Posts tagged OzzieGuillen at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

While the Twins and Tigers are busy throwing fastballs at each other's heads this week, the White Sox are taking advantage of it by beating up on the lowly Cleveland Indians, and adding some cushion to their division lead in the AL Central. Still, even though the Sox have won six in a row, have the best ERA in baseball, and have crushed an American League-best 113 home runs, the team still has holes.

Considering that they're relying on two young pitchers without proven track records over an entire season in Gavin Floyd and John Danks, there's some speculation that Kenny Williams could be in the market for another starting pitcher. There's also the fact that the offense is too reliant on those home runs they hit, and could use some more speed on the basepaths.

None of this bothers Ozzie Guillen though, as he's perfectly content with taking his chances with his current roster.

"You have to crawl before you start running," Guillen said Tuesday while being careful not to declare the Sox a playoff-bound team. "This ballclub [can] compete and be in the playoffs, be alive in the pennant race. And if we get to the playoffs, I don't mind taking this ballclub to the World Series."

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

L.A. Angels of Anaheim (48-33) at L.A. Dodgers of L.A. (38-42) - 4:10 PM ET

The final day of interleague play, or as ESPN has needlessly re-branded it: "AL/NL SHOWDOWN!" (like it's a western gunfight or something) will feature a good pitching matchup between John Lackey (5-1, 1.65) and Derek Lowe (5-7, 4.05). Of course, it can't be better than the one between Chad Billingsley and Jered Weaver last night, where Weaver combined with Jose Arredondo for eight innings of no-hit baseball, but lost. After coming back from an early season injury, Lackey really hasn't had a bad outing all season. So if anyone can continue the no-hit parade for the Dodgers, it's Lackey.

"It's your fault. It's all your fault."

Later, Willie, John, John, and not Ozzie. You were all bums.

It's not quite Jonathan Papelbon in a Rastafarian wig doing "Blame it on the Rain," but the rap war between Ozzie Guillen's South Side Guys and Lou "Big Sweet" Piniella's North Side Guys has reached critical mass. Condescending insults have been the norm, but now the rivalry has lead to threats of physical violence. This has got to stop. Somebody needs to step in and regulate. Can't we all just get along?

This morning, we hope to get inside the mentality of these gangster rappers and come to some societal conclusions, and though we don't have the hilarious narrator from The History Channel's "Gangland" ("One day, he was leaving a Church's Chicken! when several Crips members surprised him") but we're doing the best with what we have.

Today's jump is real, naw'mean, after the jump. Ya feel me?

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

Chicago White Sox (41-32) at Chicago Cubs (46-28) - 1:05 PM ET

Friday was the first time that both Chicago's baseball teams entered a series against each other in first place. The initial game did not disappoint, with Aramis Ramirez smacking two home runs, including the walk off extravaganza in the ninth to win the game for the Cubs. But the Cubs have more surprises for the White Sox. Before the game yesterday, Ozzie Guillen took another shot at Wrigley Field, saying that under the right field bleachers, there are "rats out there are lifting weights" while the assembled media laughed. Little does Guillen know that Lou Piniella is thinking about using a couple of those rats in key pinch hitting situations today. Then ... who will be laughing?

Newsflash: Ozzie Guillen says a lot of crazy things. Sometimes, they're just crazy. Sometimes, they're crazy and wrong. Sometimes they're funny and right and still a little bit crazy, and those are the best Ozzie quotes of them all. So in the run-up to this weekend's TOTALLY IMPORTANT Cubs-White Sox series, Guillen is bringing back the funny:

''Lou Piniella does two things better than me,'' Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said before Tuesday night's game against Pittsburgh. ''Managing and eating.'' ''It took them three weeks to find a [body] double for Piniella,'' Guillen said. ''For mine, you just go to a model agency.''

See? Funny. What's more, it's refreshing. Ozzie isn't freaking out about beating the Cubs, about using some three-game series in the middle of June as a battle for Chicago's baseball soul. It's just a three-game series. Against the Cubs. Let's all have fun with it.

While the biggest reason the White Sox have been able to maintain their lead in the AL Central this season has been their pitching staff, the fact that the team has been able to stay healthy has played a large role as well. While teams like the Tigers and Indians have seemingly been forced to put somebody new on the disabled list every few days, the White Sox haven't needed to use it too often this season. When they have had to, it hasn't been anybody all that vital to the team (sorry, Juan Uribe, but you know it's true).

That could change on Tuesday, though, as there's a very distinct possibility that Paul Konerko is going to miss some time after straining his ribs during batting practice on Sunday.

"When you've got the problem with the rib cage, I hope for the best, but I'm not too optimistic about it because I know how the thing can be," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "We're going to make a decision [Tuesday] to see what we'll do.

"Most of the time [the DL] happens because that's a real sensitive area and one you use the most playing baseball."

Konerko has been struggling this season, hitting .215/.322/.368 but he's been battling a thumb injury in his right hand, and slow starts are nothing new for him. He was starting to hit the ball a lot better in the last few weeks, and now it looks as though this rib injury will derail him for at least another few weeks.

It's not exactly the best timing for the Sox, as they've lost five of their last six games, and can see a Detroit Tigers team that's won six in a row creeping ever closer in their rear view mirror.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Los Angeles Angels (39-25) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (37-26) - 10:05PM Est.

It's pretty much a consensus that Tropicana Field is far and away the worst "baseball stadium" in the big leagues, but don't tell that to the Rays. They love the place, as they've gone 24-10 there this season. The road, on the other hand, has not been so kind.

Outside of the Trop, the Rays are only 13-16 and they find themselves in the midst of a nine-game road trip that has not been kind. After being swept by the Red Sox to start it off, they won two in Texas before losing yesterday. To make matters worse, the frustration is starting to show. The Rays are just an angry team.

After getting into a brawl with the Red Sox on Thursday, they were fighting themselves yesterday as Matt Garza and Dioner Navarro had a disagreement about, hell, I don't know, the best Doritos flavor?

By now you've surely seen the above blowup, John McLaren's Ozzie Guillen moment following last yet another Mariners loss. McLaren is "pissed off," if you couldn't tell, and wanted a total team effort, or something. It was essentially manager speak for "I'm angry, or at least I have to pretend I am." And pretend he did.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Philadelphia Phillies (35-26) vs. Cincinnati Reds (29-31) - 1:05PM Est.

You can't blame the Reds for trying to strike while the iron is hot, especially given the way that Jay Bruce has lit the world up since making his debut with the big league ball club last week, and they'll hope that success carries over to the pitcher's mound as well. Today the Reds will be handing the ball to Homer Bailey as they just called him up from Louisville and they're hoping he'll do a lot better in his second tour of duty.

Bailey was supposed to be Edinson Volquez when the Reds brought him up last season, and though he showed some signs of why the Reds are so high on him, his first season in the Majors wasn't that great.

He'll look to get his career started this afternoon against one of the most potent offenses in all of baseball.

Oh, and there's the whole Ken Griffey Jr. looking for homer # 600 as well.