Baseball Notes: Ozzie Pops Off... Again, More Cubs Nonsense & DFTU

Hello again everybody...

Happy Monday to you all. We're potentially facing our 4th day out of the last 5 with severe weather here in Minnesota. So wherever you are, if your weather is even remotely normal, enjoy it!

Today I've got another "Wacky Manager Rant" from Ozzie Guillen. Then it's more pointless 1908 BS surrounding the Cubs. And finally, it's the early-week edition of the DFTU!

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Hey Nick... Bobby Abreu's up... DUCK!!!

(Come on. The guy's fine. I can joke about it!)

Oops Ozzie did it again! Do you think that's the most repeated cliche headline ever? After getting beat by the Rays for the 3rd game in a row, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen couldn't contain himself any longer.

Here's what he said:

"Just be ready because I expect movement Tuesday. I expect (general manager) Kenny Williams to do something Tuesday, and if we don't do anything Tuesday, there are going to be a lot of lineup changes. That's all I'm going to say about the offense."

"It can be me. It can be (hitting coach) Greg Walker. It can be the players. It could be anybody. I'm sick and tired to watch this thing for a year and a half. I'm not protecting anybody anymore. [Bleep] it. If they can't get it done, Kenny should find someone to get it done."

While that's certainly not one of Ozzie's more profane rants, it's interesting to me because he pretty much blames everybody - including himself - except for ownership! Unfortunately for Ozzie, the fact that he included himself in that rant didn't appease his boss, Sox GM Kenny Williams:

"It's just not a good idea to throw your boss under the bus, especially when that boss has had your back as much as I have had his. I expect this team, if the leadership remains positive and the players stick together and continue to play hard, it will be a fun summer.

"The offense will begin to produce when collectively they say the hell with all the theories, stay loose, pick the pitch you want to hit and hit it hard. It will be nice to see them lighten up and have some fun."

Translation: "Ozzie... Shut up."

And remember, this is a first-place club we're talking about here. Sure the Twins are breathing down their neck, but the White Sox are still in first place! So this would seem an awfully odd time to go off on your players and GM.

Based on Williams' comments, it sounds like Ozzie might be reaching the end of his rope. I hope he manages to survive a little longer. I don't like the guy, but he's damned entertaining!


Perhaps you'll recall a rant I did about the number of times sports media members were mentioning that it's been exactly 100 years since the Cubs have won a World Series. Well they're back at it again.

This time the statistic is, if possible, even more annoyingly obscure. Today there's an article on detailing how this is the first time since that magical (insert snarky eye-roll here) season of 1908 that the Cubs have had the best record in baseball as of June 1st. And in the coincidence to end all coincidences, the Cubs are 2.5 games up in their division which is exactly the same lead they had on June 1, 1908.

Umm, yippee?

Where do I even start. First of all, having the best record in baseball on June 1st is nice. But ultimately has nothing to do with whether you win the World Series or not. And the 2.5 game lead is not only obscenely coincidental, it's also comparing apples to oranges since the 1908 divisions and leagues are completely different from today's versions!

Please people! This garbage has to stop! I know they're the lovable losers. And everybody wants to see the wimpy kid who's had the snot kicked out of him for years on end get the game-winning hit and all. But this is overdoing it.

And it's overdoing it to a point where I have to call the second strike on the Cubs. If I see one more of these obnoxious stories wasting valuable sports page space, I'm officially rooting against the Cubs for the rest of the year. They won't quite join the Red Sox (whom I hate) in the "Pantheon of Hatred", but they'll be knocking on the door for sure!


It's time for everbody's favorite segment: "Dan's Favorite Teams Update"!

Minnesota Twins: The Twins are 29-27 and in 2nd place in the AL Central, 1 game behind the Chigago White Sox.

The Twins are trying to earn a split tonight against the New York Yankees. The first two games were close losses with Saturday's tilt requiring 12 innings to finish. But perhaps the most notable occurrence was Twins P Nick Blackburn taking one off the beak yesterday. As I mentioned earlier, I only joke about this because as it turns out, the guy's okay and may not even miss his next start.

For those of you who haven't seen the video, it looked a lot scarier than it turned out to be. It was in the 5th inning when Blackburn was facing Yankees OF Bobby Abreu when Abreu lined a shot right back at Blackburn's head. Nick got his glove up just enough to change the flight of the ball, so that instead of hitting him flush in the face, it glanced off the right side of his nose and mouth. Still the shot was enough to spin Blackburn around so he flopped onto his back at the back of the mound. Fortunately, he popped back up in short order and left the field under his own power. Post-game columns described him has having a cut on his nose and swollen upper lip, but there were no broken bones or missing teeth.

So good reflexes Nick! But maybe next time you could get your entire face out of the way? Just a thought.

As I said, the Twins are wrapping up their 4-game set with the Bombers tonight. Next up is a home series with the Orioles before travelling to Chicago to try and piss off Ozzie some more!

Arizona Diamondbacks: The D'backs are 32-25 and in 1st place in the NL West, 4.5 games ahead of the L.A. Dodgers.

After losing 5 in a row, Arizona had rebounded with two straight shut-outs. Of course, it was the offensively-challenged Nationals that they were shutting out. But D'backs fans will take it!

Brandon Webb's brilliant performance on Saturday is the epitome of the "slump-buster". If the bats aren't producing as much as you'd like, then go out and throw a 6-hit shutout in 1 hour and 52 minutes - the quickest game in D'back history.

That's why he's the ace. That's why he's 10-2. That's why he's the odds-on favorite to win the Cy Young.

Now it's on to Milwaukee to face the Brewers. Here we go Crew fans. We're at odds for the next three days. You should feel fortunate that you'll miss both Webb and Dan Haren this trip. Arizona fans shouldn't feel bad either as they'll miss Ben Sheets and... umm... well they'll miss Ben Sheets!

Former Brewer Doug Davis returns as a Diamondback to face Jeff Suppan tonight. Tomorrow night it's Randy Johnson versus Seth McClung. And Wednesday afternoon Micah Owings faces Manny Parra.

Either I'm going to be doing a lot of gloating, or this is the last time you'll hear me mention this series! That's fair, right?

After Milwaukee, Arizona gets a day off Thursday before heading to Pittsburgh to spend a weekend beating the bejeezus out of the Pirates.

That's all for today ladies and gents. Back on Wednesday with more baseball wonder. And don't forget, Thursday is the Belmont Stakes preview!


  1. Two words, for the next time someone has some glib 1908 parallel ... '68 Cubs

    ok, three words...


  2. All I can say is...


  3. Drew... Suddenly I hope you make the Trench event.

    Do me a favor. Wear a Red Sox cap. It'll make it all the sweeter!