A bit of sad but true humor...

DL to sign Mark Prior to 2 year, $8 million deal

Well let's just hope they don't get Kerry Wood either, they could be tough to beat...

In Defense of Ozzie

Wow, you say, who would do such a thing. Well, I guess I'll take a stand and voice my support for Mr. Gullien. Ozzie has a mouth, no question. It gets him into trouble quite often, no doubt. But these outbursts are Ozzie being Ozzie. He never likes to mince words and voices his opinion, whether we want to hear it or not. Politicians in DC should take note of Ozzie's style and quit feeding lines and tell us what they think, not what we want to hear. Ozzie's insensitive comment about Jay Mariotti ws rude, inapproriate, but not that far off. Have you ever heard Jay speak or talk about Chicago sports, the guy sucks. He refuses to interview in the White Sox clubhouse because of a supposed threatening from some players. Why don't you be a man and deal with instead of hiding behind your column. As for his outburst agains Sean Tracey, uncalled for a young pitcher, but he was not demoted for not hitting Blalock. Riske was on his way in, end of story. People have written over and over how Ozzie better watch his mouth or else he may be looking for a new job. I don't buy it. Ozzie is a proven winner and they way he carries himself is part of that and I would hate to see that change.

Following Suit...

Nice idea of posting All-Star picks, so I believe I will follow in your wise foot steps and do the same.

AL Ballot

1B: Paul Konerko - South Siders - consistent and dependable
2B: Robinson Cano - Yankees - for a rookie on the NYY playing this well, I give him the nod over a position loaded with stars
SS: Miguel Tejada - Baltimore - a bright spot on a dismal team
3B: Joe Crede - South Siders - he could hit .270 and should still make the team with his defense
C: Joe Mauer - Minnesota - is there really any question?
OF: Jermaine Dye - South Siders - I hate to pick so many Sox players, but JD deserves this more than the other two...
OF: Alex Rios - Toronto - Wells would work here too, but Rios is a solid hitter with power
OF: Magglio Ordonez - Detroit - I'm not sure I completely sold on Mags, but good enough for sure
SP: Mike Mussinia - Yankees - Pitching well for his age and providing an anchor for the Yanks rotation

NL Ballot

1B: Albert Pujols - St. Louis - duh...
2B: Dan Uggla - Florida - good call Kelly - this guy is great
SS: Joes Reyes - NYM - speaking a great guys, with the glove and the lumber...
3B: David Wright - NYM - I thnk Rolen is great, but here I give the nod to Wright...namely just to spite you, I love Rolen...
C: Michael Barrett - Cub Scouts - My oddball pick, he did a lot when the Cubs needed him, including hitting AJ...
OF: Carlos Lee - Brewers - Another ex-Sox making his name known...
OF: Carlos Beltran - NYM - putting up great numbers and playing to win...
OF: Matt Holliday - Colorado - I hate to copy your OF Kelly, but this guy is another solid player, good pick
SP: Tom Glavine - NYM - This guy has been stellar this year, lets hope it continues in to the second half

The talent level in the league this year seems suprisingly high, lots of good players all over the field. I'm glad I don't have to pick the teams...

KG's MLB All-Star Ballot

I just punched my all-star ballot a good 28 minutes before the deadline just so I could determine exactly who is the most worthy. There were definitely some tough choices, but I think I gave credit where due and served justice to the big-names without the big-games.

American League

1B: Travis Hafner, Indians
2B: Mark Loretta, Red Sox
SS: Miguel Tejada, Orioles
3B: Joe Crede, White Sox
C: Joe Mauer, Twins
OF: Vernon Wells, Blue Jays
OF: Jermaine Dye, White Sox
OF: Magglio Ordonez, Tigers

National League

1B: Albert Pujols, Cardinals
2B: Dan Uggla, Marlins
SS: Jose Reyes, Mets
3B: Scott Rolen, Cardinals
C: Brian McCann, Braves
OF: Matt Holliday, Rockies
OF: Carlos Beltran, Mets
OF: Carlos Lee, Brewers

• I hate to deny David Wright, but Scott Rolen is just too good. He may be behind in HR's and RBI's, but his BA and worldclass defense (not to mention his explosion when Pujols went down) gives him my slight edge.
• One of the most even positions was AL second baseman of which there was no standout. Loretta, Robinson Cano, Brian Roberts, Jose Lopez, and Tadahito Iguchi all had similar numbers and team success. (I actually considered writing in Ty Wigginton.)
• Alfonso Soriano is a noticeable omission, but he has been pretty two-faced. He's put up huge numbers in homeruns, RBI's, and stolen bases, but his batting average, strikeout total, and shaky play in left field found him on the bench.
• I have to give Honorable Mention to Chase Utley for NL 2B--I flipped a coin.

Define "Unsuitable"

Alright men, let out a simultaneous groan. The young lovelies at this year's Wimbledon are being forced to cover up their curves. Why else would we watch?

More Bang For Your Buck

After hearing on ESPN about how amazingly low the Marlins payroll is ($14 mil), I thought it would be interesting to analyze how much each team achieves based on how much dough they shell out. (I am also long overdue for pointing out the fact that Boston has been 2nd in salaries for a few years now despite how much they complain about Steinbrenner's bottomless checkbook.) A couple things I noticed were how much teams like the Cubs, Giants, and Mariners pay their underachieving players while Detroit and St. Louis can be considered overachieving teams judging by their position right in the middle of the pack.
One way to examine the payrolls is determine how many wins they earn per million of dollars spent. It is not linear, as expected, but interesting nonetheless.

Bang For Your Buck

Remember that shortstop trade carousel that occurred two seasons ago? David Eckstein to St. Louis from Anaheim, Edgar Renteria to Boston from St. Louis, Orlando Cabrera to Anaheim from Boston. Last season, the first with their new teams, little Davy Eckstein shined the brightest and both Renteria and Cabrera had significant production dropoffs. At the time of the trade, the popular choice as loser in the deal was the Cardinals, having lost a perennial All-Star and Gold Glove. However, Eckstein is currently making a bid for his second all-star start in a row and having another great season. I thought it may be fun to check in on how all three are doing this season, especially after casting my all-star vote for Renteria after he has returned to his old form for the Atlanta Braves. The key value in my mind is the difference in salaries as Eckstein came cheap but at high end results. (The departure of Renteria also allowed more money to keep other key players.) I'll point out that a third ex-Red Sox shortstop, Nomar Garciaparra, is having a tremendous season while Boston's current SS, Alex Gonzalez, is hitting .260 with an OBP of .308. Props to Theo Epstein, but he doesn't know a potentially talented shortstop when he sees one.

Return of the Black Sox?

Ozzie Guillen on Jay Mariotti:

"Jay, I think I made this guy a lot of money and he's famous. If not for Ozzie Guillen, no one would have heard of him."

"Jay's a piece of shit. If he wants to know, he should be talking to me here right now. If he were a man, he'd be here with you guys right now. Jay's a piece of shit."

"That's the way he is. He's garbage, still garbage, going to die as garbage. Period.''

Ozzie Guillen on calling someone a "fucking fag":

"I've been here for 20 years, but people have to know that I grew up in a different country. That's not an excuse. I called the guy that name, but, no, that's the way I grew up, that's the way I've learned that language."

"I have been here enough to know you can use so many words in the States. That's not an excuse, but I wasn't calling people that. I was calling him that."

''I will apologize to the people I 'offended' because I should have used another word." [Sarcastically holding up his hands and making quotations with his fingers while saying "offended"]

Ozzie Guillen on his requirement to attend sensitivity training:

"I don't think I'll be going -- I don't think that'll happen.''

"I never lie. First of all, I said I'll have to take an English class first to understand what they're talking about. Believe me, this is the last day I talk about this. Anybody who wants to play games or put me in a position. ... I'm going to continue to manage, but I'm going to start getting nasty with the media."

"I don't need this job. I don't need to kiss anybody's butt to keep it.''


The list of bad Ozzie quotations could go on and on. The bottom line is that he should feel fortunate he has a great team playing for him--if the White Sox weren't the defending champs and one of the best teams in baseball right now I think he'd have been punished more harshly by the league and front office. (It'll get harder for Reinsdorf to defend him after comments like the last one above.) Frankly, I am one of many who is just getting sick of hearing about the guy. He's flirting with that line that separates the Shaq's and the TO's, the say-it-as-it-is tough guys and the nonsense, egomaniacal distractions. Guillen needs to direct his attention from Jay Mariotti to the AL Central division race.
Now, I realize the comparison to the old Black Sox is farfetched, but they are slowly obtaining a reputation of dirty play. The sweep of the Astros in last year's summer classic was convincing enough, but there were a couple key controversial plays involving A.J. Pierzynski (of whom in Sports Illustrated was voted "Most Like To See Get Beaned" by his fellow major leagers). Ozzie let out the rage on a young pitcher after he didn't retaliate by intentionally hitting a batter, leading to his return back down to the minors the very next day. Three days ago he was suspended for ordering his pitcher to intentionally hit Chris Duncan, son of St. Louis pitching coach, Dave Duncan. The latest accusations come from the Cards blowout in Chicago concerning illegal sign stealing. This isn't the first time they have been accused of using a camera in center field to steal the catcher's signs, but it is the most evident. I didn't believe this story at first and hung my head at the idea of my beloved Cardinals making excuses for getting pounded in a largely hyped powerhouse matchup, but the evidence is quite convicting. According to one of the St. Louis players, they became suspicious partway through the second game of the series with the score 13-3 and changed the set of signs after the 5th inning. The numbers don't lie: The Sox were 40-for-88 with 15 extra-base hits and 33 runs before the change, going 4-for-36 with one run scored afterward. Looks fishy to me...
This really is a shame because I jumped on the White Sox bandwagon last year and cheered for them to win a world championship. This season I am beginning to root for a collapse. I'll be the first to admit how good they are (particularly Dye, Thome, and Konerko, of whom I think are standup, classy players) but until Ozzie says something worth hearing about, I'll stand on Mariotti's side of public decency. We've seen him put up, now it's time for him to shut up.

Place Your Bets...

on the big series in Chicago this week. The two best teams in baseball last year face off today at 7:05 for a three-game series. This will be big for either team as St. Louis is staving off Cincy and the White Sox need to gain ground on Detroit. It's too bad the Sox will not have to see either of last year's MVP or Cy Young as both are tentative to return for the series with the Tigers. I guess it is also nice we won't face Contreras. If both can control Rolen/Encarnacion and Thome/Dye it should be an interesting series.

I'm picking (rather biased): Cards 2, Sox 1


UPDATE #3: Yup. I was wrong. It might be even harder to lose 1-0 after a rookie pitcher throws a one-hitter, but that single mistake happened to be a game-winning homerun. The kid damn near threw a perfect game. Ouch. Maybe we'll get even in the World Series...

Cards 0, Sox 3


UPDATE #2: Ah hell. St. Louis went from having a top two team ERA in the league to giving up 33 (!) runs in two games. Wow. I never really considered the White Sox an offensive juggernaut, but they can really crush a pitcher's self-confidence. I expected as much from Konerko and Thome, but where the hell did Crede come from?! Tonight we send out a young gun from the minors to give our rotation a rest--here's to hoping he gives up less than four HR's. The only attractive feature of this series is all the buzz generated from the analysts considering this a good potential World Series preview.

Cards 0, Sox 2


UPDATE: After a complete slaughtering of the St. Louis pitching staff (20 ER) and a four-run ninth that meant absolutely nothing, the Cards need to erase yesterday out of their memory. Kudos, Chicago, we got the message.

Cards 0, Sox 1

Thoughts in the World of Sports

This week has seen a number of intriguing sports stories thus far. So let's jump right in...

Big Ben and his bike

This story is really hard for me to take. I love Big Ben as a player and have the utmost respect for his ability and his character. But this really seems like a bonehead move on his part. The whole helmet 'thing,' where he was quite defiant about wearing a helmet since PA law does not require one. I am sure he is regretting that now. The fact of the matter is this: You are a pro athlete, you get paid to throw a football, you saw what happened to Kellen Winslow and even worse, Jay Williams, why would you risk so much for a motorcycle. Terry Bradshaw was right, wait until you retire and enjoy it all you want. You're 24 years old and a recent Super Bowl Champ, with so much going for you, why risk it for a bike ride. From a public policy stand point, the risks certainly outweigh the rewards.

USA Soccer

Wow, here come the Americans making sure the world knows we'll never be a threat in World Cup soccer. I watched part of the game on Monday and the Czech simply out hussled and out played us. Simple as that, I'm not sure we have the talent, or maybe the coaching to compete with the rest of the world. I'm hoping against Italy we can pull out something to show we're not a flop. I mean even Togo scored a goal against S. Korea. What I'm most disturbed about is the fact that Bruce Areanes spent Tuesday calling out his players. Why do that to a team? Maybe you should figure out some way to get the ball in the net. The Czech team managed to get corner kicks close to the net or at least get a shot off, but the US could not, they seemed content to waste opportunities. Maybe we should stick with the World Baseball Classic...

Update on my baseball picks

Well it seems as though as soon as I blog something, the team I count out comes back and the team I pick flops. See Atlanta and Cincinnati. The Reds have played extremely well lately and are only a game or two behind the struggling Cards. I would blame it on Albert Pujols being hurt, but I'm surprised by this teams struggles without him. Scott Rolen needs to play better if they want to keep winning. And the Braves, they're now 10 games out of first and losing steam. I still think they may make a run, but it may be too little, too late.

Stanley Cup

It is too bad to see Edmonton's storybook season come to an end. They played so well for most of the playoffs but now just seem to running out of gas. This team looks solid enough to make a run again next year. And what's up with OLN broadcasting these games. This is the Stanley Cup, you wonder why nobody is watching this? Put it on a cable channel most people get or even better ABC or CBS or something. OLN? The NHL better rethink this idea soon.

NBA Playoffs

I thought I was starting to care about the NBA for a while. I was wrong. I still don't care.

Baseball at the .333333 mark...

With the season more than a third of the way done, it may be time to reevaluate who will survive the rest of the season. In the AL East once again it will be the Bo Sox and Yanks fighting it out until September. However, the Blue Jays are a team that will have to dealt with and may challenge for the division or at least the wild card. They have solid hitting (best average in baseball) and if their pitchers get healthy, they will be tough. In the NL East, the Mets look to be the runaway favorite, but don't lock them in just yet either. The Phillies will bounce around for a while, but fail to have enough tools to be a contender, but watch out for them to be a spoiler in the early fall. Atlanta however can never be counted out of the NL east race. With 14 straight titles and Bobby Cox managing the team, they are a 7-9 game win streak from being in the race again. The season is still young, and so are the Braves, but they will make a run, you can bet on that.

In the AL Central the pick is easy, if you're a White Sox fan. But the truth is their are still the best team in baseball, but if you've followed them as of late, they haven't played like it. Ozzie can get his guys to play and with the stretch of games in front of the South Siders, they'll have to play better. If you remember last year there was a similar stretch of games which some said the White Sox could prove their ability by winning, and they did. I see that again with the Sox right now. Detroit will be tough and stick around all season and will likely contend for the wild card in the end. Cleveland you cannot count either, but they will need to get better quickly if they wish to contend. In the NL Central, St. Louis will need a miracle to lose the title. The Cubs, Reds, and Houston don't have enough to contend with the Cards. Plain and simple, the Cards will likely be the only team to make the playoffs from the division.

Finally, in the AL West, the Rangers and Oakland will fight it out to see who wins. Your guess is as good as mine. In the NL West, could there be a tougher division. With the exception of Colorado and that is only of late, these teams are close. Look for the Dodgers or D'Backs to win out, but this will be close and you can never count out San Diego or San Fran either.

If I get around to it, you may get to see my picks for MVP and Cy Young later, as well as NBA Finals picks too.