The White Sox thread

On Tuesday to reporters, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen referred to Chicago Sun-Times columnist and Around the Horn contributor Jay Mariotti as a derogatory name for a homosexual.

Angry with a recent column by Mariotti critical of Guillen's handling of recently demoted relief pitcher Sean Tracey and upset with Mariotti with columns of the past, Guillen said to reporters when referring to Mariotti before Tuesday's game with the Cardinals, "What a piece of [expletive] he is, [expletive] fag."

"I don't have anything against those people. In my country, you call someone something like that and it is not the same as it is in this country."

Mariotti was covering the NBA Finals Tuesday night and was not present to hear what Guillen said.

Columnist Greg Couch of the Sun-Times wrote a column Wednesday in response, calling for commissioner Bud Selig to suspend Guillen for his use of a "hurtful homophobic" term.

Before writing the column, Couch asked Guillen for an explanation. Guillen defended his use of the term "fag" by saying this about homosexuals and the use of the word in question: "I don't have anything against those people. In my country, you call someone something like that and it is not the same as it is in this country.''

Guillen said that in his native Venezuela, that word is not a reference to a person's sexuality, but to his courage. He said he was saying that Mariotti is "not man enough to meet me and talk about [things before writing].''

Guillen also told Couch that he has gay friends, attends WNBA games, went to a Madonna concert and plans to go to the Gay Games in Chicago.

"I called that of this man [Mariotti],'' he told Couch. "I'm not trying to hurt anybody [else]."

Scott Reifert, the White Sox's vice president of communications, offered to apologize on behalf of the organization when approached by Couch.

"To anybody who was insulted or hurt by that comment ... as an organization, we'll certainly apologize," Reifert told Couch.

?!!?!?

In the third, every member of the Sox lineup got a hit in the inning (a couple had two IIRC.) Has that ever happened before?

HAHAHA WHAT? god i love ozzie. also, if you're gonna call someone a fag, it might as well be Jay Mariotti.

Anyway, does mlb have a consistent policy on such statements? Like, say you had Italian teammates but openly refused to eat pizza or pasta in front of them because your family was 'boycotting' Italian food? How is THAT not equally bigoted?

What wd OG's suspension be if he had called that writer a pussy?

Prior to this evening’s Cards/White Sox contest, the recently chastised Ozzie Guillen was asked by Comcast Chicago what he thought his sensitivity training would be like.

“I’ll probably have to sit with Joey Cora for a couple of hours,” laughed Guillen.

Putting a healthy Thome in the middle of that lineup is just sick. It is a bit like when Ortiz took off in Boston a few years ago, they couldn't pitch around Manny anymore and it seemed the whole lineup improved. The White Sox were a good hitting lineup last year, but now they are a great hitting team.

I will be in Chicago next weekend and at the Monday, July 3 game vs. the Orioles. We are in Section 527 (thank you, StubHub). If Stormy or any other ILBBers will be there, email me, and would love to say hi before the fireworks.

love teh tagutchi.

This weekend was ridiculous.

http://secure.juxtapoz.com/images/items/lg202.jpg

http://www.westernaires.org/Pictures/Horses/charo.jpg

Sheesh. I have shit to do...

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=260723104

"They think I cheat? We faced two [expletive] good pitchers in the National League Central. Our division, they have to face [the Tigers' starting staff], then you go to the White Sox and face all our guys? When you're going to go to another team, you're going to go, 'Whew, where is Randy Johnson?' The American League Central? That's baseball right here. Go hard one after another."
--Guillen

"Good, I hope [they keep accusing us]. What happened in the playoffs and World Series? We won 1-0, 2-1. We won so many one-run games, more than anyone in baseball last year. You look at our No. 3, 4 and 5 [hitters], they are the best in baseball. If we're cheating, how come we [don't] help Brian Anderson or [Juan] Uribe?"
--Guillen

"We're cheating on the mound? Our pitching staff gets beat up once in awhile. They're mad. They can't admit that a Latino kicked their ass."
--Guillen

"That's why I love the guy next door. He doesn't give a [expletive]. He doesn't worry about this and that. You win, you kicked our butt. When they clinched in 2004, I was the first one to go over there and congratulate them because they beat us."
--Guillen, on Twins manager Ron Gardenhire

"'Oh, no, I don't like you because you kicked my ass?' Please. That's competition."
--Guillen

"That's why I don't get along with too many managers. Because they hate my [expletive] ass, because I don't kiss their ass, and I didn't kiss anyone's ass to get this job."
--Guillen

"Then they have a Mexican win the World Series in two years. And they're saying he doesn't have experience, he never managed in baseball before. Well, too [expletive] bad."
--Guillen

"What's the difference? No one knows the difference anyway."
--Guillen, after being reminded that he's Venezuelan