By Scot Gregor | Daily Herald Staff
Published: 3/9/2009 12:03 AM
Editor's note: As the countdown continues toward the April 6 opener for the White Sox, Daily Herald Sports Writer Scot Gregor will offer his analysis of each position on the team and the key issues facing the club this season.
Q. From a writer's perspective, what's the best part about covering Ozzie Guillen?
Gregor: He never has an off day. Maybe that's why every visiting beat writer seems to stop by the White Sox' dugout before games.
Here's a great example. In Detroit last year, veteran Free Press scribe John Lowe asked Ozzie a general question about Tigers catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez.
Ozzie created an international stir with this reply: "People tell me I'm crazy when I say this, but Roberto Clemente is the third-best player from Puerto Rico. Pudge is the best, then Roberto Alomar, then Clemente. I'm one of the biggest Clemente fans ever, but Pudge Rodriguez is the best player out of Puerto Rico."
Ozzie says something like that just about every day.
Q. He often will threaten to walk away sooner than later and then in the next breath say he wants to manage the Sox forever. Which do you think it will be?
Gregor: The latter. It's a long, long season, and Ozzie wears down like everybody else in the game. When he hits the inevitable wall, that's usually when the retirement talk comes out.
But he genuinely loves the job, and Ozzie's going to be in the White Sox' dugout for the foreseeable future.
Q. What is one of Guillen's underrated strengths? One of his weaknesses?
Gregor: He's always talking, and that can take away from Ozzie's incredible wealth of knowledge.
He's not one of those modern-day computer guys, either. Ozzie takes the old-school approach, which is refreshing. He can tell talent - or lack thereof - with his eyes and instincts.
As for his weaknesses, Ozzie gets himself into trouble by not always knowing when to hit the mute button. Many of his inflammatory remarks take weeks or months to extinguish, and that takes away from his focus on the field.
Q. Where does Ozzie rank among modern-day managers?
Gregor: He has to rank near the top.
In five seasons as White Sox manager, Ozzie has won the World Series and he did a solid job last season while getting a banged-up team into the playoffs.
Ozzie's best season might have been in 2006, when the Sox won 90 games but finished third in the AL Central.
Q. If Ozzie could get whatever players he wanted, would he really want to put together a team like Minnesota or is that just talk?
Gregor: The White Sox always seem to rank at or near the top in home runs, and power can cover up a lot of deficiencies.
Ozzie's not blowing smoke when he raves about fundamentally sound teams like the Twins, but when you manage at a hitter-friendly park like the Cell, you have to be able to hit the ball over the fence. Ozzie understands that.
But he's a little more excited than usual this spring because the Sox have added some speed to go with the holdover thunder.
