Sox Machine: Chicago White Sox blog

LfP: Wrapping up

Closing up the Pirates series is fitting way to close out the month of June in general.  You can check out the final photo gallery here, and here's one more YouTube effort of Jose Contreras warming up in the bullpen for good measure:



The music accompanying the warm-up tosses was actually over the PA, but if I were providing the soundtrack, I can't imagine my choice would be much different.

Next stop:  Yankee Stadium in two weeks for a couple ballgames in the Bronx.

LfP: PNC it yourself

After attending the three-game series at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, here's how I can best sum up my feelings in a sentence:

It's the only park I've been to more than once where I couldn't find a single thing wrong with it. 

Normally I'd make the "Well it's in [name of city]" joke, but I liked Pittsburgh a lot.  It's a nice city filled with nice people. 

We'll see if Camden Yards can also make that claim -- the second time I was there, the game was rained out, so I didn't get the full experience.  But so far, I have no complaints about Oriole Park either.

Every other park I've visited had drawbacks -- Miller Park's parking is atrocious, and the inside nearly as much of a labyrinth; Kauffman Stadium still uses troughs; Fenway Park is cramped and expensive; Wrigley Field is cramped, expensive and falling apart; Yankee Stadium is expensive and the upper deck is way too steep; the seats in Busch Stadium faced the wrong way, and nearly everything about Shea...I could go on and on. 

That's not saying all those parks are bad -- the Bronx, Fenway, Kauffman, and of course the Cell are up there with my favorite places in baseball -- but I couldn't find any way to knock PNC Park.  The worst thing I could say about it is that the hot dogs were Aramark, and even that's not bad, just plain.  Here are some of the highlights:

1)  Manny's Barbecue.  Former Pirates catcher Manny Sanguillen mans a BBQ pit -- I explained why this is awesome in my Road Games blog.  He autographed my scorebook.

2)  Legacy Square.  Pittsburgh pays tribute to its Negro League stars like no other park, with statues inside the stadium accompanied by a video touch-screen presentation.  I also explain why this is awesome in my Road Games blog, and it's accompanied by another YouTube endeavor. 

3)  Quality sight lines.  I sat in different seats around the lower deck and enjoyed every seat.  The third-base line offers a terrific view of the Pittsburgh skyline, while the front row of the outfield section in right puts you right on top of flyballs to center and right.  The only seats I wouldn't recommend are the bleachers in left field, because it robs you of the view of the...

4)  Scoreboard.  An outstanding scoreboard presentation.  The radar gun disappeared after the first inning in the first game I saw, perhaps because it wasn't working.  But it was there for the rest of the series, and accurate.  The scoreboard had some neat graphic presentations, didn't have a "Kiss Cam," and wasn't occupied by shout-outs like the one at the Cell is.  It's always offering information of some sort.  Pitch counts aren't omnipresent, but they come up on occasion, and always when the pitcher comes up to bat.  Nice touch. 

5) Ticket availability and prices.  As I said before, we were able to get tickets about 20 rows behind home plate for $27 a pop.  Not bad.  The free bleacher ticket I got Thursday was only $12. 

6) Good view of the bullpen.  This is something Comiskey does right, but unlike the Cell, you don't need tickets by them to watch pitchers warm up.  Both bullpens are behind the center field fence, and you watch them from a walkway, coming and going as you choose. 

7) Great location.  Only a short walk from a number of hotels.  I can't say anything about driving, but there seemed to be numerous garages in the area on both sides of the river.  There are a number of bars around the area, if you're interested in that aspect.

8)  Reasonable upper deck altitude.  I didn't sit up there, but I ventured to the upper reaches of the stadium before a game, and it didn't give me vertigo or otherwise screw with my depth perception. 

9)  Good fans.  Despite wearing Sox stuff all three games, I didn't have one nasty encounter -- even after the game the Pirates won with the walkoff homer.  The hecklers didn't venture into obscene or annoying territory, and I had a number of good conversations during the trip.

That about sums it up.  I will say that it couldn't match the Cell in food, but that's not really a knock since no park I've visited has come close to matching both the vast selection and downright deliciousness of the spread at Comiskey. 

Depends on what they do with interleague play, the Sox may not return to Pittsburgh for another three years or so.  The next time they make the trip, I'd suggest to travel with them if you can swing it.  Even driving through about 15 downpours on the way there, I have zero regrets.

LfP: A swarm of Sox fans

Before the gates opened at PNC Park yesterday, I saw four guys standing together on the sidewalk wearing lettered/numbered road gray jerseys of the following players:

Jorge Fabregas, Mark Johnson, Rick White and Willie Harris. 

After recoiling at the sight of "Fabregas," seeing those obscure names actually made me feel a bit better because they were easily identifiable as legitimate Sox fans.  If they didn't custom-order them as a bizarre, elaborate inside joke, then they bought them at a Comiskey Park yard sale, auction or something of that sort. 

Those four guys were a part of an impressive traveling fan base that showed up in Pittsburgh this weekend.  In fact, it almost seemed too impressive for the Sox.  There were thousands in the park, cheering loudly enough and organizing chants to almost make it feel like a home game 500 or so miles away from U.S. Cellular Field, and while it was a neat experience, I had a hard time discerning the bandwagoners from the authentic fans. 

Aside from the obvious cues, of course.  The guys and gals wearing vintage (meaning beat-up, not neo-retro) shirts/jerseys made their status known easily, as did the people on the other side of the ledger trying to gain Neal Cotts' attention by yelling his number.  Who would you figure was the bigger fan -- the guy yelling "Hey Neal!" or the guy yelling "Hey Forty-Six!"?

But the quiet ones with the World Series stuff were tough to figure out, and no assumptions could be made.  After all, I was wearing 2005 stuff the first two games of the series, and I'd like to consider myself a real fan.  My dad was wearing the trophy shirt, and he grew up watching the Go-Go Sox.  It's just not fair to assume the guy with the Bobby Jenks jersey couldn't name the Sox's previous three closers before Dustin Hermanson.

A few Pittsburgh fans were skeptical of the turnout.  More than a few Pittsburghers asked us, "Did you really travel from Chicago?" and when we answered "yes," they wondered aloud how many others did.  Not necessarily in geographical/physical terms, but in terms of where their true fandom lies. 

I could see their point, and it wasn't rooted in jealousy.  In fact, I found the locals to be an incredibly friendly bunch, and they had nothing but positive things to say about the team.  They just had no idea about the significant pull the White Sox had as a road draw, and neither did I.  I've seen the Sox predominantly on the road over the past three years, and this three-game set had the largest turnout of Sox fans, far and away. 

There are a number of good reasons why this is the case now.  Obviously the Sox have never been more fun to watch, and tickets are harder to get than ever before at the Cell.  That's not the case in Pittsburgh.  As I mentioned before, we got tickets behind home plate on the day of the game in Pittsburgh Tuesday.  Even better, today a guy gave me a ticket for free when he saw me getting ready to order a ticket from the kiosk.  He asked if I made the trip from Chicago, I said "yes" (it's easier than explaining I'm a former South Sider now living in Albany, and it's an equally long trip to Pittsburgh), and he said "here," handing me a bleacher ticket. 

But I still couldn't help wondering, when seeing the masses of "Konerko," "Jenks," and "Podsednik" jerseys, how many of these people just started tagging along.  Bandwagons aren't entirely bad (it helps as far as media coverage is concerned), but it's somewhat of an issue to Sox fans who pride their ilk of being among the most genuine in the game.

I'll have a better idea in about two weeks, when I travel to Yankee Stadium for two games.  I went to a game there last August with Vince from Exile in Wrigleyville, and we were the only two (ostensible) Sox fans in our section.  I might've seen 50-60 items of White Sox gear over the course of the day, which featured a sellout crowd of around 57,000.  We're not going to see a 1:3 ratio of Sox fans to home fans like we seemed to see this week, but it'll be interesting to see if there's a substantial increase in the Bronx as well.

LFP: Grab bag

Now that I have a camera good enough to take action shots -- such as Juan Uribe hitting his game-tying triple tonight -- I have to remember to have it ready at all times.  I wish I could've gotten a shot of Brian Anderson plowing into the fence trying to make a catch, or two of the calls at first base the umpire might've blown.  It's just something I have to get used to. 

In the meantime, I've posted photo galleries from the first two days in Pittsburgh -- Day 1 and Day 2 -- and Day 3 will be on the way at some point tomorrow night. 

One of the pictures in the photo gallery is of Paul Konerko taking simulated batting practice from Mark Buehrle in the outfield between shagging flies.  It's a practice I hadn't seen before, and after taking a picture, I realized my camera had video.  Here's my first attempt at posting to YouTube, and it starts with Buehrle buzzing Paulie high and inside:

LfP: As not seen on TV

I'm guessing the cameras didn't show it, but Bobby Jenks' quest for his league-leading 24th save tonight was delayed when a guy ran onto the field and tried to pry second base loose.  Then, looking like the minor-league coach who threw the tantrum, he dove into second as cops closed in on him. 

Here's what I could snap as he was taken away:



The last picture confirms that while he may look a little like a Ligue, he was not wearing a Sox hat.  The fact that his shirt sports the Yuengling label makes it rather safe to say that he's a local, and the leading motive is that another Pirates loss drove him to desperate measures. 

LfP: Pods being Pods

While getting ready to head out to check out Pittsburgh today, we tuned our television to Sportscenter.  During the Red Sox-Mets highlights, Manny Ramirez nailed Jose Reyes at the plate after he tried to score from second on a sharp single to left.  The throw was right on the money, and the video cut to Manny wearing a sh-t-eating grin and nodding while pointing to his head, like he was saying, “I was paying attention this time!”

So what I’m trying to say is, when did Scott Podsednik turn into a poor man’s Manny?

If you hadn’t been watching the Sox all season long, you could’ve seen his entire season wrapped up over the last two days.  Let’s just run it down in list form.

Bad Pods:  Gets caught trying to steal third base, in effect killing a rally.

Bad Pods:  Gets turned around twice on Jose Bautista’s line drive to deep left, flailing all the while, then makes a spastic attempt to jump and grab the carom off the wall barehanded, missing it completely.

Bad Pods:  Pods misses on a diving attempt on Jose Castillo’s line drive.  This was a legitimately difficult play, at least.

Good Pods:  Pods guns down Ronny Paulino at second base after the Pirates catcher tried stretching a single into a double.  He gets two points for this one – being aware of what he runners were doing (considering there was a runner reaching third, the “proper” throw probably would’ve been to the cutoff man), another another point for a great throw.

Good Pods:  Pods makes a nice running catch on Jack Wilson’s deep drive to left-center with two outs and two runners on.

Good Pods:  Pods picks up Jim Thome after Thome strikes out with Juan Uribe on third and one out, singling in the go-ahead run.  

Bad Pods:  Pods gets picked off before new reliever Salomon Torres even throws a pitch – and Torres is right-handed.  

Pods’ play this series – and on the season – has been a fairly accurate rendition of Manny’s play in left, alternating between exhilarating and maddening, and sometimes not even needing a half-inning to transition between the two.   There are some differences.   Pods wears his socks higher, always faces home plate when on the field and is making about $17 million less this season.

At times I’m probably too hard on Pods, but he doesn’t help himself out when he erases the good he just did, like he did in the seventh inning of tonight’s game.  We just got done celebrating his single when Torres threw to first, and Pods took a step in the wrong direction.  It’s sequences like that that make me hesitant to get excited about what he’s doing on the field.

Live from Pittsburgh: Fun at the discontented ballpark

Given how hard it is to find a good ticket at Comiskey these days, it was nice to visit a ballpark with a demoralized fan base again. 

I mentioned before that before the White Sox won the World Series, I was actually glad that the team didn't draw all that well because whenever we wanted to go to a ballgame at the spur of a moment, we could get a good lower-deck seat for cheap.  Then there was that time in Kansas City where we got box seats 10 rows behind home plate for $10 from a guy in the parking lot. 

Now I find myself having to pay above face value to just get into the park.  I went with StubHub the last time I was at Comiskey, and last year I paid $50 for an upper, upper deck seat just to get into Yankee Stadium. 

Thanks to the Pittsburgh Pirates, who tonight lost their 13th consecutive game, I was able to walk up to the ticket window and get quality seats for face value (and no convenience/handling charges!).  Tonight's seats were about 20 rows behind home plate.  Tomorrow, I'll be about that deep behind the White Sox's dugout.  Can't do that anymore on the South Side. 

A few other notes:

• There are a good number of White Sox fans here, and the applause for each team was about equal in volume.
  
• The ballpark is magnificent, and I'll write more about it later.
  
• Rob Mackowiak got a nice round of applause from the Pirates fans.  It's nice to see a group recognize the difference between a player being traded and leaving on his own.
• I didn't receive a hard time for wearing Sox stuff; on the contrary, most Pirates fans said they wish they could have a team like the Sox.  They sound downright downtrodden, and as I was leaving saw one guy holding a sign that said "Cuban please buy the Pirates."  Sad thing is, I heard on the local news here that he may become part owner of the Penguins.  So close.

Pittsburgh-bound

After work today, I’m heading out to Pittsburgh to catch all three games of the series there.  

On paper, this is the biggest mismatch of the season – perhaps a bigger one than the Royals, considering the Pirates are in the middle of an eight-game losing streak.  The problem is, they’re starting rookies in the first two games – Ian Snell and Paul Maholm.

Snell has actually had some good starts and strikeout stuff, and seems to just be experiencing the ups and downs of a rookie season.  I figure Paul Maholm will frustrate White Sox hitters the most, just because his walks-to-strikeouts (46:57) is terrible and he gives up a lot of hits to boot.  In other words, he’s the kind of unimpressive rookie that has baffled Sox hitters the first time around for years.  

However, the Sox should have to walk home from Chicago if they botch the third game.  We’ll be putting Jose Contreras – he of the record consecutive wins streak – against Oliver Perez.  Perez is 2-10 with a 6.63 ERA, and has a 9.26 ERA in the month of June.  Not only can he not hit the strike zone, but his velocity is down to boot.

It’ll be interesting to see if the bats go flat against Pirates pitching after doing a pretty good job against the best pitching teams in the NL Central.  The park will be beautiful either way, so it’ll be a good time.  I’ll definitely have recaps, and we’ll see what I can do with the photos. 

No "Thome" in "Home Run Derby"

One season removed from elbow surgery, Jim Thome says he's not going to risk anything he's got going by participating in the Home Run Derby.  Good move -- he leads the American League in homers with 24, so it's not like he needs to prove himself in an exhibition.

We know what happened to his former teammate, Bobby Abreu, last year.  Abreu hit a record 24 homers in the first round and won the competition with 41 over the entire night.  Afterwards, his power production dropped -- he hit only eight homers in the second half, as opposed to 16 in the first.  His OPS also dropped by about 170 points or so.

So seeing Thome opt out of this contest is a good idea.  Now we just need Paul Konerko to sign on.  Hey, Paulie follows Thome every day in the lineup, so it shouldn't be too much to ask.

With 19 homers, Konerko might not even be in the running, though the selection of contestants isn't automatic.  If it were, we wouldn't have anything to worry about, because there about nine other guys either tied with or ahead of Paulie on the leaderboard.

But if a few guys drop out or get injured, Konerko might be called upon.  Hopefully he'll remember what happened in 2001 and say, "Thanks, but no thanks" if that happens.

Unlike Abreu, Konerko didn't win the Home Run Derby, though he nearly made the finals before losing a swingoff to Jason Giambi.  But like Abreu, he lost his power -- hitting only 7 homers in the second half after preceding the All-Star Game with 20. 

Making matters worse, Konerko lost his swing the next season.  He was under the Mendoza Line at the 2003 All-Star Break with only five homers in 223 at-bats, and while he improved significantly during the second half of the season, he couldn't prevent it from being the worst of his pro career.  In that full season's worth of games between All-Star breaks, here's the line he put up:

G	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG
140	477	49	112	20	12	55	40	59	.235	.301	.352

As we speak, Konerko's line is eerily similiar to the one he put up in the first half of 2002, preceding that fateful Home Run Derby.  Here's how they stack up (2006 line is through yesterday):

Year	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG
2002	326	51	107	19	20	71	25	38	.328	.379	.571
2006	270	48	85	14	18	59	31	46	.315	.389	.567

Over the years, we've heard that Paulie has a hard-to-maintain swing, that he drives himself nuts when he's in slumps and that he puts too much pressure on himself in general.  Well, right now, he's the captain of the team, in the first year of a $60 million contract, in the middle of a competitive race, and he's hitting the cover off the ball.  Let's not break him.

Life lessons from Carl Everett

Kenny Williams – seemingly reporting from the beyond with that all-white backdrop – told ESPN that if Ozzie keeps up the negative publicity, he’ll have to find a new job.  

That’s about all Kenny can say.  Any stronger and that will ignite the situation, as the Chicago media will then turn to 24/7 Ozzie PinkSlipWatch coverage; any weaker and he’s enabling the situation.  Between this statement and Ozzie’s acceptance of sensitivity training (after appearing to refuse the first time around), hopefully this will be the end of it.  

The one thing I realized from this whole flap is that if Ozzie were a bit more like Carl Everett, this whole thing wouldn’t have blown up like it did.

Yeah, that’s right.  “If he were a bit more like Carl Everett.”  I don’t think there’s a single other aspect in life where if somebody were a bit more like Carl Everett, it’d benefit him or her, but here’s one.  

When Carl had a bone to pick with a couple of Boston Globe writers several years back, he intimated the same thing Ozzie did – at least with his choice of words, not the “coward” subtext – by referring to columnist Dan Shaughnessy as beat writer Gordon Edes’ “curly-haired boyfriend.”  

Everett didn’t receive any crap for the comment – in fact, he was lauded for it.  Shaughnessy is the Boston Mariotti -- revels in misery, enjoys one-sided speculation, great self-promoter, but “journalism” needs work – and for the only time during his tumultuous stay in Boston, the fans backed Carl 100 percent.  

The name stuck, and is still used today.  And while Shaughnessy still has a job and makes plenty of money, at least there’s the comfort of knowing that among the readership, he’s just somebody’s “curly-haired boyfriend.”

Ozzie, on the other hand, blew it.  He had everything in his favor – not only was the subject a columnist nobody likes, but his team was (is) playing well, which flew in the face of what the columnist was saying.  Ozzie had the opportunity to use a phrase that could’ve united all Chicago fans, but instead used a taboo phrase that nobody wants to hear, much less say themselves.  They agreed with Guillen’s sentiments, but had to qualify it – “yeah, but not that word.”

It’s a shame, because with a different choice of words – like, “pudgy knob-job” to throw one out there – he would have been doing a public service.  Instead, he faces sensitivity training.  Hopefully he’ll learn from this, because when it's all said and done, perhaps this is where Ozzie truly let us down.

Eight isn't enough

A 7-4 victory over the Houston Astros tonight extended the win streak to eight games, and if past history is any indication, we’ll have to brace for a loss.
 
The White Sox have failed in their last 13 regular-season attempts to stretch a winning streak to nine games, and you could count a couple more if you include last year's playoff run.  The loss to Anaheim in Game 1 of the ALCS created two eight-game winning streaks, including a season-ending one.

They would have a nine-game streak if you counted the four victories in the ALCS, four in the World Series and Opening Day of 2006.  However, if you want to find the last regular-season (not seasons) nine-game streak, you’d have to go all the way back to South Side Hit Men, when they won their game against the Detroit Tigers on July 9, 1977.

A bid earlier this year failed on April 24, thanks in large part to arguably the worst lineup Ozzie Guillen has trotted out this season.  Brian Anderson tried to stave off the end by hitting a game-tying homer off Seattle’s Eddie Guardado, but Brandon McCarthy couldn’t hold off the Mariners.

The Sox had three eight-game streaks in 2005 – the first ended when Jermaine Dye dropped a flyball, the second was a plain ol’ loss to the Devil Rays, and the third was during the death throes of old Jose Contreras.  

Here are the other times in the last dozen and a half years where eight-game winning streaks have come to a crashing halt.  Maybe this will serve as an exorcism of sorts:

• July 26, 2003
• June 20, 2000
• May 27, 1996
• September 7, 1995
• August 2, 1991
• June 30, 1990
• July 23, 1989
• September 14, 1983
• April 20, 1982

The losing spirit of St. Louis

What’s become of the Cardinals?  They entered the series against the White Sox in command of their division and with Albert Pujols on the mend, and they left town whimpering and whining.  I guess a sweep in which they got outscored 34-11 will emasculate a team.

First, it was Dave Duncan’s complaining about David Riske’s hit-by-pitch; today, somebody with the Cardinals accused the White Sox of stealing signs by means of a camera behind the center field wall:

During Wednesday's rout, the Cardinals dugout became convinced a center-field camera at U.S. Cellular Field was tipping pitches to the home team.

Signs were changed after the fifth inning, and the White Sox went four for 36 with one extra-base hit and one run after the switch.

"Let's put it this way," one Cardinals source said Thursday night. "They looked like they knew what was coming the first two nights. They looked like they had no idea tonight.

"You figure it out."

Allow me!  I was never any good at science, and even I can see what was wrong with this experiment.

There are a couple problems.  One is that one of the pitchers was Mark Mulder, who was throwing in the low- to mid-80s and was placed on the DL immediately after his start, so one of the subjects is defective.

The other is that the Cardinals “switched signs” at the same time they switched pitchers, thus rendering themselves without a control.  Had Jason Marquis remained in the game and recorded a 1-2-3 inning or two, they might have something, even though that wouldn’t have been enough to draw a solid conclusion.  

Instead, the Cardinals replaced Marquis with a few different pitchers, and unlike Marquis, they kept the ball down and on the inner half.  

And here’s another thing – if the Sox could catch on to their signs within two innings, why couldn’t they do it in the last 13 innings of the series?  The source of St. Louis seems to say the Redbirds only switched signs once.

My theory is that Anthony Reyes didn’t benefit from altered signs – he benefited by making some nasty pitches.  He could paint both corners to hitters on both sides of the plate, and was changing speeds like a veteran.  Even if Sox hitters knew what pitches were coming, they’d be hard-pressed to do anything with them.  

So the source’s theory is faulty at best, and more than likely dead-wrong.  He sounds a lot like Mark Buehrle did when he complained about flashing lights in the scoreboard at the Ballpark at Arlington – grasping for straws after a terrible outing.

In both cases, the “sign-stealing” tended to be resolved when pitchers actually, you know, made pitches.  That’s all that seems to be the case here, and I think the source is stealing a little bit of Reyes’ thunder.

Update:  The Tigers destroyed Cardinals pitching tonight with a 10-6 victory.  Chris Carpenter was on the mound and they were playing in a bigger ballpark, so I guess the Tigers were stealing signs, too.

What'd he do now?

Like A.J. Pierzynski, Ozzie Guillen has turned into a magnet for controversy for events that he didn't even start, and now some that never even happened. 

While serving his one-game automatic suspension for David Riske's intentional plunking of Chris Duncan, Chris' father and St. Louis Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan sounded off against Ozzie Guillen.

Two things about this story:

No. 1:  If you check out the first story I linked, the headline reads, "White Sox's Guillen, Riske suspended for beanball," which is incorrect. 

"Beanball" is not synonomous with any pitch that hits a batter, only one that hits the batter in the head.  "Bean" is a colloquialism for "head," hence a ball being thrown at one's head is a "beanball."  Meanwhile, the hipbone has never been referred to as "bean," at least not to my knowledge.  And if somebody has done it, I'd wager that the person on the other end of the conversation was very confused. 

The pitch that Riske threw hit Duncan square in the hip.  It didn't hurt much, as Duncan just tossed his bat and trotted to first.  Guillen and Riske were tossed without any objection, and the game went on without further incident.  Until...

No. 2:  Duncan opened his mouth about the plunking before tonight's ballgame, calling Guillen a liar for saying that he called Duncan to apologize.  But from that second link I posted, it appears that Duncan was informed by a misquote. 

After listening closely to the audio of Guillen’s quotes on Wednesday, Score personalities Mike Murphy and Jesse Rogers said this morning that they believe Guillen was misquoted and that he actually said, "Then I told Duncan and I apologized," rather than "called."

Whatever the case may be, a professional hit by pitch -- by which I mean Riske didn't run the ball up and in -- should be the least of Duncan's concerns after his staff surrendered 34 runs in a three-game series, even if his son got an ouchie. 

Perhaps Duncan should focus less on an innocuous, retaliatory plunking and more on his fat, alcoholic, judge-punching, drunk-driving retread reliever hitting two consecutive batters up high with the bases loaded.

The softer side of Ozzie

It’s a shame ESPN already blew its “reality-show-based-on-current-sports-figure” budget, because if they’d only waited half a year, they would’ve had a sure-fire winner on their hands:

After calling Jay Mariotti a "fag," Ozzie’s going to sensitivity training. 

They could’ve called it “Ozzie PC.”

I’m guessing more people would pay to see that versus “Bonds vs. Bonds.”  For one, some people actually like Ozzie, and for the people that don’t, they’d get to see him in an awkward situation.  It’d be like the Bonds-haters watching Barry trying to have dinner at a teammate’s house.  Or trying to bulk up using hard work, vitamins and prayer.  

When I saw the decision by MLB to make Ozzie take this course, I immediately thought of the “Family Guy” episode where Peter had to take sensitivity training following a sexual harassment complaint:

“The filing's done, Mr. Griffin.”
“Thank you, Miss Ironbox, you are a valued member of our business team.  And I will give you a raise tomorrow if you come to work without a shirt on.”
“Mr. Griffin!”
“I'm sorry, that came out wrong. Let me try again.  Nice ass.”

It would have to make for entertaining television – Ozzie being taught to use his “internal pause button,” saying things like, “Hello, my homosexual friend.  Nice day we’re having, isn’t it?  Made all the better by us both being comfortable with your sexual orientation, of course.  There’s no need to even bring it up.”

They could’ve even gone on a film set to shoot a new Chevrolet “manager exchange program” commercial in which he sells a Chevy SSR to two dudes.  If that isn’t made for television, I don’t know what is. 

The boys of summer solstice

If the Cardinals had outscored the White Sox 33-11 in the first two games of the series during all the sound and fury after Ozzie Guillen's latest comments, let's just say it wouldn't be good times.  Fortunately, Ozzie apologized, which along with being the right thing to do will mute some of the controversy. 

Also, it's the White Sox who are hitting the cover off the ball, and that's a helluva lot more fun to talk about.

They've scored at least eight runs in a franchise-record five consecutive games.  The last two nights mark the first time since 2003 they scored at least 30 runs in two games when they scored 11 and 19 runs late in the season against the Kansas City Royals, albeit in meaningless games.  Unfortunately, since they couldn't manage a run off the Cardinal bullpen tonight, they've fallen one short of what I can find to be the two-game record -- 34 in 1955.

The first game (April 22, 1955) was a 5-3 victory over the Kansas City A's.  In the second game, the Sox set the franchise single-game scoring record after a 29-5 victory over KC.

Then, the following night, they were shut out 5-0.  And 5-0 the game after that with the New York Yankees.  Now that's all or nothing.

The big reason for the scoring surge is the increased offensive output from the bottom of the order.  Take a look at at the on-fire 7-8-9 combo, as well as a couple others who are swooning for June:

Name	Month	G	BA	OBP	SLG	HR	R+RBI
Joe Crede	April-May	51	.302	.340	.495	8	57
	June	15	.321	.339	.589	4	29
Juan Uribe	April-May	43	.208	.243	.333	4	32
	June	13	.271	.271	.521	3	19
Brian Anderson	April-May	45	.164	.271	.291	4	27
	June	13	.214	.283	.357	1	13
Paul Konerko	April-May	52	.291	.368	.577	15	77
	June	16	.417	.485	.567	2	24
Ross Gload	April-May	17	.174	.200	.304	0	4
	June	13	.346	.346	.385	0	7

Check back for updated numbers, as Baseball Musings' uber-fun database is only through last night at this point.  Anderson's numbers will stay the same, but the other four all figure to see a boost in their numbers with another great performance at the plate tonight -- including Uribe, who kept up his two-hits-per-night average over his last six games.  I wasn't sure, but now I think it's safe to call it a hot streak now.

Those numbers even underrepresent Anderson, who started off June 1-for-15.  Since then, he's 8-for-27, with an OPS of .906.  Twelve of those 13 R+RBI have come during this stretch.

I mentioned in the post rebutting Tom Verducci's slamming of Anderson saying the offense was nearly scoring a run more per game even though the No. 8 and 9 hitters weren't hitting for crap.  Now that Juan and Brian are starting to match their true talent, it's hard to think of a scarier offense in Sox history.  The numbers right now are saying there might not be one.

Tilting at windsocks

If I'm Brooks Boyer or Scott Reifert, I'm having a sitdown with both Ozzie Guillen and Hawk Harrelson about Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti and saying the following things:

1. Don't read him.
2. Don't think about him
3. And for chrissakes, don't talk about him!

It can be done.  I do it just about every day.

It sure would've saved Ozzie from himself when he steeped down to see eye-to-eye with Mariotti and accidentally ended up beneath him when he called the columnist "a piece of sh-t" and a "f-cking fag."

The second is the truly objectionable part, and everybody has the right to be mad at that one regardless of sexual orientation.  It's an ugly word that has ugly implications, and one that you never want to hear out of a leader of an organization. 

But to be honest, the words before it piss me off, too.  I'm also not a fan of Hawk Harrelson's weekly rants about the man he calls a "hiney bird."  Basically, I'm not a fan of any time they discuss Mariotti in public or in private.  Any time that happens, they play right into his hands, and in situations like these, Mariotti's the last guy they have to worry about.  Fans alienated by Ozzie's apparent casual disregard of homosexuals are the first priority.

I'm not convinced "Jay Mariotti" is an actual person.  Not in the sense that he doesn't exist, because you can see his overtweezed eyebrows every day on "Around the Horn," where he's just as petulant.  But the media figure, the byline called "Jay Mariotti" doesn't relay the real views and opinions of an actual human being -- it coldly and mechanically cranks out what will get under people's skin. 

That's why the man isn't accountable for anything he says -- he isn't a man.  Mariotti is merely a spectre designed to attract eyes (or page views/clicks) to his stuff with an outrageous lede, and by the end he leaves you hating "him" or hating all athletic activities.  I prefer to do neither, because any attempt to debate him is tilting at a windmill.  There's enough stuff that will make you dislike professional sports, and I won't waste time reading synthetic material.

Unfortunately, Ozzie reacted to Mariotti's synthetic material and re-ignited an actual, living, breathing problem with sports.  Now columnists can use this, if they want, to discuss the anti-homosexual agenda in sports, and how it's a culture where athletes and coaches can toss off slurs without thought.  Even if Ozzie didn't mean it as more than a word, it's a legitimate issue, and it will draw legitimate debate. 

None of the controversy Mariotti manufactures is legitimate, and I have no idea why the White Sox organization hasn't realized it by now.  Airing their anti-Mariotti sentiments do nothing but lend credibility to an entity that has very little of it.  In a way, that lack of credibility benefits him more than it hampers him.  If people don't take him seriously, then he's not weighed down by things like accountability and integrity.  That's why he can continue to say the opposite of what he said three days ago and not feel a thing. 

If he's not feeling a thing, nobody else should -- especially the Sox.  They know that he doesn't know the players, coaches, or anybody else in the organization.  Guys like A.J. Pierzynski have said they've never seen Mariotti in the Sox clubhouse, yet Mariotti somehow can write with "conviction" about the problems the White Sox have between those walls. 

That's what Mariotti does.  He doesn't try to advance the discussion of professional and collegiate sports; he advances the discussion of himself, and the easiest way to do it is to write stuff that pisses people off.  I have no clue how that's escaped the White Sox organization for this long.  Every time the Sox bring him up, he makes more people want to see what he said, perpetuating the Mariotti machine.  Ozzie's slur will do nothing but fuel it for another year.

(To see a summary of Mariotti's "work" without giving him a page view, Eric Zorn did some nice work compiling everything Mariotti said that flew in the face of what he said before.)

Hawk Harrelson, bird of prey

David Riske finally sated Hawk Harrelson's raging thirst for blood tonight when, after watching Sidney Ponson hit Brian Anderson and Pablo Ozuna back-to-back, he plunked Chris Duncan square in the hip to earn an ejection.  Ozzie found his way to the clubhouse quietly as well.  Nothing happened afterwards, so hopefully the automatic ejection is all that the Sox manager and reliever will face.

Still, I saw no reason to fume when Anderson and Ozuna took fastballs to the torso.  For one, the bases were loaded, and I'll take those two driving in a run without using an out against a right-handed pitcher.  In those situations, they're often a pop-up waiting to happen.  Secondly, Hawk had mentioned how a St. Louis pitcher should come inside hard to re-establish the inside corner, and that's what Ponson did with Anderson.  Thirdly, he hit Ozuna when he had him down 0-2.  That's just stupid -- thanks for the run, Sidney. 

The inning spiraled out of control for St. Louis, as Chicago scored three consecutive runs without putting a ball in play, and all of Ponson's inherited runners crossed the plate.  Tony La Russa was visibly perturbed, and Hawk himself said La Russa didn't call for it after he pulled Ponson.  The pitcher in question was out of the game, the Sox extended an 11-run lead to a 17-run lead, so why get upset? 

I understand why the Sox would want to throw inside right after, but after witnessing tonight's revenge, I came to the conclusion that I really hate when the Sox retaliate just because it appeases Hawk.  Whenever a Sox batter gets hit when he feels it wasn't an accident, he overdoes the indignance and slips into his Broadcast Booth Tough Guy persona.  At least he didn't say he'd want to meet Ponson outside the locker room after the game like he did about Vicente Padilla -- that was one of the lowlights of his career. 

I don't often give credit to Darrin Jackson, but he had the right attitude after each HBP.  After Anderson, he said Ponson was trying to go back inside.  After Ozuna took one to the back, he criticized Ponson for giving up another run and said a Cardinal would likely get his in the next inning -- he watched La Russa's reaction and took cues to figure out how upset he should be.  When La Russa sent Ponson to the showers, DJ didn't bother carrying on.  The only bad news was that his silence allowed Hawk to bloviate about that not being right, over and over again. 

Thankfully, Ozzie and Riske carried their mission out quietly.  Riske hit Duncan solidly but not dangerously, he and Ozzie accepted the ejections, and in the end the message was sent.  I just wish Hawk would let the Sox send the message instead of bombarding listeners with his old, overdone macho one each time something like this happens.

Pod-awful defense

Last week, Ozzie made a few small waves in the media by speaking openly against using Scott Podsednik, as well as Rob Mackowiak, in center field on more than just a spot start basis. 

Today, he addressed the matter more directly:

"He [Podsednik] should be better.  He should be better because he was playing center field for three years. I don't know if it's concentration, but he should be better. It comes from work.   Sometimes you go to different ballparks and you can't read the ball well, but do we expect him to do better? We wish he would.''

Preach it, Oz!

At first, I thought it might've been the fact that Pods didn't get a full spring training to hone his ball-recognition skills, but as the article states, Pods has looked downright goofy in left field all year long.  Not only does Pods lead all AL outfielders in errors, but he has two more than Juan Uribe has in less than half as many chances that are far easier than the variety of batted balls that Uribe has to handle at short. 

The misread against the Reds that cost Jose Contreras the lead was just the latest of the numerous misplays Podsednik has committed across the season.  Going through the State of the Sox archives, here's as complete of a list as I can form:

• June 17:  Freezes on an Austin Kearns flare, lets it drop in front of him.
• June 13:  Drops a flyball against the wall; ruled a triple
• June 9: Drops a flyball on the warning track to load bases; called an error
• May 28:  Misplays Vernon Wells flyball; ruled an error
• May 18: Drops two-out foul ball into stands; not an error
• May 6:  Pods makes flailing attempt, ruins Vazquez's no-hit bid
  
• May 1: Botches Victor Martinez line drive; error, leads to run
• April 29:  Bad read on flyball, not ruled an error
• April 13:  Bobble lets runner into scoring position
• April 10:  Bad jump on ball in front of him
• April 10:  Bad jump on ball over his head
  
• April 10:  Overruns single down the line; ruled an error

And I'm sure that list is missing a few, as I haven't been able to watch every ballgame.  If anybody else has one that I missed, let me know.

The thing is, Pods is a lot better than he's shown as of late.  While going through the SOTS library, I came across a 9-1 victory over the Angels where he raced back to the wall at the crack of the bat and got there in plenty of time, leapt straight up and robbed Tim Salmon of a homer.  The wind was whipping and it wreaked havoc with several players trying to catch high flies/pop-ups, but Pods couldn't have played it better. 

That's the kind of left field Pods is capable of playing, and played most of last year.  Here's hoping some of Ozzie's words light a fire under his ass.

Red means stop

Jerry Reinsdorf will be glad to see Tony La Russa as the Sox kick off a series with the St. Louis Cardinals tomorrow.  That makes one of us, because there is not a more boring brand of baseball than the one the Cardinals play.  This may be the one series for which I’m glad I won’t be in town, because when it's St. Louis, I enjoy my ability to change the channel.  

The guy has been responsible, either in part or entirely, for the two worst games I’ve attended that weren’t played in Shea Stadium.  

Game 1:  July 14, 2000

There was only one big inning in this game, yet it lasted three and a half hours.  When the Cardinals were at the plate, they seemingly hit dozens of foul balls and took their sweet time re-adjusting between pitches.  

And in classic La Russa style, he uses two pitchers in the ninth inning with a seven-run lead.  The Sox were already losing big at that point, but La Russa just loves prolonging the agony with his pitching changes.  

He was literally adding insult to injury, because earlier in the game, Cal Eldred blew out his elbow, ending his days as a starting pitcher.  It was unfortunate, because he was 1) having a career year at 10-2, and 2) had the best strikeout stuff on the staff.  Everybody in the stadium knew it, too, and there was an eerie vibe while Herm Schneider was tending to him on the mound.

Game 2:  April 17, 2004

My friend Matt and I made the two-hour drive to St. Louis to see the Cards play Colorado on Mark McGwire Day, and the Cards once again had a definitive victory all wrapped up as they headed to the ninth with a five-run lead.  

Ray King came into the ballgame and retired the first two batters on eight pitches, throwing only one of those for a ball.  So what does La Russa do?  You guessed it – he changed pitchers. 

Why?  Because the right-handed Aaron Miles was coming to the plate, and evidently the boy genius manager felt he posted a serious threat to his team’s chances of victory.  Miles must’ve had the power to hit a five-run homer, and you don’t want to take any chances going lefty-righty.  If that’s the case, I’m wondering why the Sox didn’t keep just keep Miles.  

Anyway, he brings in Julian Tavarez to maintain his precious matchups, and Tavarez gives up a triple, and then follows by allowing an RBI single to Denny Hocking to make it a four-run game.  With the tying run still in the dugout and probably not even wearing a batting helmet, La Russa makes ANOTHER change, bringing Steve Kline in to face Todd Helton – once again, another friggin’ matchup.  This time it actually works and the game’s over.

This game only took 2:40, but I think at least half of that was used up in the ninth inning.  

So for the sake of fans that actually have to pay to watch the game, let’s hope the games are either blowouts or pitcher’s duels, because anything in between is torture.  I've ripped on Ozzie Guillen a couple of times for playing La Russa ball, and this is exactly why.  The more times you go to the bullpen, the greater the chance of finding the guy who just doesn't have it that day.

Variations on a theme

Saturday	Sunday

Not pictured: The two routine singles to center that were stretched into doubles on Friday.

Juan won't walk

With a win over the Reds tonight, the White Sox have ensured their fourth straight series win, and three of them have come against first- or second-place teams.  And it can be due in large part to the bottom of the order starting to make up for its slow start -- namely Juan Uribe and Brian Anderson.

I've been charting Anderson's progress here, since I've been stumping for his glove and, in turn, praying for his bat to show up.  But what about Uribe, who racked up his fourth multi-hit game in his last five starts?

After an 0-for-11 stretch which sent his average plummeting to .195, the stocky shortstop has stepped up with eight hits in his last five ballgames.  Two of those were big flies, and tonight's homer tied the game at 5 and spared Jose Contreras' undefeated streak. 

It's still too soon to declare this as a typical Juan hot streak, though (as I've insinuated twice already on this site).  The guy's had fits and starts all seasons, including six hits over a three-game series against Minnesota, which was part of a five-game period during which he collected nine hits.  This is the first time Uribe's had three straight multi-hit games, though, whatever that's worth.

There's still one number that concerns me -- his walks, or lack thereof.  Free passes aren't necessarily an important stat for Juan, because he's never walked a lot, whether he's hitting .3something or .1something.  But after starting his season with two walks Opening Night against Cleveland, he's had four in his last 193 at-bats. 

What's worse is that he's had one (1) since April 28, and it was issued by that "Triple-A sh-t" Rich Hill on May 20.  That was a five-pitch walk, and on the only non-ball pitch, Uribe fouled it off.  Since late April, his BB to K ratio is a sterling 1:24.

In his two seasons with the White Sox, Uribe's walked 32 and 34 times.  Nothing to write home about, but that's a walk every five games.  In 2006, however, Uribe's walk total is half that.  He's seeing 3.40 pitches per plate appearance, down from his rate of 3.55 last year, and good for 11th worst in the league. 

The good news is there's not a strong correlation between walks and OPS for him.  He had more walks last September (7) than he has all this year, and his OPS was the same.  Here's the chart month-by-month during his White Sox career to see what I'm talking about:



So in this case, I imagine most of the anecdotal evidence won't lie to you.  Right now, Juan's swinging from the heels, early in the count, and he's playing like it's 3-on-3 and opposite field is out.  The last time I remember him driving the ball to right was against Texas (it went for a double).  Otherwise, everything's left and center, and when he's in a rut, that's where everything seems to go. 

The one positive sign is that he's hit hanging pitches harder over the past week -- something he failed to do in the games leading up to this mini-streak he's got going.  But when pitchers start bearing down better while facing him, that's when we'll see if there's been any actual improvement.

The thing that wouldn't die

A few months ago, when writing about Dave Wilder missing out on the Cincinnati GM position, I linked to the legendary Dayton Daily News writer Hal McCoy's initial report that Jim Beattie took the position, when it turned out to be Wayne Krivsky. 

Now he's got me sweating again, if only because he wrote that the Reds will not ship Ken Griffey Jr. to the Sox.  It's the Rasputin of trade rumors -- unless you're Darrin Jackson.  He'd call it the Nostradamus of trade rumors.  Here's what McCoy writes:

Now the rumors are back, and this year, they are more absurd.

Why would the Reds trade their top offensive threat when they are so close to the first-place Cardinals they can sniff the fumes from their exhaust?

If anything's wrong about this reporting, it seems like the "rumors" are nowhere to be found.  Nothing on the websites of the Chicago Tribune, Sun-Times, Daily Southtown, Daily Herald...even Google News only points to McCoy's article.

Perhaps you Chicago types are hearing more than I'm seeing, because maybe TV or radio reporters are floating this one around.  Otherwise, I think this talk can officially be called "The Incredibly Strange Trade Rumor That Stopped Living And Became A Mixed-Up Zombie."

Following up

On Well, which one is it?...

I'd like to thank Ken Griffey Jr. for illustrating my point when I said that there's no way he would be a better replacement for Brian Anderson.  During the early onslaught, twice the Sox were able to turn routine singles to center into doubles.

The first time, he couldn't handle Tadahito Iguchi's single right at him.  It rolled up his arm and behind him, and Iguchi only hesitated for a split second before taking second just ahead of the throw.  Brian Anderson then earned a double when he singled to left center.  Griffey took a weird angle getting over to it, and Anderson saw this and didn't hesitate while rounding first, sliding in ahead of the throw. 

Anderson actually had two smart baserunning plays -- the aforementioned one, and he advanced to second when the ball deflected off David Ross during a Freddy Garcia strikeout.  The ball bounced in front of Ross, but Anderson was off and running as soon as he saw the ball get away, and barely beat Ross' throw.  In effect, he turned a strikeout into the sacrifice bunt Garcia was striving for.  He'd later score on Scott Podsednik's single. 

Anderson went 2-for-5, didn't strand a runner, didn't commit any miscues in the field, and now he's reached base in five straight games.  Griffey went 1-for-3 and looked like an old man.  I'll take Brian.

On Dissecting the Weapon...

Pablo Ozuna's batting what is quite possibly the ugliest .427 anybody's ever seen, but Ozzie Guillen's going to keep him as the bench's energy ball.  Smart move, Oz. 

After his 3-for-4 against the Rangers Thursday in which he had a two-run infield single, I still remain convinced that Ozuna's better off being deployed only once per series.  He reminds me of Shane Mathews during that Bears' 13-3 season -- he came in and provided a spark a few times when Jim Miller went down, but when defenses finally adjusted to the fact that he couldn't stretch the field, he wasn't effective. 

Still, I laughed when the Texas broadcasters (who are excellent, by the way) said of the Secret Weapon's first two hits, "Those have to be his two worst hits of the season."

Nope.  Not even close.  And speaking of broadcasters,  thumbs down for Hawk Harrelson's pointless bloviation on a Jay Mariotti column I won't link to during tonight's ballgame. 

The headline on it alone made me not want to read it, and I don't get why Hawk doesn't do the same instead of the stupid "hiney bird" name-calling.  If only he used the energy he wastes on Mariotti towards creating original nicknames for Sox players.  That used to be one of his strongest assets as a broadcaster, but has he had a good one since El Caballo? 

Thumbs further down for Darrin Jackson, who led him into it out of nowhere, when the Sox were starting to mount a rally.  No matter who's call it was (DJ thinking it was a good idea on its own, Hawk demanding a cue so he didn't sound maniacally obssessed with the columnist), it's infuriating to hear a blowhard pick apart a windsock.  At this point, DJ's job title should be "sycophant."

On Riske business is an obvious and unoriginal title...

In his White Sox debut tonight, David Riske pitched a perfect inning, striking out two batters.

Meanwhile, in his 2006 debut with the Red Sox, Javier Lopez allowed an inherited runner to score after he walked the lefty he was brought in to face, and then a single after that.  It turned a two-run ballgame into a three-run ballgame, and gave the Twins some much needed breathing room.

Riske business is an obvious and unoriginal title

Call me a fan of the trade that sent Javier Lopez to Boston for David Riske.  It was obvious that Lopez didn’t have a spot here, since he was lights-out in Triple-A and still didn’t get a shot.

Lefties, we have; righties, not so much.  Also, Lopez hasn’t proven he can get big leaguers out.  He could very well turn out like Jeff Bajenaru, who put up great numbers in Charlotte and an 8.00 ERA in Chicago.  It’s a nice deal for Kenny in that he ships a reliever he picked off the scrap heap for somebody who might regain his form.

Riske had previously been a guy who could strike out a batter an inning, so if he can rebound from his back injury, he should be a helpful addition.  The worst case scenario is that he doesn’t pan out.  It’s not like cost the Sox anything.

At any rate, Sox fans should give him a warm welcome.  He was the Indians pitcher who served up the “JOE! CREDE!” homer last September.  

There’s only one problem with this move:  It was 12 hours too late.  

If Ozzie Guillen yanks Sean Tracey out of the game after he failed to hit Hank Blalock, acts like nothing’s the matter in the dugout, then saves his tirade for the confines of the clubhouse, he has a built-in excuse as to why Tracey was being sent down.  

Tracey’s a project, and with Agustin Montero also on the team, the mop-up spot is filled.  Riske, if healthy, is a bona fide major-league reliever.  Maybe not an ace reliever, but he can get out of jams once in awhile.  So if Ozzie says, “I’m sending Tracey down because Riske’s on the way,” nobody can argue with that.  The lady/gentleman known as “A source close to the team” may later say Ozzie let Tracey have it, but at least there’s no video evidence.  

Instead, Ozzie blows up and is forced to give a rambling non-answer answer about Tracey, something about Montero not being warm and Tracey having to go out there, even though they were both warming at the same time.  Why warm two relievers if your only intent is to use one for the rest of the game?  One could poke holes in his excuse all day long.  

I appreciate that Ozzie wants his guys to support each other, and I know he’ll occasionally go too far.  It’d be nice if he would at least treat everybody equally, but he seems to favor veterans over rookies.  When Carlos Lee didn’t slide hard into second base after Torii Hunter knocked the everloving crap out of Jamie Burke, we didn’t hear about Ozzie’s discontent with El Caballo until when he was traded.  

This time around, it was Javier Vazquez’s duty to stand up for A.J. Pierzynski if he knew (like he said he did) that Vicente Padilla’s first plunking was intentional.  Instead, he let enough time pass so Padilla could hit A.J. again, triggering the warning and forcing Ozzie to use what is in effect a “goon” for retribution.  

Meanwhile, Vazquez left the stadium unscathed – aside from the pounding by Rangers hitters – and he’ll live to pitch another day.  Tracey won’t be seen in a White Sox uniform again, and just gave up a game-breaking homer tonight in his first game back in Charlotte tonight.  That doesn’t seem fair.

Hot-headhunting

More often than not, I'm a fan of Ozzie Guillen's willingness to be candid.  For instance, I appreciated the way he discussed the center field situation earlier this week, discussing Rob Mackowiak and Scott Podsednik's inability to handle center for more than a game at a time.  He talked about it firmly, but not in a way where he trashed his players.

Tonight, though, was a different matter.  And I'm wondering if Sean Tracey will pitch again for the Sox this year. 

I was wondering why Guillen pulled Tracey after a batter, and it caught the Rangers announcers off-guard, as they didn't expect to cut to commercial.  But afterwards, they showed why Ozzie pulled Tracey:

Tracey got Hank Blalock out, and he wasn't supposed to.

Ozzie sent Tracey in to retaliate, and Tracey tried with the first pitch and missed.  It was a knee-high fastball, and Blalock jumped out of the way.  Instead of going all-in again, he stayed enough by the plate and induced a weak groundout from the Rangers third baseman. 

Ozzie had seen enough.  First he came out immediately to pull him, and after he stayed on the mound long enough to hand the ball to Agustin Montero, Ozzie came back to the dugout and screamed at the rookie.  Tracey had taken a seat at the end of the bench, and Ozzie yelled the whole way down.  Later, the Texas broadcast showed Guillen slamming his water bottle after Blalock grounded out. 

Throughout the rest of the seventh, the camera kept panning back to Tracey, who either had his head in his hands, or tucked inside his jersey.  He looked thoroughly humiliated. 

Perhaps he deserved to be called out in front of cameras -- Ozzie sent him to send a message, and he failed.  We know Guillen is big about teammates picking up teammates, and this would count as failing in that category. 

But when he berated Tracey for not sending a message in plain view of cameras, I think he sent a wrong message himself.  Mainly, he looked downright vindictive, something he claimed not to be.  I'm reminded of this quote:

"People in this league think I'm a headhunter. Anytime one of my players get hit, they warn me out of nowhere," Guillen said. "I know the umpires have to protect the integrity of the game and protect the players --