The Chicago Tribune’s Paul Morrissey, no doubt aware what sort of reaction he’d inspire, asked White Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen if there’s enough room in town for the charming personalities of both O.G. and the Cubs’ Lou Piniella. The ever modest Guillen replied, “I own Chicago.”
“Lou doesn’t own [anything] yet,” Guillen said. “Lou is my friend. He’s in a great spot. Lou Piniella is Lou Piniella. He’s a big-league manager. I think he’s going to do a tremendous job.”
But it is Guillen’s belief that Piniella should accomplish something in our little town before people start chiseling his chin out of Mt. Rushmore rock.
“A couple days ago, somebody asked me who was more famous in Chicago”Lovie Smith, Mike Ditka, Ozzie or Lou,” Guillen said. “I said, ‘Why do you put Lou here? He hasn’t done [anything] yet in Chicago. Why do you look to put Lou in that spot with Ditka, Lovie and Ozzie?’
“Maybe later on in his career, yeah, but right now I think it’s a joke when people think Lou is part of Chicago. He’s not part of Chicago yet. He will be. Of course. He’s good enough for that.”
“Lou reminds me of Dusty,” Guillen said. “Dusty was the best thing the Cubs ever had. Three years later, he’s the biggest piece of [garbage] they have. That’s part of the game. I hope that doesn’t happen to Lou.”
In another act of unhelpful posturing, Commissioner Bud Selig tells the LA Times’ Bill Shaikin, “Arte (Moreno) and I are absolutely on the same page on this issue,” as the Angels are allegedly considering suspending Gary Matthews Jr. or perhaps terminating his 5 year, $50 million pact. Sadly, Shaikin doesn’t ask Selig how MLB could justify punishing a player who has yet to be charged with a criminal act, and thus far has only been accused of purchasing a performance enhancing supplement which at the time, was not amongst those on MLB’s list of banned substances.