Kotex Boy Worried About Ozzie

[Hangar18]

.............................. sometimes a fight like that can bring a team together, and get them fired up. The Sox/Tigers brawl in 2000 seemed to have that affect on the Tigers. They were struggling before that, and actually made a playoff push late in the year.

 

 

The only team that got fired up was the SOX in 2000

[SoxHawk1980]

I'm sure AJ will rush the mound after getting plunked in the not too distant future. And he'll get his supension too. And then we'll get to see more of Widger. (Oh joy!)

 

And I wouldn't completely rule out an AJ-Ozzie tussle this season.

[kramer99]

i really hate this guy.... i like how he doesnt bring up at all how deadly a weapon it is to hit someone 2 times on purpose for no reason, but in retaliation of being beaned, the ball is a deadly weapon.

 

yah know, why not critiscize someone for that stuff.... why not rant about how bad it was for escobar to hit AJ for no reason? im glad to see its ok for a manager to allow his players to get it with no message to the other team to stop. No offense, if this were the national leaugue, someone should have thrown at padilla's head had he batted.

 

[tigerfan]

The only team that got fired up was the SOX in 2000

I disagree, we were really struggling at the time of the fight. After that we picked it up some for a time. Heck when September came around we were looking at a possible wild card slot. Didn't pan out but still, a far cry from how we started the year.

[Hangar18]

Yeah, I'm worried about him. Not because of his ripping Tracey and the team, but because he is going to have a hard time this weekend seeing Thome on the bench for 2 games!

 

 

 

hey, right now, I will take KONERKO hitting over THOME. Jimmy has been getting himself out an awful lot lately. Say Jimmy, I will take a BB over a Popup anytime.

[South Side Fireworks Man]

Idiotti said something RIGHT though ............. "Amateurish Major league baseball".

MLB are idiots for dragging this on, and giving Dirtbag Barrett only 10 games and likely reducing it

simply because he "appeals" it. What BullJunk

 

 

Yep. MLB is a joke. Barrett already got off easily by getting only ten games for an unprovoked violent physical assault, then it takes forever for the appeal process and he'll probably get his suspension reduced further. A.J. got thrown out of the game and fined for getting sucker punched and not retaliating in any way.

 

Padilla got the message from MLB loud and clear: It's safe to take a cheap shot at A.J.

 

The thing Marriotti and most people in the media are missing is A.J. was the victim here being attacked with the "deadly weapon" not once but twice the other night. Who is going to protect A.J.? What if he gets drilled in Cincy tonight?

 

After that second drilling the other night, the ump should have immediately thrown Padilla out of the game, then warned both sides no further intentional drillings will be tolerated. As it stands, Padilla got two free shots at A.J. with his "deadly weapon" and the Sox and Ozzie are the subjects of media criticism when they didn't even retaliate.

[The Critic]

I think the part of this that makes Ozzie and the Sox front office look bad is the appearance that Tracey got demoted for missing Blalock and "only" getting him out instead.

Tracey was going to be sent down once the Sox acquired Riske, but it seems like the Sox sent him down out of anger. I saw on at least two sports shows that "the Sox sent Tracey down after the game, apparently for not successfully retaliating against the Rangers". Though inaccurate IMO, it does look bad.

Edited June 16, 2006 by The Critic

[greg775]

The Trib columnists and Southtown's are much more well thought out.

Mariotti is a dumbass.

Just as you said, whatever Oz did in this case, Mariotti would have taken

the opposite stance.

He is a total buffoon.

Worry about Ozzie? Give me a break.

At least Sox fans can see through the guy. He's humorous.

I read the Trib columnists and Southtown's guy for real opinions.

Moronotti ... we see through you.

A baseball is a deadly weapon? WHy don't you just call Oz a guy who

condones murder in your next column?

He is a talented wordsmith but give me the TRIB columnist and

SOUTHTOWN for real opinions; Moronotti for laughter.

[shawnhillegas]

Jay Mariotti is the Ann Coulter of sports. I say loud, obnoxious things because I didnt get enough attention when I was a kid. I make terrible arguments, sensationalize everything, and view everything in such polarized terms that its impossible for me to recognize that there are usually two, coherent arguments to a position.

[GoRowand33]

didn't want to read the whole thread but just to bring down this guy one more notch:

 

when he mentions ray chapman getting killed from a baseball he failed to mention that he was hit in an era where batters didn't use helmets

[henry wiggins]

Jay Mariotti is the Ann Coulter of sports. I say loud, obnoxious things because I didnt get enough attention when I was a kid. I make terrible arguments, sensationalize everything, and view everything in such polarized terms that its impossible for me to recognize that there are usually two, coherent arguments to a position.

 

Bingo. You got it.

 

And as for the 'a baseball is a lethal weapon' spew -- well, then we fans should storm Cooperstown and remove every trace of Don Drysdale from the Hall of Fame. That guy was an acknowledged headhunter who made Ed Farmer look like a wimp. -- Oh wait, DD was also one of the greatest pitchers of all time. This does not compute! I must await further instructions from Unca Jay! :headshake

[South Side Fireworks Man]

Jay Marriotti is more like Michael Moore.

[soxmagnet]

A column or two before, Mariotti wrote that Grimsley was a rat. Then he rips Ozzie for saying the same. Righties have a hard time hitting lefties? Padilla had no problem hitting AJ................twice.

[zygoat]

I love how BA was struggling mightly on the field so he decieds to take out his anger by beating the s*** out of the cubs. I love BA and he should make a good CF for us

[LowerCaseRepublican]

Using a baseball as a weapon is dangerous. Watching Ozzie Guillen order a kid pitcher to retaliate with a weapon is frightening. And when that kid pitcher fails to be a goon-on-demand, prompting Guillen to rip into a humiliated Sean Tracey, I am left to ponder three disturbing thoughts about the Blizzard of Oz.

 

Yes, using a baseball as a weapon is dangerous. Just ask Padilla as he drilled AJP 2 times in that game. Although maybe the froth from your rabid anti-Sox whining got in your eyes and you missed that portion of the game, Mr. Mariotti. And it is not being a "goon on demand" -- it is defending your teammates and showing the other team that having a slapnuts pitcher hit a catcher twice is not going to be tolerated. Plunking has been a way for the game to police itself for years.

 

Has he officially lost his mind?

 

Are his priorities in sufficient order to manage the White Sox to an encore title?

 

And is he involved in so many rants and raves and headline-grabbing incidents, about two a week these days, that he's burning all of us out -- including his players?

 

If he hadn't written this about Ozzie, I would have sworn that this portion was in regards to Mariotti himself.

 

 

No man who is thinking straight would pull the megalomaniacal b.s. that Guillen did Wednesday night in Texas. There is a time and place for payback, and with the Sox lucky not to have had more players suspended after the Crosstown Smackdown last month, it was senseless and immature of Ozzie to obsess over the fact A.J. Pierzynski -- there's that name again -- was plunked twice on the arm by Rangers pitcher Vicente Padilla. Guillen needed to put this episode on the back burner, take an 8-0 loss like an adult, focus on why the Sox have so many inconsistent pitching outings and direct his energies toward convincing general manager Ken Williams that trades are necessary.

 

Mr. Mariotti -- it was not megalomaniacal (good thesaurus use too!) of Ozzie to want to defend a player. I can only imagine you as a defense attorney in a rape case: "Hey she was wearing a skirt so she was asking for it!" It clearly in analagous to your "Well, it's just AJ, so it is okay to hit him twice!" And speaking of being an adult, perhaps you could do Chicago a favor and not s*** your pants and whip yourself up into a pointless, sensationalist, pseudo-righteous fervor for the sole extent of backpeddling a few weeks later when your opinions are proven more hosed than a civil rights worker in 1950s Mississippi.

 

But when his mind is locked in Blizzard mode, Guillen loses all control. He decided it was more important to settle a score, right then and there, while risking more disciplinary action by an amateurish Major League Baseball judicial system kept busy by Chicago's two clubs. There is little doubt Guillen, as reported, ordered Tracey to throw at Hank Blalock in retaliation for Pierzynski's two plunkings. When Tracey went inside twice but didn't draw skin, Guillen's yanking of the pitcher and subsequent dugout harangue proves he had made a demand that wasn't carried out.

 

OH NOES! HE ASKED TRACEY TO DEFEND A TEAMMATE! HOW INCREDIBLY WRONG OF HIM! /soaked in green

 

I'd like to report that Ozzie gained a little perspective overnight. Incredibly, he was even nuttier Thursday, questioning why Pierzynski didn't charge the mound to fight Padilla and bemoaning how baseball has wimped out over the years. "I will fight. I'd get my butt kicked, but I will fight,'' said Guillen, echoing the commentary of Hawk Harrelson during the game broadcast. Asked why he didn't attack the mound, Pierzynski, of all people, was a voice of reason.

 

"We're in a pennant race,'' he said. "We are going to need everyone down the stretch.''

 

A pennant race? Who knew?

 

I did Mariotti. And perhaps if you weren't swinging from the nuts of the North Side, you'd know that there is a team in Chicago that not only is in a pennant race this year but also won the World Series last year.

 

Forget that Tracey apparently responded with tears and the need to cover his face with his jersey, not the image you want to see from a big-leaguer. My concern is that Guillen's in-view tantrums and regular rip jobs are beginning to wear thin in his own clubhouse, even after his success last season as a World Series champion skipper. It's not as though Tracey was ignoring Guillen's edict; twice, he clearly backed Blalock off the plate, keeping in mind it isn't easy being a right-handed pitcher trying to plunk a left-handed hitter. Also, Tracey never has been known for his control, and don't think a rookie can wander in and immediately become an expert hit man. Picking on Tracey in full view of the Ballpark at Arlington cameras was a bad moment for Guillen.

 

You wouldn't know about the menality of the clubhouse, Mr. Mariotti, because you're not allowed in. So quit with the thirdhand backhanded lamer than s*** gossip mills. It was a moment for the team to realize that people need to stick up for other members of the team when they are getting drilled. That's what it was.

 

Players lose respect for a manager who hangs a teammate out to dry. No? The Sox camp isn't exactly airtight these days. When the Sun-Times and the Sox' own Web site quoted postgame sources who leaked that Guillen was furious with Tracey for not nailing Blalock -- "Ozzie went nuts. He had the ass, big-time,'' one source was quoted as saying -- it suggests that secrets are being told out of school. Guillen can't be happy about it, especially after inventing some jive story about being mad because Agustin Montero wasn't ready to pitch in the bullpen. He concocted the tale so he could avoid a suspension from on high. Now, there's a fair chance the case will be investigated and Guillen could face punishment, all because of the snitch. And we know how Oz doesn't like snitches, based on his most recent rant about steroids informant Jason Grimsley and how someone should "shoot the [bleep]'' for revealing details and names to federal investigators.

 

Yeah, damn Ozzie for wanting to protect his teammates. Perhaps you should have your ire raised by somebody who punched somebody in the face (Barrett) or even better, show your wrath at Padilla for plunking the same batter two f***ing times. But they don't play on the South Side, so they are immediately off your hackish radar.

 

Just once, I'd like to hear Tracey or another pitcher publicly admit he doesn't enjoy hitting a batter in retaliation. But most won't go there, recalling how Shawn Estes was ridiculed by fans and media in 2002 when he pitched behind Roger Clemens instead of hitting him in a New York showdown. Tracey has yet to comment, though maybe he will after being sent to the minors in a move that was in the works as Williams was acquiring reliever David Riske from Boston. A baseball, in case anyone forgot, is round and hard. In 1920, a pitch thrown by a mean sinkerballer named Carl Mays hit Ray Chapman in the temple and fractured his skull, causing blood to gush out of his mouth, nose and ears. He died the next morning. The career of Tony Conigliaro, a gifted Boston outfielder, ended early when he was beaned in 1967. Fortunately, we haven't had similar horror stories of late, which probably means we're due for one.

 

So you rip on Ozzie and the Sox yet not one f***ing peep about Paddia and his two plunks. But I guess that is okay because it is AJ. f***ing hack.

 

Not to mention that plunking is a tried and true method of protecting teammates and an internal policing mechanism that has been around for years. But let's get rid of it because Jay doesn't like it Perhaps we could have them settle disputes with a tea break during the game?

 

Imagine the outrage if a player died or his career ended prematurely because he was victimized by a purpose pitch. Does Ozzie ever think about that? If Padilla was throwing intentionally at Pierzynski -- first time, he definitely was; second time, A.J. didn't get out of the way -- he and Rangers manager Buck Showalter should have the same battle with their consciences. Same goes for the menacing Randy Johnson, who was suspended five games Thursday for intentionally throwing at Cleveland's Eduardo Perez.

 

Using a baseball as a weapon is cowardly. The players shrug it off and say, "That's the game,'' but many of them are too lunkheaded to know better.

 

Wow, trying to blame AJ for not getting out of the way. Your hackishness knows no boundaries. Using a baseball as a weapon may be "cowardly" but you know what is more cowardly -- writing a hackish column based on half-truths, deceit, gossip mills with no direct knowledge of the clubhouse/situation and with a large anti-Sox ax to grind.

 

What's the difference between Guillen asking Tracey to be a goon and John Chaney, the former Temple basketball coach, asking a player to be a goon and commit hard fouls? What's the difference between this and the bounty supposedly placed on Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman in 1989 by Eagles coach Buddy Ryan? Don't forget, Ozzie has an ongoing feud with Showalter, who questioned Guillen's knowledge of the rules as a rookie manager and launched a verbal war.

 

"[showalter] never even smelled a jock in the big leagues,'' Guillen said two years ago. "'Mr. Baseball' never even got a hit in Triple-A. There are so many different things he might be jealous [of] ... I was a better player than him, I've got more money than him and I'm better-looking than him.''

 

Such is the juvenile rancor that causes grudges to linger and purpose pitches to fly.

 

It's policing the game and playing it hard. Wow. Maybe they shouldn't try to take out the second baseman during a possible double play because they would just be meanies for not letting them complete the throw.

 

Baseball seems on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Players are still using human growth hormone, commissioner Bud Selig is taking out newspaper ads telling fans he cares about steroids and Arizona slugger Luis Gonzalez is upset that a top Diamondbacks executive mentioned there have been "whispers'' about Gonzalez and steroids. Now, we have Guillen prioritizing goonery over common sense.

 

I'm worried about the man. You should be, too.

 

The only man I'm worried about is you, Mr. Mariotti because you're really too f***ing stupid to be given a column with the readership/circulation that you have.

[WilliamTell]

Can he ever write a White Sox article without mentioning the Cubs in some way, shape, or form?

[greg775]

Hey lowercase, just wanted to say, great post.

Great great stuff.

You called out Mariotti beautifully. How can he not mention AJ getting

plunked by the same "weapon."

This might have been his worst idea for a column ever.

Very stupid and simplistic and dumb.

He's a great writer, but your post called him out beautifully!

[Kyyle23]

Can he ever write a White Sox article without mentioning the Cubs in some way, shape, or form?

 

Hell no. And he cannot write a Cubs article without mentioning the White Sox success either.