Swept Away
By Benjy Lipsman in News on May 31, 2007 2:14PM
This is not a fun time to be a baseball fan in Chicago. Whether a White Sox or Cubs fan, you no doubt have that sinking feeling about your team's prospects for the postseason after they were swept this week.
The Cubs lost 9-0 to the Florida Marlins on Wednesday, following a day full of meetings. The players held one. So did management. Didn't help, at least on Wednesday.
The players felt they needed to clear the air, "You have to clean the air once in a while," Cliff Floyd said. "It's gets a little polluted at times. I think we all needed a breath of fresh air." Sure they stink of late, but how do they actually think clearing the air will make that go away?
As for the management meeting, it went an hour and a half in Lou Pinilla's office, and included the manager, GM Jim Hendry, President Cubs President John McDonough, assistant GM Randy Bush and Tribune Co. Senior Vice President Legal Counsel Crane Kenney. Hendry said that a firesale wasn't in the works, but Chicagoist isn't so sure. That's a lot of management in one meeting to discuss "tinkering" with the roster and lineup. With the club underperforming after an off-season shopping spree, and the team up for sale, something bigger is in the works.
And what's in store on the South Side? The White Sox got swept this week by the rival Minnesota Twins, including a ugly 7-6 loss on Wednesday that saw the club blow a 6-1 lead before David Aardsma walked Torii Hunter on four pitches with and the bases loaded in the ninth inning. That's downright Cubs-like!
Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen, unlike his North Side counterpart, suggested bigger changes may be on the way, "If we have to shake up this ballclub, we will. At least Kenny Williams will. I'm sitting here and watching since July of last year to right now, the same [stuff]. If I'm going to get fired, good. If this team's going to get better with me out of here, I'll be happy. But as long as I'm here, we have to play better."
Is Ozzie's job really on the line? Or is he just saying that to try and light a fire under his players? I mean, doesn't winning a title earn a manager or coach at least a three year exemption from the hot seat? Do we smell a Sox players-only meeting on the horizon?
And when's the Bears' season start?
Photos via CNN and WhiteSox.com