Chicago’s Guillen Talks a Big Game During Visit to Beantown
The colorful manager has never been one to mince words.
The prospect of thinking before speaking is foreign to him. When his team is playing well, it’s great for his players. But when the White Sox are struggling, the players’ lives are kind of like those film-session scenes in Hard Knocks where the coaches dissect one missed tackle over and over and over again. Except for the White Sox, it doesn’t stop when the film session ends. It never stops.
Terry Francona’s troops took three of four from the White Sox this week, which means lots of unfortunate earfuls for the men in black and white and lots of fun sound bites for the proud citizens of Red Sox Nation. On Ozzie’s docket this week: Dustin Pedroia’s double life as a horse-riding carnie, the battle for bullpen supremacy between Jonathan Papelbon and Daniel Bard, and Tim Wakefield’s age-defying acrobatics.
By Guillen’s estimation, Pap should spend a little less time running his mouth about Billy Wagner and a little more time worrying about the guy playing the tambourine in his bullpen band, waiting to steal his job.
Only Ozzie Guillen could come up with headliner honors during a week when Plaxico Burress administers a play-by-play of that time he accidentally shot himself in the leg in a nightclub.
“That kid should be in the circus, and I have to walk him to face someone else. He should be riding some horses, and I have to walk that kid. It’s very weird when you walk a guy who is 4-foot-11.”
–White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, in the Chicago Sun-Times, on playing against Dustin Pedroia
“Who’s that guy? He pitched pretty good. I’d rather face [Jonathan] Papelbon than that guy.”
–Guillen, in the Lowell Sun, on Boston reliever Daniel Bard
"First of all, how's he still pitching? I played against him when I was 19. Now I'm managing, and this guy's still pitching."
–Guillen, on NESN, on Tim Wakefield still delivering at 43. Guillen is 45.
“I was like, ‘Take me to the hospital.’ And he was like, ‘Why?’ And I said, ‘I think I just shot myself.’ And he was like, ‘No.’”
–Former Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress, in an interview with Jeremy Schaap on ESPN, on what he told Antonio Pierce after accidentally shooting himself in November
"The only reason I was successful was because my ball moved a little. And I didn't want it to move. I was trying to throw it straight.”
–Red Sox shortstop Nick Green, on NESN.com, after throwing two shutout innings against the White Sox in his first career relief appearance
“I didn’t have a cup on.”
–Red Sox outfielder and impromptu bullpen catcher Rocco Baldelli, in the Globe, on forbidding Green to throw curveballs while warming up on Thursday
“The definition of swagg flu is>>my swagg is sooo sick, that u WANNA b next to me becuz its so contagious.”
–Miami Heat guard Dwayne Wade, via Twitter
“I don’t know about searching [for an answer]. I’m tired of stinking. That’s for sure. But I don’t think searching’s the right thing. I’m continuing to do the same things I do every time out and every time in between starts, and right now, the results [stink].’’
— Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett, in the Globe, on going 0-1 while giving up 20 runs in his last three outings
"He's not a Rhodes Scholar to begin with."
–Red Sox GM Theo Epstein, on Boston.com, explaining why closer Jonathan Papelbon expressed concern about Billy Wagner being acquired from the Mets
“The other thing, too, is if Jim Thome wants to start bunting? Good. Paul Konerko, if he wants to bunt, go ahead. I can name about four other guys.”
–-Red Sox manager Terry Francona, on Boston.com, on welcoming bunts from Chicago’s big bats
“I don’t know if I was asking after that. I was just saying it would be kind of nice to [get hit]. I wouldn’t take that too literally.”
–Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, in a news conference, before facing the Bengals on wanting to get the jitters out and take a big hit for the first time since being knocked out for the season in the first game of 2008
Q: They showed Josh McDaniels on TV last night on the sidelines wearing a sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up. Did you offer any fashion advice to him?
Bill Belichick: We spent a lot of time on that.
Q: He didn’t go cut. He just rolled them up.
Bill Belichick: Yeah, he’s probably trying to make his own statement then.
–Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, in a news conference, on his protégé’s fashion sense
"It's hard going through this. I feel like I've maintained a pretty good attitude, where I haven't gotten too low. I feel like I've been treading water, trying to keep my head above. There's been some times where it's been pretty tough. At the same time, there are a lot of people dealing with a lot more problems than what I'm dealing with. I'm not asking for sympathy by saying I've been through a hard time. It's just that it's been frustrating."
–Red Sox shortstop Jed Lowrie, on Boston.com, on missing most of 2009 with various wrist injuries
“He knew he could still pitch when he got released by Boston. Obviously, he's just been unbelievable.”
–Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols, on ESPN.com, on John Smoltz’s performance in St. Louis. The veteran right-hander is 1-0 with an 0.82 ERA in two starts since being released by the Red Sox in early August.
“We’re very excited about the player that we can’t name yet, but also about the other two.”
–Rays manager Joe Maddon, on Yahoo Sports, on acquiring three players in exchange for Scott Kazmir
