Mike Downey Article

[DBAHO]

From da Cubune,

 

TUCSON, Ariz. -- On a sleepy spring day, a small crowd in the stands no noisier than a picnic, Ken Williams sits at the top of the ballpark in a box by himself, watching the White Sox and liking, for the most part, what he sees.

 

For example, he extols the virtues of one of the 2004 season's key pickups, second baseman Juan Uribe—"You couldn't have gotten him two or three years ago for darn near anybody, that's how highly thought of he was"—and, as if on cue, Uribe guns down a runner with a perfect peg to home plate.

 

That's what we're looking for," the Sox general manager says. "Aggressive baseball. Don't be afraid to take a chance."

 

This is true on several levels. Williams himself is gambling on Ozzie Guillen, a man with no managerial experience. Guillen in turn is inviting Harold Baines to fill a role totally new to him, bench coach, in place of the retired Joe Nossek, who sat at the Sox manager's side for the last 13 seasons.

 

Williams nonetheless is brimming with confidence.

 

And attitude is something he takes very seriously. A couple of Sox players—he identifies them by name, off the record—have been "whiny" and getting on the GM's nerves, while others have impressed him this spring with their hard work and willingness to improve this team's general morale.

 

"Character guys," Williams calls them. "I want guys who want to play, not just guys who know how to play."

 

Not much older than some of his players—he turns 40 a day after Opening Day—Williams is in his fourth year in a management position once populated by wizened old-timers. In today's baseball, though, with GMs like Theo Epstein of the Red Sox, 30, and Paul DePodesta of the Dodgers, 31, a long apprenticeship is not required.

 

Asked what in particular he likes about his team, Williams says, "No. 1 is No. 13."

 

That is the uniform number of Guillen, as it was during 13 seasons as a Sox shortstop. His task is to get a Chicago team to a World Series for the first time in 45 years.

 

Getting off to a good start will be tricky. The Sox play the Yankees in seven of their first 15 games. Amid all the A-Rod hoopla at Yankee Stadium next week, the Sox's first pitchers for the series could be Jon Garland, Scott Schoeneweis and Dan Wright, a combined 16-22 last year. Good luck with that.

 

"Pitching will win it," Williams says of the Central Division, which will send a representative to the playoffs just like the Yankees' East Division will. "We have the advantage offensively, I think, on everyone. We might not need to be quite as good in the pitching department by comparison, the way our team can hit."

 

The Sox do have sock. When calling his outfielders "as productive offensively as any outfield you'll find in the game," Williams is counting center fielder Aaron Rowand in this mix, not just Carlos Lee and Magglio Ordonez.

 

On every Opening Day from 1995 to 2003, the Sox used a different center fielder. A troublesome position, yes, but Williams insists: "People don't know Aaron Rowand yet. He can be a big run producer for us."

 

Second base is the other serious Sox hole. Willie Harris has a tiny big-league batting average of .213, in limited time. The once highly touted Uribe had a 2002 season from hell—.240, 120 strikeouts, 27 errors for Colorado—then broke a bone in his foot in 2003.

 

At least Harris hits left-handed. Most of the club's good swingers from that side are Guillen, Baines, Joey Cora and Greg Walker, the manager and coaches.

 

Six days from getting under way, the Sox remain an impossible team to assess—even, by degree, for the boss.

 

"Every day there's a new situation to address," Williams says. "Ten new situations. I'm working on things for next week, but I'm also working on things for 2005, 2008."

 

With the future assured to nobody, he is willing to stick his neck out.

 

"I knew I would take some hits," Williams says of gambling on Guillen to run things on the field. "But you're going to see a very different kind of baseball this year from this team.

 

"Ozzie and I are on the same page. We have guys here who know how to play this game the right way. But if some of them can't, I want every one of them to know this right now, I'm not afraid to go out and find ones who will."

[Gene Honda Civic]

And attitude is something he takes very seriously. A couple of Sox players—he identifies them by name, off the record—have been "whiny" and getting on the GM's nerves, while others have impressed him this spring with their hard work and willingness to improve this team's general morale.

 

"Character guys," Williams calls them. "I want guys who want to play, not just guys who know how to play."

 

[OZZ-fest 2004]

I like how he said "pitching will win it". What did you do to help the pitching staff in the offseason Kenny? Sometimes Kenny sounds really intelligent, and sometimes he just sounds asinine.

[southsider2k5]

That is the second time in a week that he has called out someone. I wonder who the f*** they are talking about?