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Saturday, June 21, 2008

MLB: Ozzie Guillen no fan of Wrigley Field

CHA?LY GRIM?

A new chapter of the Cubs-White Sox rivalry, quite possibly the most intense regular-season matchups in all of baseball, couldn’t be christened without a humorous shot fired Friday afternoon by Ozzie Guillen at venerable Wrigley Field.

“You are going to take batting practice and the rats look bigger than a pig out there,” said Guillen, referring to the batting cages under the right-field bleachers. “You want to take a look?

“I think the rats out there are lifting weights,” added Guillen, drawing huge laughter from the large crowd of assembled media.

...“What’s wrong with saying I don’t like this ballpark?” Guillen said. “You ask any player which one they like less and they might throw in some names. Ask me about it, and this is the one I pick.

“It’s a museum. They like to come to Wrigley Field. I don’t say people don’t like to come here. I say Ozzie don’t like to come here.

“But hey, you have to do what you have to do,” Guillen added. “Wake up in the morning and go to Wrigley Field is not a good thing. But it’s fun to play against them.”

Repoz Posted: June 21, 2008 at 04:13 AM | 18 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
  Tags: cubs, white sox

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   1. Lazzeri Posted: June 21, 2008 at 05:09 AM (#2828262)
lol, I can't stop laughing. I'd love to see a weight-lifting rat.
   2. scareduck Posted: June 21, 2008 at 06:33 AM (#2828284)
The pigs are quite small in the Dominican, I understand.
   3. Bunny Vincennes Posted: June 21, 2008 at 07:49 AM (#2828294)
A new chapter of the Cubs-White Sox rivalry

Is it really a rivalry? Really? Do the Cubs really give a #### about the White Sox? As a fan, I couldn't care less. It reminds me of the scene in Casablanca where Peter Lorre says to Humphrey Bogart, "You despise me, don't you Rick?" And Bogart replies, "Well, if I had ever gave you any thought I suppose you would."

That's exactly how I feel about the White Sox.
   4. ERROR---Jolly Old St. Nick Posted: June 21, 2008 at 09:55 AM (#2828300)
....and the horse he rode in on. 23 overpriced shopping malls masquerading as ballparks is enough. And that's a lowball estimate. There should be room for a few overpriced real ballparks.
   5. TerpNats Posted: June 21, 2008 at 12:48 PM (#2828323)
Is it really a rivalry? Really? Do the Cubs really give a #### about the White Sox? As a fan, I couldn't care less. It reminds me of the scene in Casablanca where Peter Lorre says to Humphrey Bogart, "You despise me, don't you Rick?" And Bogart replies, "Well, if I had ever gave you any thought I suppose you would."

That's exactly how I feel about the White Sox.
Jeez, if Cubs management believes its fans really feel that way, then they should charge regular, not premium, prices, as if the Chisox games were like playing the Astros on a Monday afternoon in late April.
   6. Dan The Mediocre is one of "the rest" Posted: June 21, 2008 at 12:54 PM (#2828326)
Jeez, if Cubs management believes its fans really feel that way, then they should charge regular, not premium, prices, as if the Chisox games were like playing the Astros on a Monday afternoon in late April.


It's a game that essentially doubles the ticket buying base since the opponents are also in Chicago. They'd be crazy not to have premium prices in that situation.
   7. 100 Years is Nothing Posted: June 21, 2008 at 01:16 PM (#2828332)
The annual Ozzie hates Wrigley. Yawn.
   8. Spahn Insane Posted: June 21, 2008 at 01:40 PM (#2828349)
Jeez, if Cubs management believes its fans really feel that way, then they should charge regular, not premium, prices, as if the Chisox games were like playing the Astros on a Monday afternoon in late April.

They charge premium prices for ALL games between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
   9. Eraser-X is emphatically dominating teh site!!! Posted: June 21, 2008 at 01:51 PM (#2828355)
....and the horse he rode in on. 23 overpriced shopping malls masquerading as ballparks is enough. And that's a lowball estimate. There should be room for a few overpriced real ballparks.


That's not fair, Andy. He's mostly complaining that it has horrible facilities for visiting players. That seems like a fair complaint. Wrigley doesn't HAVE to have a tiny, distant, rat-infested visitor's clubhouse in order to maintain its old-world charm to its fans.


Is it really a rivalry? Really? Do the Cubs really give a #### about the White Sox? As a fan, I couldn't care less. It reminds me of the scene in Casablanca where Peter Lorre says to Humphrey Bogart, "You despise me, don't you Rick?" And Bogart replies, "Well, if I had ever gave you any thought I suppose you would."

That's exactly how I feel about the White Sox.


Well, some would argue that the utter lack of interest that the mayor shows toward the South Side beyond Bridgeport is part of the problem with the city. But when it comes to baseball, I agree with you for the most part.
   10. Andere Richtingen Posted: June 21, 2008 at 02:22 PM (#2828359)
“You are going to take batting practice and the rats look bigger than a pig out there,” said Guillen, referring to the batting cages under the right-field bleachers. “You want to take a look?

That's no rat, it's Jim Edmonds.

That's not fair, Andy. He's mostly complaining that it has horrible facilities for visiting players. That seems like a fair complaint. Wrigley doesn't HAVE to have a tiny, distant, rat-infested visitor's clubhouse in order to maintain its old-world charm to its fans.

Actually, the complaints in this article are about the batting cages. The clubhouses at Wrigley (not just the visitors') are notoriously small, but I'm pretty sure they're not "rat-infested."
   11. ERROR---Jolly Old St. Nick Posted: June 21, 2008 at 02:27 PM (#2828361)
....and the horse he rode in on. 23 overpriced shopping malls masquerading as ballparks is enough. And that's a lowball estimate. There should be room for a few overpriced real ballparks.

That's not fair, Andy. He's mostly complaining that it has horrible facilities for visiting players. That seems like a fair complaint. Wrigley doesn't HAVE to have a tiny, distant, rat-infested visitor's clubhouse in order to maintain its old-world charm to its fans.


Uh, uh. The whole tone of his was just whiny. If the only thing he'd beem complaining about were the rats, he could have just said, "Look, I love Wrigley, but they need to hire a few South Side cats to keep the rats out." Instead he gives us the old "museum" cliche.

Not to mention that anyone who plays in whatever they call that place on the South Side has no standing whatever to criticize any other park. That dump should have been blown up before it was built. They'd have been better off with a replica of Baker Bowl or the LA Coliseum.
   12. Barry`s_Lazy_Boy Posted: June 21, 2008 at 04:19 PM (#2828394)
I'd love to see a weight-lifting rat.

one manages the white sox.
   13. GregQ Posted: June 21, 2008 at 05:23 PM (#2828417)
Didn't one use to manage St. Louis?
   14. ERROR---Jolly Old St. Nick Posted: June 21, 2008 at 06:20 PM (#2828441)
I'd love to see a weight-lifting rat.


Didn't one use to manage St. Louis?

Yeah, but when he tried to lift Don Denkinger, all he got was a popped vein and an ulcer.
   15. Hello Rusty Kuntz, Goodbye Rusty Cars Posted: June 21, 2008 at 08:10 PM (#2828514)
Wait. The Cubs are still a baseball team?
   16. Srul Itza Posted: June 21, 2008 at 09:29 PM (#2828542)
Andy -- are you actually taking anything Ozzie says seriously?

Uh, uh. The whole tone of his was just whiny.

Did you hear it on tape? I took the whole tone of it as killing time by jabbing at the Cubs and Wrigley, because that is part of his job -- Draw attention, stoke the rivalry, keep the money coming in.

I sometimes think that people don't appreciate what a gold mine Ozzie is, in terms of publicity and keeping the team in the headlines. He's like a more profane version of Steinbrenner, but more crazy than angry.

Above all, he is a character. Baseball used to have a lot more of these, and they used to be more tolerated. And they make the game more fun. At least, they make it more fun for those of use who don't have to share a clubhouse/dugout/plane with them.
   17. J. Michael Neal Posted: June 22, 2008 at 04:46 AM (#2828800)
I don't object to Guillen being a character. I don't object to profanity laced tirades. If that's all the Ozzie produced, I'd think he's great, in an, "I love to hate my opponents," kind of way. It's the bigotry he periodically displays that has turned me off.
   18. Gonfalon Bubble Posted: June 22, 2008 at 05:52 AM (#2828805)
He's also a blatant rattist.

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