theres an article in SI

[da_bears86]

its in the INSIDE BASEBALL section on how Ozzie has rejuvenated the sox

[Xero]

[da_bears86]

Inside Baseball: Wizard of Oz

Spirited manager Ozzie GBy Josh Elliott

 

 

"Are you a borger?"

 

The child stares up at White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, perhaps too scared to answer him after nearly being trampled when Guillen came barreling out of the home clubhouse at U.S. Cellular Field recently. Sensing the child's fright, Guillen stoops, smiles and repeats his question. But the child continues to stare. The Venezuelan-born Guillen figures that Daishi Takatsu, the long-haired five-year-old son of Japanese righthander Shingo Takatsu, is having trouble understanding his heavily accented English.

 

"Is this a borger?" Guillen asks the group of players' wives nearby, including Daishi's mother, Maki. Like the child, the women stare blankly at Guillen. Finally, a team employee with an ear for the rookie manager's speech patterns, translates: "Is this a boy or a girl?"

 

Over spasms of laughter, one of the wives gives Guillen his answer: "It's a boy, Ozzie."

 

"Go find Daddy then," Guillen says to Daishi, who squirts through the open clubhouse door.

 

"I got enough problems with this team," he kiddingly explains later. "If a girl get in there, she's scarred for life. And then I kill myself."

 

And then where would the White Sox be? Instead of leading the American League Central by one game over the Twins, as they did at week's end, they'd probably be playing uninspired baseball in front of lukewarm crowds as they did last season. Thanks largely to the arrival of Guillen, attendance was up 4,061 per game over last season through 25 home dates, and the fans -- like the Chicago players -- are more spirited and into the game.

 

With one division title in the last nine years -- and a clubhouse that was growing increasingly stagnant -- the White Sox were looking for a spark last November when they hired the effervescent Guillen, 40, to replace the reserved Jerry Manuel as manager. Only three seasons removed from the end of his 16-year playing career, including 13 as Chicago's charismatic shortstop (1985 through '97), and fresh from a victorious World Series as the Marlins' third base coach, Guillen had no managing experience when White Sox general manager Ken Williams "gave me my dream," as Guillen says, and made him a major league skipper.

 

"No one else has Ozzie's passion and commitment," Williams says. "We've got fans who've waited generations for a World Series championship. They are extremely frustrated. Ozzie'll change that."

 

After dropping two of three from the Mariners last weekend, Chicago (30-24) had a .281 team batting average (up from .263 last year), a 4.02 ERA (down from 4.17), was ranked third in the American League in slugging percentage (.460) and was tied with the Rangers for second in the AL with 72 home runs.

 

While Guillen was a solid player for Chicago -- a .265 hitter and an above-average fielder who played in two All-Star Games -- it was his infectious enthusiasm that endeared him to fans. If he wasn't signing autographs before games at Comiskey Park or chatting up fans between innings, he was stopping by South Side bars afterward. But behind the lovable player lurked a manager in training, "filing everything away in my computer," Guillen says, pointing to his head. "I've been managing in my mind since I was 25."

 

"He really got into it when he became a role player, after he left Chicago," says third base coach Joey Cora, who played with Guillen from 1991 through '94. "He'd call me from Atlanta [in '98 and '99], telling me things [braves manager] Bobby Cox said, things he was learning." Guillen calls the three years he spent coaching under managers Jeff Torborg and Jack McKeon his "college education."

 

"Don't get me wrong -- I love Jerry," says pitching coach Don Cooper, one of four holdovers from Manuel's staff. "But Ozzie's changed the atmosphere around here. We've got personality, enthusiasm, life. Ozzie has relationships that go beyond boss-employee. The players thrive on that."

 

Guillen flits around the clubhouse in his old slippers, telling blue jokes and generally having the time of his life. "He's around so much, he's like he's one of us," says lefthander Mark Buehrle. "He eats with us, b.s.'s with us. The first thing he said to us in spring was, 'Be ready to have some f------ fun.' Then he dropped more curse words in five minutes than we'd heard in five years. We're living in a new world."

 

Ozzie's world is governed by two rules: Be on time, and run the bases hard. "If you're not doing either of those, it shows you don't respect yourself or the team," he says.

 

Guillen set about remaking the club in his scrappy, overachieving image. For years Chicago had depended chiefly on the power of DH-first baseman Frank Thomas, rightfielder Magglio Ordoñez and first baseman Paul Konerko. But with Thomas turning 36 last month and Ordoñez, who was placed on the disabled list last week before having arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, possibly departing as a free agent after the season (if he's not traded first), Guillen has increased the playing time of nascent table setters such as 25-year-old infielders Willie Harris (a team-leading .319, eight steals). Guillen has also been a mentor to the team's many young Latin players, including infielder Juan Uribe, leftfielder Carlos Lee and catcher Miguel Olivo.

 

And while his handling of the pitchers has received rave reviews from the staff -- who appreciate his willingness to "let us dig out of our own messes and go for a win," says Buehrle -- Guillen still dreads the walk to the mound to replace a starter. "I can't stand taking out a guy who's battled for you," he says.

 

Though ever the extrovert, Guillen believes he has the best chance to succeed in his new role by not standing out. "Managers don't win games -- players do," he says. "So what's a good manager? Someone other people want to play for. A good manager is Bobby Cox, is Joe Torre, is Tony La Russa. They're so good, people forget they played the game. So that's what I want: To be so good, they forget I ever played."

 

uillen has brought the White Sox back to life

[SoxAce]

The child stares up at White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, perhaps too scared to answer him after nearly being trampled when Guillen came barreling out of the home clubhouse at U.S. Cellular Field recently. Sensing the child's fright, Guillen stoops, smiles and repeats his question. But the child continues to stare. The Venezuelan-born Guillen figures that Daishi Takatsu, the long-haired five-year-old son of Japanese righthander Shingo Takatsu, is having trouble understanding his heavily accented English.

 

"Is this a borger?" Guillen asks the group of players' wives nearby, including Daishi's mother, Maki. Like the child, the women stare blankly at Guillen. Finally, a team employee with an ear for the rookie manager's speech patterns, translates: "Is this a boy or a girl?"

 

Over spasms of laughter, one of the wives gives Guillen his answer: "It's a boy, Ozzie."

 

"Go find Daddy then," Guillen says to Daishi, who squirts through the open clubhouse door.

 

"I got enough problems with this team," he kiddingly explains later. "If a girl get in there, she's scarred for life. And then I kill myself."

[jasonxctf]

Thanks largely to the arrival of Guillen, attendance was up 4,061 per game over last season through 25 home dates, and the fans -- like the Chicago players -- are more spirited and into the game.

wow.. that makes for an extra 328,941 people per year. At $20 per ticket that= $6,578,820..

 

KW Go spend that $6.5 mil on a 5th starter!!!

 

[knightni]

wow.. that makes for an extra 328,941 people per year. At $20 per ticket that= $6,578,820..

 

KW Go spend that $6.5 mil on a 5th starter!!!

 

Is it a coincedence that $6.5 million is Billy Koch's salary?