The Pied Piper
It started with Ozzie Guillen quickly moving up to the top step of the White Sox dugout and engaging in a little lively banter with a small group of Chicago media members, numbering about five or six, approximately three hours before game time Wednesday. Thirty minutes later, Guillen still was talking and the interested group of media had grown to 45 or 50.
Anyone who has been around Guillen for more than two or three games knows that the White Sox manager can mesmerize an audience more impressively than Tony Robbins or Dr. Phil on their best days. And he?s far more colorful and entertaining.
In this instance, Guillen?s topics of conversation ranged from a thought-provoking movie he watched on one of the cable channels late Tuesday, dealing with how girls and women are treated in the Muslim culture, to a roundtable discussion on the comedians who are truly funny these days. Guillen?s vote, by the way, was cast for Carlos Mencia.
Guillen could give Mencia a run for his money. And speaking of voting or running, Guillen quipped that he might run for Mayor of Chicago if the White Sox win the World Series. If the White Sox pick up eight more postseason victories, Guillen can set his sights even higher.
— Scott Merkin/MLB.com
ALCS: Angels vs. White Sox 
What a great game for Mark Burhle, the Sox needed that performance from Mark to get this series tied and give us White sox fans a chance to dance in the last baseball dance of the year.. GO SOX
It’s great to see Ozzie and the team enjoying the success they have worked so hard to achieve. This is a great team. Too bad the national press is stuck on the coasts.
Maybe a little Midwest culture will help them learn there are better places to live than LA or NY.
ALL u white sox fans know the angels were robbed in this game. You can all go ahead and celebrate your cheap win with the umps tonight. Go Angels!!!!!
yes, a great performance by Buhrle, but what a disgraceful way to end the game. Paul catches the ball, AJ gets rung up, the ump does not say “no catch, no catch” (apparently standard operating procedure), AJ being the chump he has been for most of his career, makes a move towards the dugout and then runs to first. nevermind that even the UMPIRES were walking as if the 3rd out had been made, AJ is “called safe at first,” and the inning is extended. This reminds me of the 1993 stanley cup finals when Mcsorley’s stick incident cost the LA Kings a 2-0 series lead going back to LA. at least in that case Mcsorley was in the wrong. Here the Ump simply allowed a player to “sell” the call. what a joke. The Angels were terrible tonight and still had a chance to win. little doubt who the better team has been through 2 games.
The Perzynski play was totally ridiculous. The umpire shows a fist, doesn’t holler “no catch” and all of a sudden, because the guy is running towards first base, he decides “well he’s running to first so he must have trapped the ball”. It was clearly a catch. I don’t care if he said afterwords, after watching the replay, that he was right — of course he’s going to say that…He knows he screwed up. For Angel fans our only solace is to hope that the next bad call will be in our favor…thats baseball..
As an Angel fan, I have to give Josh Paul a set of goat horns along with Eddings. The play was too close to assume anything. How many times do you see the catcher hold up the glove with the ball inside to show the ump it was caught? All the time. Get the ump to commit one way or another and then take it from there. My first instinct when I saw it live was to say, “tag him, tag him.” If I had that inclination then so should’ve Paul. There are a bunch of experts on TV and the Web that have said the same thing. The Angels got a tough break, but on the other hand when Vlad, Figgins, and Anderson stink up the joint you more than likely don’t deserve to win. Scioscia was right, it shouldn’t have come to this. Plus, what a terrible 0-2 pitch from Escobar to Crede! I still like the Angels’ chances…but not if Vlad and Figgins continue to be MIA.
Is it just me or is everyone missing something?? On a drop 3rd strike call, when the batter leaves his box for the dugout, he gives up his right to run to first base. Right??
The sad thing is that this series is going to hang on this call forever. It is a defining moment for the umpire too! The worst call in baseball wil go to him. He will be infamous for it! I really hate when umpires make themselves part of the game! AJ was clearly out. Most Sox fans agree. Like Scocia said, all indications that the umpire gave were that AJ was out.
It $uck$ to lose like this. We got our run off a homerun, honorably. The sox got their runs from a sick pitcher error and a faulty umpire.
Sure, in hindsight, Paul should have tagged him. The Angels should have scored more runs, and hats off to Bhuerle who got the job done.
I really feel sorry for the Sox and their fans. If this series goes 7 games and the Sox win, it will be tainted. They have waited so long for this, and now they can’t have it honorably. What’s even worse, these teams have a lot of comradery and are friends from the executive level to the field level. Now, if the Angels didn’t before, they have a fire lit-up their *** which adds fuel to a 3 game Angel sweep in Anaheim.
Aint **** tainted buddy but Arte Moreno’s marketing scheme and your perspective. andysmith, norm and rmarasco are the only ones here speaking the truth. The rest of you might want to learn how to spell…that’s Buerhle and that’s Piersynski. As for bearfan, worry about your never-ending carousel of worthless quarterbacks and getting beat by the Browns with three minutes left.
Who know’s if the ball hit the dirt or not. It’s inconsequential. Any catcher worth is salt knows to take the added precaution of tagging him out or throwing him out. In a game of this magnitude, better to be safe than sorry right? And trust me if we win I sure as **** won’t be dwelling on that play…as edan said that’s baseball.
I agree with you that Arte Moreno’s marketing scheme is somewhat shady, but at least LA has a winning team now for a couple consecutive years! Why would you knock my spelling of Buerhle?? I gave him props for pitching a good game!! This is a blog. . .not a dissertation!
You are right, like I said, Paul should have tagged him. But count your lucky stars that he didn’t, otherwise it is extremely possible the Angels could be walking away from Chicago with 2 wins instead of 1. Needless to say, the Angels did what they set out to do. They stole one away from the SOX’s best pitcher, and IMO, both of their runs last night were unearned. Now the SOX have to play in Anaheim the next 3 games.
All the people that said SOX in 5 or 6 were assuming that the SOX would win both home games. Now it’s anyone’s series at his point, except for the Angels having home field advantage the next 3 games of 5.
To all Angels fans throughout the OC area and all the ships at sea…The lesson that should be learned here is simple…Never,EVER assume that an out is an out…Because what happens when you ASSUME,students? That’s right,you make an A** out of U and ME…Scocsia should realize that,he’s been around long enough and caught enough games in his career…
As for rhervey, yes,it is true that the White Sox have stunk on ice the last 6 seasons of visiting whatever marketing tool Senor Moreno calls his playpen now, but just remember…the ghosts of Donnie Moore and Dave Henderson and Gene Mauch and Gene Autry still loom large around the rockpile in center field….So,don’t get so supremely confident when,as Vin Scully (the Dodger announcer,remember)requests you “pull up a chair and stay a while….” Because as Blto proved in Animal House, and Eddings and the umpires reiterated last night…”NOTHING IS OVER ‘TILL WE SAY IT IS!”
Pardon the misspellings on Bluto and on Scioscia…You see,I borrowed this keyboard from a writer at the LA Daily News…Now,they’re going to blame either me or the umps,whomever is more convenient,for blowing it….
This is for rhervey,
No. The rulebook clearly agrees with what the ump said after the game last night. The batter can run to first as long as he hasn’t been tagged, hasn’t been forced out, or hasn’t touched the dugout steps. He could run the bases backwards, but as long as he beats the ball to first, he’s safe.
Now, if you’ll all quit whining, the call is as it is. I’m a Sox fan, and I’ll admit there’s something odd about it, but this is October baseball, sh*t happens, the good teams play around it.
Maybe both teams will actually show up for game three and this series can get started.
I agree with you tomquaid73, I was astounded when Paul didn’t tag AJ for insurrance! Either of the Molinas probably would have.
I want to make something perfectly clear to both tomquaid73 and mulqueeny, I am not a SOX hater. In fact, I actually put money down in Vegas about a month ago that the SOX and the Cards were going to be in the series together. There is such a thing as homefield advantage and that is all I was saying. So don’t get your panties in a bunch. I have a right to be a little mift at the controversial call last night. Oh, and thanks for clearing the rule up for me mulqueeny.
Lets just hope nothing like this happens again for the sake of both these teams. It’s one thing to tie up the series with a bad call, but what if another were to cost the SOX from going to the series. The Angels won it a couple years back. . .the SOX have come to far to fall due to some umpire who is unsure of himself.
Mulqueeny, you’re right. Good teams will put this behind them.
That is something the Angels have done very well. They have a one day/ one game at a time attitude from the top down and it works.
This series is going to be a good one. I just hope that the game is decided by the athletes not some goofy ump who can’t make up his mind and be consistent in his actions.
Paul should have tagged Pierzynski anyway despite knowing that he caught the ball. We wouldn’t have this much to talk about today otherwise.
Hopefully the two teams can start producing the runs offensively and be the teams they were all year to get to this point.
Good luck and enjoy the rest of the series.
Go Angels!
rhervey, you don’t see it. This series isn’t tainted and don’t feel sorry for Sox fans. The Sox won Wednesday by playing till the play was called. They have nothing to apologize for. If the umpire got the call correct or not, does not matter because there is no way he could have seen if the ball touched the ground or did not touch the ground. Called either way would have been a guess at best. That said, what an outstanding play by AJ. Especially the part where he waits for Paul to roll the ball onto the infield before breaking for first. The worst call Wednesday was substituting for the catcher not the call made by the Umpire. What is the third string catcher doing in a one run game anyway? I’m certain that Scioscia would like to have that decision back. Again, don’t feel sorry for us, Sox Fans, feel sorry for yourself for being out gamed by AJ and the White Sox.
Go Sox!
Yeah, I understand the other side of the argument fully. And I myself have gone back and forth on the issue. I believe it is a combination of mistakes, which makes controversy.
–Paul should have put the tag down.
–The umpire should not have “rung” up AJ, a universal sign that an out is registered, not a strike. He clearly extends his right arm out to indicate the strike and clenches his fist to signal an out. The umpire has to signal a drop third strike by extending both arms in a “safe” like fashion which means it is drop third strike. The umpire made no such signal, the only signals that he did make were that AJ was out. ****, even the field umpires started walking off the field for the inbetween inning break!
Believe me, if this happened to the SOX, and the SOX lost their second homegame because of an unsure umpire, then they would be flaming pist.
The only one on the field that wasn’t fooled by the umpire’s mistake was AJ. Good heads up to him. All the players on both benches, the players on the field, the field umpires, and even the plate umpire thought the inning was over. My guess is that the plate umpire was so surprised that AJ ran, he got confused and called him safe. Later, the other umpires are not going to go back on his call because it would make their crew mate look even more foolish.
As it is, this isn’t going to end anytime soon. He had to be escorted from the airport terminal by sheriffs yesterday. The umpire will be booed continually tonight at 3rd base. I will be there booing him and so will about 45000 other fans of the game. Not just Angel fans, but fans of the game who are outraged at his incompetancy and refusal to admit he is wrong.
It’s OVER..LET IT GO!!!….If I was an Angel I would be frustrated too but face it…it’s a five game series and you got home field. DON”T BE A BUNCH OF WHINE AND CRIES!!! By the way your CONVICTED UMPIRE WILL BE ON THE RIGHT FIELD LINE NUMBNUTS!!!! You “SO CAL SALLY’S” can enjoy your thunderstix, the wave, and your monkey and enjoy a whippin like you never had this weekend from the SOX and THE IRISH!!!!
LET”S GO WHITE SOX!!!!
Coaching a 14U softball team, it is the first time many of the girls experience the dropped third strike (in our league). We drill into the players to let the umpire call it. That’s what we pay them for. So tag on third strikes or throw to first as the situation warrants & batters, take off to first on a third strike if in doubt. I agree that AJ had his head in the game. Tainted? Hardly. Good, agressive heads-up baseball? Absolutely. Ozzie ain’t gonna let his team sit back and wait for the “big inning” (remember that?). Like fschimmel said, what was the third string catcher doing in there? Another stunner by Mastermind Mike. Like having no one warming up when Santana was in trouble in Anaheim last weekend.
That was a really weird play..I must admit that I’d be pissed if I was an Angels fan. The thing is, after the call the game was still tied with 2 outs and only a runner on first.The Sox deserve more credit than they’ve received for Ozuna stealing 2nd base and then Crede hitting a double with 2 strikes against a good reliever….they still had to make those plays to win the game. The Angels blew it…thats how I see it. Buerle pitched great and would’ve pitched in the 10th. The Sox may have won the game in extra innings anyway so this call should’t be looked at as the reason the Sox made it to the World Series if they make it.
To all Sox fans on this board: DENIAL is not a river that runs through Egypt, it’s in the blood that runs through your polluted veins. With imbecilic comments like, “Never, EVER assume that an out is not an out”, and, “what an outstanding play by AJ. Especially the part where he waits for Paul to roll the ball onto the infield before breaking for first”, we can CLEARLY see that the Windy City is full of crooks and liars.
According to such ranting nonsense, I would guess that ALL MLB players from now on should ALWAYS throw the ball to first, even though it was obviously caught in the air – just to be sure. LOL! And after a player strikes out, all he needs to do is fake a walk to the dugout, then take off for first as soon as the ball is dead, and of course, how could anyone deny that he is safe? OMG!!! … let’s just hope that such idiotic and twisted mentality is NOT contagious!
Angels in 6.
Hey Gams…GET OVER IT!!! ONE PLAY NUMBNUTS!!…Here’s a thought..GET A HIT!!!! Here’s a thought..MAKE A PLAY!!…I will take your comments as nothing more than stupidity by one fan and not a representation of good Angels fans…that’s why it’s a seven game series..OOOPS….I mean FIVE!!! GO SOX!!
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