Who are you more worried about, Lou or Ozzie?

Ozzie is Ozzie. We shouldn't be surprised, we pretty much know he is a loose cannon at times and has trouble behaving himself, and he doesn't look to be changing anytime soon. I don't know what he was doing listening to sports talk radio anyway, he should know better by now. Unnecessarily raising his blood pressure. I mean, if he thinks Mariotti is bad...

Piniella? Who knows, he does have his work cut out for him managing the Cubs though. As far as a lack of confidence in Dempster as a closer, the guy didn't earn the nickname Dumpster by accident. So who knows. Piniella's just trying to make the most out of the resources he has, I guess.

Then again what is Soriano doing batting second? He is not a #2 hitter.

I wouldn't worry about either. Both guys are combustible, but that is just who they are. Being brash and outspoken is a plus in a manager. They care and show it. They want to win and thats alright with me. Move him, send him down, change his place in the line up, promote him, demote him, good, good, good!!! Do something until you get RESULTS!! Looking ominus and saying nothing while you losing boils me over. I don't like mysterious guys. This is baseball not poker!

Cubs and Sox are both good teams! Sox is a little better because of the starters and war-tested veterans. Cubs smacked my boyz right in the mouth and they finally woke up on Sunday. I say thank you - to the Cubs! Haven't seen 10 runs in a looooong time! Thank you Lou for managing and forcing Ozzie to manage back! Thank you Derrick Lee! Now hopefully we will take our frustration out on the Oakland A's!!! Hopefully the Cubs have awakened the sleeping giants!

I must say I am getting tired of Ozzie's bias towards the Latin players. Anderson, Sweeney, McCarthy were always on short leashes and sent down and/or traded. At the same time we continualy get poor performances from the Latino crew - Ozuna who is BRUTAL in left and can't hit like the others; some guy named Terriero (sp?) who I think is hitting a buck ten; and Uribe who is not the answer at SS, and is usually 20 pounds overweight.

Johnny the "bias" towards Latin players is an illusion. Yes Anderson and McCarthy kind of got shafted by Ozzie but Sweeney was sent back down because that was the plan all along, although he made a good case to keep him up. He was not on a "short leash," he will be back since he's one of the more highly graded prospects in the league and (one of) the Sox's OF of the future. He's one of Ozzie's favorite players actually. Terrero had to stay because he's out of options and can't be sent back to AAA and kept by the Sox unless he clears waivers, and since they want to keep him around he has to be on the major league team.

Ozuna is a weak LF but Podsednik is nothing to write home about there either. But I'm not sure how you figure he can't hit... he's a career .284 hitter, batting over .300 in a Sox uniform. Solid utility player and important piece of the team but he has to start thanks to injuries, so he's out of his normal role.

As far as Uribe, do you have a better solution? Because there's not one.

I am most worried about Roger Ebert. Hope he recovers 100%.Just because Ozzie wears his emotions on his sleeves, does not mean he 'misbehaves'. I don't why people are claiming racial favortism? Where were you when the Bulls were putting Dave Corzine, Ben Poquette and even Bill Wennington (I know i missing a name) on the floor? They were terrible. The Sox won the World series because of Ozzie not despite him. I don't know about Lou. I said it before,from way up here he looks like he has lost a few marbles. Maybe you folks know better as you are 'in tune' with Chicago every day. I, on the other hand,as previously stated, have to settle for day old Tribunes when available (assuming they have been used to wrap freshly run over deer meat). Of course I listen to WGN, but they are so censored from the Stone ordeal, they wouldn't dare to be brash about Lou.

Johnny M. I understand EXACTLY how you might feel to see all that "favoritism". You know its going on all over this country, especially in the corporate America?!? Yeah that favoritism is something else. I don't like it either man. We should have equality in everything in America, ESPECIALLY BASEBALL. Something needs to be done!

Who does Ozzie think he is? And somebody needs to check Kenny Williams, and owner Jerry Reinsdorf also! Sox dont know jack! Now the Cubs...thats an organization you can respect!

Mike North could not have bought the publicity he has received from Ozzie with all the oil in Saudi Arabia.
Since when is the Mike North Show all that important?
Maybe the damn Chicago media ought to pay more attention to things that matter....usually they act like cheerleaders for the local teams.
Ozzie used "bad words"....Oh My!!!!!

Roman responds: Well, depending on what got out over the airwaves and what the FCC finds, The Score may need all the oil in Saudi Arabia to pay the fine. It's a legitimate story. I don't know what your beef is with it.

Keith Sowa. I like the fact you have numbers behind what you say, it keeps things in real perspective. I also believe Johnny M has a legitimate gripe inside his thoughts, just not thoroughly explained. You see, there have been moments this year when Ozzie substituted or pinch hit and I questioned his decision on whom his sub was. More often then not it was a Latino involved, and I too (and I'm Latino) felt favoritism may have been an issue. I hadn't given it a second thought until I read Johnnys' blog, and I just knew right then and there it wasn't just me with a wandering mind. It is happening, but It's also nothing new in todays' world. I just wonder if a professional manager shouldn't be more concerned about giving his team the best chance to win. Save the biased moves, for say, maybe a party at Ozzies' house where he serves A.J. and Buerhle the domestic beer, and Ozuna and Uribe the imported. Anyway I like Uribe at short. He doesn't make Valentin mistakes and his bat is a roller coaster that has plenty of long drops in the ride. Ozuna is a HUSTLER but his fielding does make one shake their head more often than not. Terrero hasn't played much, but has 3 walks in 13 AB (a dinosaur by Sox standards), 1 SO, and looked good subbing for Dye on Monday. Ozzie only has 3 Latino position players to choose from, so his heart comes into play that much faster. Now if we could only slow down his mouth, everyone would be better off.

Anthony, I know what Johnny was getting at because I've heard it before and I wondered it myself at times. But I was just trying to point out that it's not as flagrant as people make it seem.

Ozzie's best bench players are Latino, and he uses his bench players often - sometimes to my protest, but that's another story. That is no secret. So, many times, he substitutes his regular guys for Latin players and it's more coincidence than anything else. In the bench roles, the guys have been pretty good, batting in the high .200s or low .300s. Ozuna often gets time as a pinch runner because of his speed and gets put in the lineup because the Sox are a slow team, especially without Pods. Cintron is a solid replacement and usually has a steady bat, until the major slump this year. But think about it... Macowiak is as white as anyone and he gets just as much, if not more time as the Latino guys. Gload was solid but couldn't get enough playing time because he was playing behind Konerko and Dye so he got traded. And while Anderson was sitting on the bench last year, who was usually playing in his place even though his fielding was suspect? Macowiak.

It's only recent that these bench guys have struggled so badly and contributed little to nothing. Sure he is sticking by Uribe, Cintron, Ozuna, and now Terrero (who by the way now has a .300 batting average after yesterday). But he is also sticking by Crede, Dye, Konerko, and so on. The whole team is struggling and the whole team is showing signs of finally breaking out of the slump.

Quite frankly, I think the Sox could use more Latino players (for the record, I myself am black). I don't feel the Sox have been scouting that market aggressively enough, and there's more to be gained. Baseball has exploded in Latin America to the point that it's more popular there than it is here. It's hard to find a young Puerto Rican or Dominican kid who doesn't love baseball. The Sox should be taking advantage of that.

Navarro and Sowa, enjoyed your posts. I agree with Sowa, I really don't think Ozzie is biased. Do you really think Ozzie cannot see all of those fans out there? Ozzie can see, and Ozzie knows this town and his GM and Owner. There is no place for that on the Southside, this is the Championship side of town. That is one of the things I love most about the Sox - diversity from the booth to the post-game interview. NOTHING BUT CLASS. Ozzie wouldn't jeapardize that even for his brother in law Freddie.

I'm more worried about an overzealous FCC, flanked by conservative groups, fining the station for indecency. Their crackdown on this since the Janet Jackson Superbowl debacle is threatening free speech. And worse of all, the FCC refuses to define what indecency is, leaving TV and radio stations to play it safe, snuffing out any creative freedom whatsoever. That's much, much worse than Ozzie's or Lou's antics.

Roman responds: I thought the reaction to Janet Jackson's incident was way over-the-top, but the word is one of Ozzie's f-bombs made the airwaves. Anybody hear it live?

As a Sox fan I have come to the realization that this team plays better when there is controversy. It is interesting to see how the Sox bats have finally lit up in the past few days and the only conclusion that I have been able to come up with not counting the return of Jim Thome is that maybe the distraction of all of the media attention has allowed for the hitters not to be so concerned with their perpetual slumps all the time.

The Sox played some of their most inspired ball after the entire Mariotti controversy last year and possibly we can expect more of the same.

And yes, I read Jay Mariotti and I believe that he is half Bill O'Reilly/half Doomsday Soothsayer and he reiterates this gloomy attitude every time someone stubs their toe. However, I do read him because I think he is funny in an "Onion"-sorta way because he carries himself as an expert.

This formula works because the chances of a team "Winning it All" is very doubtful indeed even if you are a great team. The funny part of course is then at the end of the season he will exclaim and be so proud of himself that he knew more than everyone else did.

I believe it was Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune who had captured several quotes from Mariotti over the 2005 White Sox Championship run which reflected Mariotti's attitude of the Sox. Classic read, if I may say so myself.

If you give him the power to be that expert in your head then he will bother you. However, if you treat him like a spoof from Saturday Night Live, then you can finally come to the conclusion that the Sun Times has one of the Best Comic Sections in America.

Roman responds: Actually, I think the Sox played worse after the Mariotti episode.

Say what you want about Mariotti, personally I can't stand him but I can say he's good at what he does. He hasn't been working at the Sun-Times for so long by accident. He knows the buttons to press in this city, and people can't resist reading it no matter how many times they say they won't. It's like "I wonder what trash Mariotti is writing next?" And then people start talking about it. Negative attention is still attention, I'm pretty sure he's fully aware that the things he writes get people all riled up and strike the wrong nerves considering that's the point. I'm also pretty sure he doesn't care and that it doesn't bother him that people don't like him, because if it did he would've stopped a long time ago.

I guess in order for there to be good guys there have to be bad guys too.

Roman responds: Keith, I love it when you get existential.

I AM THE GREATEST CUB FAN ALIVE BUT I REFUSE TO PICK UP THE PAPER TO SEE RESULTS I WANT TO KNOW WHY THE TEAM WON OR LOST IT SEEMS TO ME THE CUBS NEVER FIRED DUSTY BAKER JUST HIRED A LOU JUST LIKE HIM WHERE IS THE CONSISTENCY? WHY THE RIGHTY LEFTY SITUATION? USE YOUR BEST PLAYERS. WHY WHEN ZAMBRANO IS PITCHING GOOD THEY YANK HIM BUT WHEN HE PITCHES BAD THEY LEAVE HIM IN. SORIANO IS NO LEADOFF MAN START THERIOT AT SS AND LEADOFF AND DEROSA AT 2ND BATTING 2ND THEN LEE AND ARAMIS AND THEN SORIANO HOW ABOUT SOME SACRIFICE BUNTS A 2-1 WIN IS AS GOOD AS A 10-1. SEEMS LIKE LOU AS WITH BAKER AND THE DODGERS IS STILL LIVING IN THE PAST WITH "HIT A HOMER OR YOU DONT WIN" THE SOX WIN BECAUSE OF GUILLENS STRATEGY NOT HIS PLAYERS ABILITY POSITION BY POSITION THEY DONT TOUCH THE CUBS ITS THE MANAGERS BRAINS THAT COUNT A VERY UNHAPPY BUT LOYAL CUB FAN

Roman responds: Neal, welcome to the blog, but please — PLEASE — never write in all-caps again. It reminds me of those Dirty Harry movies when the killer used to cut and paste letters to form a note.

Well we knew it was going to happen so for the first time(well maybe not) I am going to set it OFF!!!!

"THE SOX WIN BECAUSE OF GUILLENS STRATEGY NOT HIS PLAYERS ABILITY POSITION BY POSITION THEY DONT TOUCH THE CUBS" from Neal.

Um don't know about anyone else but the only two places I would swap if given the chance would be Soriano for Uribe(at shortstop and definitely not the outfield) and Zambrano for Contreras.

1st base is a wash in my opinion and would come down to what type of team you were putting together. A question about Lee, what's going on with him? He is hitting great, but his power seems to be lacking. Did the injury affect his power?

Michael Barret over AJ? Barret is a average(I am being nice here) fielder who if he isn't hitting isn't helping you any other way.

Jacque Jones over Erstad? Is that even a real consideration? Jones throws like a girl, a very good highschool baseball playing girl who will probably get a scholarship to a good school because of her + arm in the outfield that is awesome for a highschool girl, but a girl nonetheless. He constantly misses cut off men, and if he isn't catching the ball is useless. My gawd, I weigh 235 lbs with bad knees from 8 years of martial arts and I would make a play at the plate interesting with a throw from him.....

Matt Murton over Dye? This is getting ridiculous....everyone in unison....NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Derosa over Iguchi(Derosa is a glorified role player who I definitely wouldn't say has more talent that Iguchi)

Noone cares about Izturis as he is a castoff and has been relegated to role player status, so I guess I will put him up against say Alex Cintron(maybe that's a wash too but more talent is inaccurate at best)

Ramirez over Crede?(Ramirez has numbers at the end of the season, but his fielding is average, and I am being nice again) I know a multitude of Cub fans that would make a swap for Crede in a heartbeat....and he isn't called "Clutch Crede" for nothing.

Noone in their right mind would take the Cubs starting pitching staff over the Sox's. I think it's safe to say that Hill and Marquis are "over achieving right now, although Hill seems to be falling back to earth lately". Lilly is doing well, especially without that pesky DH to worry about. While the Sox have a league best string of quality starts from their pitchers.

The middle relief for both sides has been shakey, so there is another wash(for the moment anyway). And please don't tell me you would want Dempster over Jenks......that would just be bad comedy.

Sorry Roman, I usually don't post that long, but I couldn't let that go unchallenged. In any event,

I personally think Guillen needs to shut up. His burst on the air was not only irresponsible but childish. He reminded me of a child that has done something wrong(benching AJ in the first place) and instead of saying "wow maybe I did make a mistake" he gets mad and huffs and puffs. Seriously, maybe he needs meds like Zoloft or something to even him out. It was a rather classless display in my opinion, and management needs to hammer him with a fine or something.

Jones throws like a girl, a very good highschool baseball playing girl who will probably get a scholarship to a good school because of her + arm in the outfield that is awesome for a highschool girl, but a girl nonetheless. -Bryant

Many Girls throw better than guys,especially guys who stoop so low as to reach in to the a** of pig, to pull that garbage you wrote, out of it............. and no self-respecting educated cubs fan would take Crede over Ramirez. First base isn't a draw unless your on drugs-the sox had there chance to unload him,just as the cubs blew their chance to trade Zambrano. Do not comment on Cubs players when you are clearly lacking all the information.

Existential? haha. I don't have a comeback for that. I tried, but I got nothing.

By the way I question Guillen's strategy at times, for whatever that's worth. Granted he won a World Series doing what he did in '05 but in parts of '06 until now some of the things he does just look bizarre. But to say that the Sox don't have good players? That's kind of dumb. They have a winning record thanks to their outstanding starting pitching. Last year they won 90 games thanks to the incredible thump in the lineup and didn't make the playoffs because the pitching fell off. Now if they would just get in sync with each other, they'd look great, even by AL Central standards.

The Sox had their chance to unload... who? Umm what? You must be talking about Konerko, guy that carried the 2005 team to the World Series? Granted, Lee is better and is a potential MVP candidate, but Konerko isn't exactly chopped liver, I mean he's still an All-Star.

Back injuries and trash talk aside, why would you take Crede over Ramirez? Honestly. I guess it depends on what you expect from your 3B. Yes Ramirez is a great hitter but he is so-so in the field. Crede is a walking highlight reel in the field but still has a more than solid bat. Don't look at what he was, look at what he is now and note that he won the AL Silver Slugger award for 3B in 2006, and I'd say if he batted higher in the order - he would on another team with less power hitters - he'd have had over 100 RBI last year.

Roman responds: It's an interesting debate. I'm a huge AR critic, but sometimes the guy makes unbelievable plays in the field. I hate his loafing style, but he can hit. I still like Crede, though his back may be a big problem.

To those who say that Ozzie favors "Latino" players, I don't think that there is an iota of evidence that it is so. Take the case of Brian Anderson, a player whose hitting ability is not above that of a AA ballplayer. Ozzie gave this fellow all chances in the world and quite clearly, groomed him to be the next Sox centerfielder, so much so that the Sox shipped good Aaron Rowand out of town. As much as I like Anderson, because he can field and is a Bill Clinton look-alike, I always felt that he was given too much of an opportunity. On the other hand, the Sox got rid of a decent player, Carlos Lee, and did not come to terms with a better one, Magglio Ordonez. I am sure that it was harder for the Sox organization to let these "Latino" players go than to "short leash" some of its current players.

As of late, relievers Logan, Aardsma and McDougal are unable to hold games, or keep the team ahead until Bobby Jenks can become available to close the opposition. If these three gentlemen are leashed or traded, is it because they are white?

Those who now criticize Williams and Guillen should not forget that in 2005 they accomplished what legions of GMs and field managers in Chicagoland could not do in almost 100 year.

We are indeed stuck in a good place. Go, Chicago!

Roman responds: Good post.

Two runs in two games with a line-up to die for!! What existentialist said that it's not whether you win or lose; it's the way you play the game? It definitely was not Vince Lombardi.Existentialists can argue that the journey is more significant than the destination and that process is more significant than product,but seeing the Cubs win about ten straight would certainly " make my day."

"Many Girls throw better than guys,especially guys who stoop so low as to reach in to the a** of pig, to pull that garbage you wrote, out of it" From stuckinwisconsin

Hello stuckinwisconsin! You always make me laugh.

I noticed that you seem a bit upset about what I said. I also noticed that you didn't "DISPUTE" the fact that he does in essence have the throwing arm of a 16 year old girl! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

It's awesome how you tried to rip on me to hide the truth. I don't think it worked though.

Jones is useless and from what I can tell the ratio of people that want him gone vs people that want him to stay is about 4/1. So um, you might want to confer with your own fan base as you are misinformed, which is the norm for you.

The only thing in my opinion that D Lee does better than Konerko is RUN....as Konerko is slow as hell. I mean he is slower than Bobby Jenks.....and that's kinda scary. We wouldn't trade Paul Konerko for the world as he is an class act, unlike Zambrano who dishes it out but can't take it. Like when Albert Pujols launches his crap and just looks at it sail and Zambrano gets all pouty and starts whining and self destructs and.....oh wait....you are a Cub fan(albeit a fake one so honestly you don't count) so I don't have to describe this to you. It's well documented.

Speaking of Zambrano, I hope all you Cub fans are ready to see him walk out of town with a big fat contract to the highest bidder. Once again Cubs management is going to fail you. They should have gotten something done pronto but no, the ink has dried. Which means no home town discount, which means they would have to sign him to an 100 million dollar contract, which isn't going to happen. They already have wasted 136 million on Soriano.

Where is Soriano btw? I mean, he has a decent average but like 6 stolen bases? As I said in my earlier post I won't even get into his fielding and his strike out tendency was well documented. He has to be around 40 by now right? Let's see...we are a 1/4th of the way through, so if he holds he should be somewhere around 140 strikeouts at the end of season. Now that's money well spent!

Maybe Jacque Jones can pitch when Zambrano pouts out of town??? He does have the + 16 year old girl arm. Should be able to get closer to the plate from the mound right? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I noticed that you seem a bit upset about what I said. I also noticed that you didn't "DISPUTE" the fact that he does in essence have the throwing arm of a 16 year old girl! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA -Bryant

I found it more important to address the issue that arose from your poor lack of judgment,then to defend Jacque Jones.

Also, you just reiterated my statement about the Cub's missing their chance to trade Zambrano. However, you have to remember that is the way it goes when your business leadership doesn't care.
Lastly,if Jacque Jones did pitch, I am sure he would 'miss' Michael barret most of the time,thusly reducing the chance of Barret dropping it. You see there are bright spots everywhere when you are a Cubs fan.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUBBIESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!

Ozzie. His rants of the past were accepeted because they're winning. The patience won't be there if the Sox fail to make the playoffs. Lou has a least another year before he or the team says enough. The road for the Cubs to make the playoffs is easier then that for the Sox.

I found it more important to address the issue that arose from your poor lack of judgment,then to defend Jacque Jones. -Stuckinwisconsin

LOL um stuck, I think you have the person with a poor lack of judgement mixed up. I think that the person with the poor lack of poor judgement is the yuks that signed Jacque Jones hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...........

as for your second part......sadly enough I think that most Cub fans could find logic in anything....so I guess you are right.....which is kinda sad.....only thing is I don't know which is worse.....you being right.......or the Cub fans being like that.