bjm676 Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 Williams wants focus GM asks club to show class, avoid off-field issues CHICAGO -- Like any actively involved father, Ken Williams oftentimes can make a point to his children through very stern and direct non-verbal communication. All it takes is one look to deliver the message. The players and coaches who make up the White Sox roster have long since raced by childhood, but the team's general manager still had that specific look working overtime throughout the past week. "Three times, I shot that look around," said Williams with a smile, speaking with the media prior to Saturday's "Turn Back the Clock" contest against the Dodgers. While Williams did not signal out the individual recipients, it's a safe bet that he was referring to Carl Everett, Mark Buehrle and manager Ozzie Guillen. An interview with Everett in Maxim magazine came out this week, in which the outfielder/designated hitter expressed more than a few controversial opinions, some focused on social issues, while Buehrle and Guillen were part of "Cheat-gate" over the past two days. During an interview on a local sports radio station in Chicago Thursday, Buehrle made a vague reference to a pitcher on the North Side who might use illegal pitches from time to time to increase success. Guillen followed his pitcher's comment Friday by stating somewhat sarcastically that it's only cheating if you get caught. All joking aside, Williams wants his charges to conduct themselves with the class and grace befitting of a first-place team. That goal took a hit during the past few days, in his opinion. "There's a way you choose to win and choose to have success," Williams said. "I prefer us to have it with style and class and a certain grace, a certain hard work ethic and grinder attitude I've talked about. "We should leave world politics and all the other trappings that none of us are qualified to expound on, we should leave those alone and focus on baseball," Williams added. Williams mentioned that more than a few phone calls came to his attention this week from fans who didn't appreciate the commentary. That specific response bothered Williams the most, as he pointed out that outsiders might be getting the wrong idea concerning "good quality people, with a good foundation in their lives." There also was credit given to the Cubs for handling the Buehrle interview in good humor, with a special credit given by Williams to closer Ryan Dempster for "not falling into the trap of controversy." Williams also implored the media to limit questions to baseball matters, but added that he doesn't intend to micro-manage his team. "I'm not here to put the thumb down on anybody, unless they really get out of hand," Williams said. "These guys know me well enough that when I give them a look, they know what I'm thinking and they know what they have done." Rotation adjustment: Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez will not miss his scheduled start Monday against Kansas City, despite suffering from a little bit of stiffness and fatigue in his right shoulder. The lack of pain, though, makes it different from the problem that sent Hernandez to the disabled list on May 22. The White Sox's goal for Hernandez is to keep him healthy and fresh for the long haul, as opposed to simply making sure the right-hander is ready for his next start. The upcoming schedule affords the South Siders the opportunity for a Hernandez respite, and possibly could lead to Jon Garland starting the series finale next weekend against the Cubs. If Hernandez pitches Monday, he would be on schedule to work on five days' rest Sunday against the Cubs. But Garland, who is pitching Tuesday against the Royals, could be moved up two days from a June 28 start in Detroit to pitch on normal rest, thus giving Hernandez a nice seven-day break in between starts with off-days on Thursday and next Monday. Pitching coach Don Cooper knows the option exists. As of Saturday, though, the starting hurlers still were on their regular schedule. "I'm assuming, until I see otherwise, that El Duque will be in his normal spot every single time," Cooper said. "The biggest leverage we do have is the schedule, the off-day and [brandon] McCarthy in the wings ready to pitch if we need him. He's a guy we trust." "He's been ordered to let us know what's going on," Williams added of El Duque. "When he goes out there and he's comfortable and healthy, he's one of the best in the game." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev211 Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 Darn, I was hoping Buehrle and Garland would get a shot at the cubs. Hopefully Garland does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayitaintso Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 QUOTE(ScottPodRulez22 @ Jun 18, 2005 -> 10:27 PM) Darn, I was hoping Buehrle and Garland would get a shot at the cubs. Hopefully Garland does. As long as we win i don't care who pitches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev211 Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 QUOTE(sayitaintso @ Jun 18, 2005 -> 11:37 PM) As long as we win i don't care who pitches. We have a better chace of winning if they pitch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabroni Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...t=.jsp&c_id=cws Rotation adjustment: Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez will not miss his scheduled start Monday against Kansas City, despite suffering from a little bit of stiffness and fatigue in his right shoulder. The lack of pain, though, makes it different from the problem that sent Hernandez to the disabled list on May 22. The White Sox's goal for Hernandez is to keep him healthy and fresh for the long haul, as opposed to simply making sure the right-hander is ready for his next start. The upcoming schedule affords the South Siders the opportunity for a Hernandez respite, and possibly could lead to Jon Garland starting the series finale next weekend against the Cubs. If Hernandez pitches Monday, he would be on schedule to work on five days' rest Sunday against the Cubs. But Garland, who is pitching Tuesday against the Royals, could be moved up two days from a June 28 start in Detroit to pitch on normal rest, thus giving Hernandez a nice seven-day break in between starts with off-days on Thursday and next Monday. Pitching coach Don Cooper knows the option exists. As of Saturday, though, the starting hurlers still were on their regular schedule. "I'm assuming, until I see otherwise, that El Duque will be in his normal spot every single time," Cooper said. "The biggest leverage we do have is the schedule, the off-day and [brandon] McCarthy in the wings ready to pitch if we need him. He's a guy we trust." "He's been ordered to let us know what's going on," Williams added of El Duque. "When he goes out there and he's comfortable and healthy, he's one of the best in the game." This move would also split up Contreras and El Duque from pitching back-to-back starts and would save our bullpen... Buehrle Garcia Contreras Garland El Duque Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalapse Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 I love this move. Use the offdays to your advantage, you have to try and keep el Duque as healthy as possible for the stretch run. Weren't most of us assuming they were going to do this through out the entire year comming into this season? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NUKE_CLEVELAND Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 QUOTE(ScottPodRulez22 @ Jun 18, 2005 -> 10:37 PM) We have a better chace of winning if they pitch. We got a great chance to win anytime we take the field. This team is for real! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 QUOTE(Jabroni @ Jun 18, 2005 -> 09:43 PM) http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...t=.jsp&c_id=cws This move would also split up Contreras and El Duque from pitching back-to-back starts and would save our bullpen... Buehrle Garcia Contreras Garland El Duque I've been pushing for something like this all year. Mark Buehrle is averaging over 7 and 2/3 innings per start. Jon Garland is averaging just over 7 innings per start. El Duque is averaging 5 and 2/3 innings per start. Contreras is averaging exactly 6 innings per start. Garcia is averaging over 6 and 2/3 innings per start. There is absolutely no reason why you would want to have the 2 guys averaging 6 innings or under pitching back to back and have the 2 guys pitching 7 innings or over pitching back to back. That way, our bullpen is used basically not at all for 2 out of every 5 days, and then it has to go out and pull over 6 innings on back to back nights. Since we have 3 or 4 guys who are especially reliable, that means that those guys are pitching almost on back to back nights, and it's going to hurt our chances of winning the 2nd game. And if any pitcher does struggle, then when the Cubans hit, we hit them with an already tired bullpen. The 2 Cubans should be split up. It will just make our bullpen more effective. By the way again...when was the last time Hermanson pitched? Hasn't he been sitting for like a week now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayitaintso Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jun 18, 2005 -> 11:05 PM) We got a great chance to win anytime we take the field. This team is for real! This team kicks ass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabroni Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 By the way again...when was the last time Hermanson pitched? Hasn't he been sitting for like a week now? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Last Saturday night at San Diego. Hopefully he will be well-rested and get back to pitching the way he was in the beginning of the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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