guillen to ditch Pierre in the woods on a snipe hunt.
Well have fun watching player after player ground out weakly to 2nd White Sox fans. At least your pitching should be decent.
Case Closed!
Thome's popularity complicating Ozzie's plans
Alright not the catchiest title, but still, don't judge a book by it's cover. Let's look at the synopsis:
Ozzie Guillen has always wanted to play the mad scientist with his lineup card, to pour the smoking contents of one beaker into the bubbling mixture of another.
I'm going to spruce this movie pitch up for Rick since it's just a treatment. A Refugee from a far away planet; Ozzie Guillen struggles to balance the tasks of everyday baseball managing and being a Nobel Prize winning scientist. But even with all his scientific knowhow, he can't find a mixture to cure the one thing that ails him...his heart. Co-staring Jim Thome as his homerun-hitting robot sidekick.
OK, Ozzie, it's your chemistry set. Go have fun with it.
I would like to say, in all seriousness that giving Ozzie Guillen a chemistry set does not seem like a good idea. Though to be fair I have never met the man.
Guillen likes Thome, as do the slugger's former Sox teammates. He's as genuine, nice and polite as a person can be, which is a more difficult trifecta for a pro baseball player than the Triple Crown.
I'm going to take a stand and say that being a pro baseball player who is genuine, nice and polite is not harder than the triple crown. Off the top of my head: Derrek Lee; Mark Buehrle; Pujols; Figgins; Dunn; anybody not on the 'Nasty Boys' era Phillies. My point is the media seems to fall into this 'all players are self-absorbed jerks' trap that they themselves create by constantly reporting on players like T.O. or Bradley or A-Rod.
But one thing is even clearer: Guillen wants to run the team his way, which this season involves small ball and a designated hitter-by-committee.
That sounds like an absolutely terrific idea...in 1981.
''Whoever wants to come to the White Sox as long as I'm here, he's not going to be a full-time DH,'' Guillen said. ''Nobody. I don't care who it is.''
Somehow I believe certain exceptions (Pujols/Teixeira/A-rod) would be made. But the general idea is good, to use a flexible position to set up the best match ups batter vs. pitcher.
It's hard to move the pieces around like a chess genius when one of the pieces is 39 and weighs 250 pounds. That would be Thome, who can bash with the best of them but would be a wrench in Ozzie's small-ball plans.
So now Ozzie Guillen is a chemist and a chess genius. Rick, chess genius is a totally different movie from brilliant chemist. Let's save that for the sequel. And yes, a guy hitting a bunch of home runs would totally wreck Ozzie's plans of not scoring any runs ever.
''You know what I'd like to see?'' he told fans Sunday. ''I'd like to see a man on third base, less than two outs, run in. I don't like to see fireworks anymore.''
I know Guillen says things a lot of times just to say things, so he can't be serious here. He does NOT want to see fireworks? Are they too loud for him? Do the bright colors give him acid flashbacks?
Also, don't the White Sox shoot them off after they win a game, not just when a homerun is hit? I guess if you're going to abandon the homerun, they won't have to worry about fireworks in either capacity.
There are two potential downsides to having a rotating DH: a lack of production and vertigo.
Yes I know, you think I'm going to attack the vertigo joke. But no. A lack of production is the potential downside to just about any decision a manager makes, that goes without saying. The downside to NOT having a rotating DH is a lack of production.
On Sunday, a fan pleaded with Guillen to consider batting newcomer Juan Pierre ninth instead of first and perhaps putting Gordon Beckham in the leadoff spot.
This fan is an idiot. He should of pleaded with Guillen to ditch Pierre in the woods on a snipe hunt.
Well have fun watching player after player ground out weakly to 2nd White Sox fans. At least your pitching should be decent.
Case Closed!
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