Ozzie had a chance to talk to the media and this is what he said. I’m sure there will be a fine coming!

“Because he’s a f—ing a–hole, that’s what he is. I just went out to ask him … I wasn’t asking about the balk because you’re not allowed, anytime you go out there to ask about balk or whatever. The thing I went out to ask him about was why he was embarrassing Buehrle. I’m not going out to argue about the balk because the rule, but I went out to ask him why he’s embarrassing Buehrle and he give me one of this [dismissing him with his hands]. When you’re a professional and you have to respect the managers, the way we’re supposed to respect the umpires, they are supposed to respect back. Obviously they have more power than we have and we have to wear it every time that happens. That’s the reason I got tossed. I don’t think he has the right and the power to let people know who is the chief on the field. We know he has to control the game, we know he has to control all the s—, but in the meanwhile, I don’t think it was the right thing to do, like we balked him while we were on the field. Joe has been like that for a lot of years, and he’s always going to be like this. I’m not going to change it, nobody is going to change it, but sometimes he thinks f—ing people pay to watch him f—ing umpire. He’s the type of guy that wants to control the game, it’s good for the game, and to me one of the best umpires in the game, no doubt. But in the meanwhile, those years are on his shoulders and kind of heavy and showing people who he is. I deserve respect and the players here deserve respect here, too. When you tell the manager to get the f— off the field, I don’t think that’s a good way to handle situations. No matter what you say, what you do, how long you talk here, Major League Baseball doesn’t do s— for anything. I’ll be waiting for my fine, get ‘em the next day.”
“I said why are you embarrassing Buehrle? He said, ‘Well Buehrle was doing …’ well, you got two choices, the second choice he has, and he was wrong the first time or the second time, either one was wrong. Because you don’t like what Buehrle did the first time you should toss him. You shouldn’t embarrass him. That’s the way he is.”

Did you see the second one that got Buehrle ejected?

“It’s not about balk. It’s all different. Buehrle has been doing the same stuff, what? Seven years, eight years? All of a sudden [West] just gets up today and says, ‘Well, I’m going to call a balk on Buehrle no matter what.’ He’s got the right, I don’t know if it was a balk or not, you couldn’t tell. In the meanwhile, I was kind of upset with the reaction. He thinks he’s the s— in the field. People pay to watch f—ing players play, not to see umpires and managers. I don’t see any people say, ‘I’m going to see Ozzie Guillen manage or Joe West f—ing umpire.’ ”

Here’s Joe West’s side:

Why the balks?

“He has a couple of really good moves and those two were both balks, so I called them.”

Ozzie said he was more upset that you were embarrassing Mark:

“He didn’t say that to me. I don’t know what he’s talking about. Ozzie came out because Buehrle was making gestures on the mound that could have got him kicked out so he was protecting Buehrle, that’s all he was doing. I don’t have a problem with that.”

why did you toss Buehrle?

“He threw his glove. There wasn’t that much to it, was there?”

Great blog post about today’s game with pictures of Buehrle NOT balking: Click Here

The best chance that I think they had to do so was in the 6th inning. We get Beckham and Pierre on base and up steps Jayson Nix. A guy that came into the game with 3 home runs in 5 at-bats against Joe Saunders. So I’m thinking this has the opportunity to score some runs! So what does Ozzie do? He has him BUNT!! Are you serious? That’s taking this smallball crap a little too far? A guy owns a pitcher, you let him swing away.

So Nix did his job, he got the bunt down while I was screaming at the television that we’d better score those two runners on 2nd and 3rd and of course they don’t. Another pathetic inning and one of the few just plain wrong calls that I think Ozzie has made this year. Overall Nix didn’t do much last night, but his past performance against Saunders should have at least got him the opportunity to hit with the runners on base.

With all this talk about breaking up the team, who should be traded, which coaches should be fired, etc. I have my suggestion. It’s time to say na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, good-bye to Kenny Williams. He’s the guy that’s put these hitless wonders on the field for the last few years. I can’t even give him too much credit for 2005 as on paper that year the Sox were destined for 4th or 5th place. Only a lot of magic, chemistry and the baseball gods could have intervened to make that team what it was. If someone has to go, it’s Kenny Williams!

Bobby’s velocity seems good, maybe too good. When he was effective and had pretty good control he was topping off about 94-95MPH. Lately it seems he’s back in the 97MPH mark but getting lit up. That says to me he’s leaving the ball over the plate and not hitting the corners like he should be. I know there are some closers who rely on the 100MPH fastball to get guys out, Bobby isn’t one of them. A 90-95MPH fastball coupled with his killer 12 to 6 curve are deadly weapons. Throw a decent slider in there and you have a good closer.

I know there are some fans who think Bobby is done, but I’m not one of them. I just think Bobby needs to clear his mind and stick with the game plan that got him where he is today. I’m sure his ego may take a little bruising in the process, but that’s not always a bad thing. Plenty of people gave up on Scott Podsednik before the White Sox gave him a chance to play again last year and a lot of people had given up on Andruw Jones after two bad seasons. They’re both playing at All Star levels once again and I believe Bobby Jenks can too.

In the meantime, it sounds like Ozzie wants to go with a closer by committee. I guess we have a DH by committee, why not a closer. The problem is the DH by committee is hitting in the .200 range so let’s hope the relief corps do a little bit better.

If you had to pick a closer replacement for Bobby Jenks from within the Sox ranks, who would it be? I’d be pretty evenly split between Matt Thornton and Sergio Santos based on their performance so far this year. Both have somewhat of a flaw with Thornton being left handed and Santos being a rookie who wasn’t even a pitcher before this season. JJ Putz has pretty good stuff and has shown the medal to be a closer in the past so maybe he gets the call. What do you think?

What seems to have gone unnoticed by a lot of media outlets is that last night’s win was Ozzie’s 523rd win as a White Sox manager, putting him alone in 3rd place as he passed Tony Larussa. It’s a major accomplishment and Ozzie should be proud of the work he’s done here since taking over in 2004. Now he’s just 377 wins from being alone in 1st place! Congrats Ozzie!!

What can you say about Paulie “The King” Konerko and his 8th home run of the young season? He’s looking great and for a guy who often slow starts is showing that he’s still got the goods here in his walk year. Does it really seem like it was 5 years ago now when the fans at the parade downtown called for Jerry Reinsdorf to bring Paulie back? Time flies, and I hope Paulie gives the front office another year full of reasons to bring him back next year.

This team this weekend reminded me of the 2005 team. No matter how far down they are they never say quit and always feel like they’ll find a way to win the game. These three one run games with the Mariners were fun to watch and hopefully are a precursor to what we’ll be seeing a lot more of here and the ChiSox go for the 2010 AL Central title and beyond!

I’ve been saying since the spring that Andruw was the guy that could surprise everyone this year and I think he may be the bargain of the off season signings. It’s good to see him back out there having fun at both the plate and in the outfield.

Carlos Quentin hit a home run to stop an 0-23 streak so all we can do is hope that he starts to turn it around. It was nice to see the White Sox with some fight last night, even after a big grand slam tied the game. That was shades of 2005 folks, that team NEVER thought they were out of a game and that’s the attitude these guys need to adopt and start hitting. The White Sox are still the worst team in the majors when it comes to batting average, but at least there are signs of life!

Keep on them Ozzie!

The White Sox have the WORST batting average in the AL. A whopping .215 average as a team. The Kansas City Royals are first in that department at .296, partially thanks to Scott Podsednik who Kenny and Ozzie let fly because of some insane infatuation with a part time player in Juan Pierre. Pierre hasn’t had over 380 at bats in a season since 2007 and is currently hitting .217. I hope Pierre can bring his part time numbers to his full time role this year, but he’s not off to a good start.

And, don’t get me wrong, it’s not anywhere near all Juan Pierre’s fault that the teams batting average is struggling. Across the board there are issues. It reminded me of the last few years where everyone just kept saying the hitting has to come out of the funk, but they never do. Carlos Quentin is the one guy with a short leash on my radar. He’s only had one stellar season in the majors and the rest have been sub-par. I no longer believe he’s the superstar player who was breaking out in 2008. More than likely he’s really that .230 hitter he was both before and after that season.

The White Sox are also last in double in the AL, 18 as opposed to the 43 the Blue Jays have leading the category.

The White Sox are 13th (out of 14) in On Base Percentage, 13th in hits, 12th in RBIs, 12th in Runs Scored. Not stats you want to right home about, that’s for sure.

There are two strange high points to the team stats this year. The first is, even though we have decided to forgo power in the quest for smallball somehow the White Sox still stand at 3rd right now in the AL in the Home Run category with 19 long balls, trailing only Boston with 20 and the Blue Jays with 23.

And the other bright stat, one hard to believe for a home run hitting team and a team with the worst average in the league is they’ve struck out less than any other team in the American League. I guess that should mean better things to come, as putting the ball into play is an important thing to getting hits! But, we’re in such a hole now that it’s going to take a nice strong hitting streak from the White Sox to put them anywhere near the top of the list.

Let me restate what I’ve said in previous posts, I’m not someone that thinks the manager or hitting coach is at fault here. I see some pretty good hitters slumping that I know will come around in guys like Beckham, Rios and Pierzynski. I think Andruw Jones has been a fantastic addition to the team and that Konerko will have a decent average with good pop. Beyond that though there are major questions, and since Jones wasn’t supposed to be a full time player that means I’ve got major questions with over half the lineup and I think that’s showing in the results on the field. So no, it’s not Ozzie’s fault or Walker’s fault, they didn’t assemble the team, Kenny Williams did. He’s the guy that needs to stand up and take responsibility if the team doesn’t start to perform.

It seems that for the last few years we’ve heard the mantra that we have a good team and “just imagine how good we’ll be once the hitting starts!” Well, the hitting hasn’t always started, and it’s time to start looking into why. Do I blame Greg Walker? No. A hitting coach doesn’t go out there and swing the bat. A hitting coach gets the information the players need to them for every game and Walker has done that. A hitting coach can also help tweak a hitter’s swing, but only the hitter can get the results and only the hitter can decide if they’re going to listen to their coaches.

Do I blame the manager? Hell no. Ozzie Guillen is a master at lighting a fire under his team so I know there’s no complacency issues going on here. Just as Walker doesn’t go up there and swing the bat, neither does Ozzie. The only people to blame for the lack of hitting are the hitters, pure and simple.

So right now it’s only a couple weeks in. We need to all take a deep breath and relax. The players need to relax too and not try and press too hard. Baseball is a streaky game, the players need to just go out there and try and have some fun and let their abilities take over.

If the averages don’t start rising in the next week or two I think we start to worry and start to look for a way to get the players out of the funk. Even the worst hitting guys on this team should be able to hit .250 and sadly only a couple are over that mark at this point.

And, I know it has nothing to do with the 2010 White Sox, but has anyone else noticed who’s leading the major league in hitting? Scotty Pods. Makes you go hmmm, doesn’t it?

Rios sent a blast over the left field wall to break up the no-hitter and the shutout all in one crowd silencing swing. It was a thing of beauty, and even though the White Sox didn’t win the game it gave White Sox fans a chance to smile. Toronto fans that would boo a guy for something that wasn’t of his own making have to be a bunch of morons. I applaud the old couple they showed on the television broadcast who had a “We Miss You Alex” sign, at least some Toronto fans have class.

And what big game, like a near no-hitter, would be complete without some A.J. Pierzynski controversy? Did he get hit with the pitch in the 8th inning in the at-bat before Rios went yard? I have read a few blogs who claim that the video clearly shows he didn’t get hit and that’s just hogwash. The video shows the ball pretty close to A.J.’s foot and since it’s not a high speed camera I guess we’ll just have to take A.J.’s word on it. I mean really, do you think Anthony John would try to do anything that wasn’t on the up and up?? Either way, good baseball!

Teahen called the game a good team win, and it was. Andruw Jones belted two home runs of his own and is truly looking like the All Star he was just a few short years ago. I’ve said since before spring training started that Jones is still young at 32 and if he got himself into shape could have another great 3-5 seasons. It looks like Andruw is in shape and he is swinging the bat very, very well. He’s going to force the White Sox hand pretty soon to get him as much playing time as they can. At this point I’d rather see him in the outfield over Juan Pierre just because he’s got the same range and a better arm.

Jake Peavy struggled for his second straight game but did take a card from Mark Buehrle’s deck and stayed on the mound at kept the team in the game even though he didn’t have his good stuff. As someone that was REALLY excited when Peavy came over I just hope that he’s healthy, if he is then I’m not worried about his season. Even guys like CC Sabithia get touched up now and then, and CC had a horrid first half just a couple years ago before coming back dominant. Peavy is a guy that will dominate the league and I’m hoping he’s getting his bad outings out of the way early.

Alex Rios was welcomed back to Toronto with a chorus of boos every time he came up to bat or touched the ball in the field. There were chants of Alex Rios sucks. What a classy move from the Toronto fans on their opening night. It was their own club that put Rios on wavers so the White Sox made the deal. Rios didn’t ask to leave Toronto, so why is he at fault here? He has said he loved his time in Toronto and didn’t want to leave, so boo your GM or your owners Toronto fans, booing Rios just makes you look like a bunch of low class morons who don’t understand a thing about baseball.

I’m glad we have Alex Rios on the south side of Chicago this year, like Andruw Jones, he’s hitting the ball HARD and that’s going to translate to some fun ballgames this year. For me there were three guys that would make or break the Sox this year and they were Carlos Quentin, Alex Rios and Andruw Jones. If all of these guys can have good years than with our pitching staff the sky will be the limit.