Ozzie, Buerhle add fuel to fire about pitchers cheating

[hab_m_b]

If anyone has been paying attention, Buehrle called out someone on the Cubs for cheating by licking his hand before he pitches (most notably known as Maddux, but it could be Prior). Guillen said that people can cheat as long as they don't get caught, but they cna't cheat using drugs because it hurts their bodies. What do you guys think of it?


Buehrle gets tweaked by Cub 'cheater'
Dempster retaliates for Sox pitcher's fingering of Maddux
By Dave van Dyck
Special to the Chicago Tribune

As if next weekend's Cubs-White Sox interleague series needed any added "substance," Mark Buehrle's commenting that a North Side pitcher "very well" may be cheating has become a "slippery" subject.

And though the Cubs may think Buehrle is "all wet," one of them has confessed to a moist misdeed, although it was not the one Buerhle was presumed to have fingered, Greg Maddux.

It should be noted Ryan Dempster did not have his fingers in his mouth but did have his tongue inserted in his cheek while, ahem, coming clean.

"Basically I use snot if I have it," Dempster said. "Mark, you caught me. I'm glad, with your busy schedule, you had nothing else to do but imply I was using spit on the ball."

Actually, Buerhle was busy Friday, pitching the White Sox to a 6-0 victory over the Dodgers at U.S. Cellular Field, but his off-day remarks on WSCR-AM sure started a slimy saga, although he said it wasn't "that big a deal."

"He must get bored in-between the four days off," Dempster said before the Cubs played the Yankees in New York. "As a [former] starter, I can appreciate that.

"Doing the relieving thing, I don't have enough time to think of things like that. Although I know that one of the White Sox players, I heard, is using some sort of atomic bomb in his jockstrap."

The messy matter began when the Angels' Brendan Donnelly was accused of doctoring the baseball against Washington after the White Sox complained he was licking his fingers on the mound. Donnelly was suspended for 10 days Friday for using pine tar.

Buehrle said many pitchers lick their fingers off the mound, which is legal, but that they may not wipe it off completely.

Like who?

"I can't get myself in trouble because he's on the North Side," Buehrle said Thursday on WSCR. "I don't know personally, but I'm just saying from years of experience that he has had success that he very well may be using something."

Maddux, who could start next Saturday against the Sox, often walks around the mound taking big licks of his fingers.

"I don't know where Maddux's name was brought up," Buehrle said after Friday night's game.

"I don't want him coming back to me saying I'm a bad guy [and] talking behind his back. I don't even know the guy.

"I said I don't know personally. You hear rumors around the league [about] guys cheating. There are guys on every team that cheat. Take it and run whichever way you want to go, but I didn't think it was a big deal."

Buehrle admitted he "cheated," perhaps leaving pine tar on his hands after batting in interleague games.

"Hitters get to use pine tar, so why can't pitchers?" he asked. "I know it's illegal, but it's a good argument."

Can Buehrle now expect some retaliation, like having teams ask umpires to check him?

"If they want, umpires can come out and check guys after every inning, I'll be more than happy to drop my drawers and they can check whatever they want to check on me," he said. "I don't care."

Naturally, Sox manager Ozzie Guillen helped fan the fire Friday by saying if his pitchers win games by cheating, "I'll help them cheat. As long as they win games, I hope they cheat."

Was Guillen serious? You never know with him. But he sure wasn't being flip.

"Everybody cheats," he said. "If you don't get caught, you're a smart player or pitcher. If you get caught, you're cheating. It has been part of the game for a long time. …

"If you're doing whatever you're not supposed to do and you don't get caught, keep doing it."

Tribune staff reporter Paul Sullivan contributed.

[marinershockey]

I think the Black Sox are in no position to take the moral high ground in any cheating issue

[moregooder8]

Originally Posted by marinershockey

I think the Black Sox are in no position to take the moral high ground in any cheating issue

That was in 1919...it's like saying you won't travel by air because of the Hindenburg disaster.

[marinershockey]

Originally Posted by moregooder8

That was in 1919...it's like saying you won't travel by air because of the Hindenburg disaster.

i'm still afraid of blimps...

[mason54]

How long before the Tribe catch the Twins and Sox?

[hab_m_b]

This win streak is the result of the Tribe firing their hitting coach, and it'll stop soon. The Tribe has been beating up on the NL West (10-0). They probably won't catch anyone because they're playing the Red Sox for two series and then the Orioles whereas the Twins play Detriot, Milwaukee, and the Red-Hot Royals under Bell and the White Sox will beat anyone they'll play ( Royals , Scrubs, Tigers) . I like the Tribe, especially their pitching, but I think their offense will cool back down to what it was before, and if that happens, Westbrook will continue to lose games. The bottom line is this: it doesn't matter how much the White Sox or any team lead by because we have more than half the season to go and every team basically plays in their division in the last month of September. Having said that, I would like to remind the Indians fan that their team is 13-19 in the division, whereas the Twins are 16-12 and the "BLACK SOX" are 20-5.

Anyways, Ozzie gets the provilege of saying whatever the hell he wants because his team is winning right now. Hell, even Carl Everett got into the act by saying the Cubs should implode their big URINAL, gays are wrong, and that Congress should focus more on the war than on steroids.

[bbrownso]

Originally Posted by hab_m_b

This win streak is the result of the Tribe firing their hitting coach, and it'll stop soon. The Tribe has been beating up on the NL West (10-0). They probably won't catch anyone because they're playing the Red Sox for two series and then the Orioles whereas the Twins play Detriot, Milwaukee, and the Red-Hot Royals under Bell and the White Sox will beat anyone they'll play ( Royals , Scrubs, Tigers) . I like the Tribe, especially their pitching, but I think their offense will cool back down to what it was before, and if that happens, Westbrook will continue to lose games. The bottom line is this: it doesn't matter how much the White Sox or any team lead by because we have more than half the season to go and every team basically plays in their division in the last month of September. Having said that, I would like to remind the Indians fan that their team is 13-19 in the division, whereas the Twins are 16-12 and the "BLACK SOX" are 20-5.

Anyways, Ozzie gets the provilege of saying whatever the hell he wants because his team is winning right now. Hell, even Carl Everett got into the act by saying the Cubs should implode their big URINAL, gays are wrong, and that Congress should focus more on the war than on steroids.

Just because he's winning doesn't mean that he can say whatever he wants. Just because he is winning now doesn't mean that he will win the division. They haven't for the past few years.

[marinershockey]

Originally Posted by bbrownso

Just because he's winning doesn't mean that he can say whatever he wants. Just because he is winning now doesn't mean that he will win the division. They haven't for the past few years.

Exactly...the Sox have been in first place before the allstar break before.... This isn't anything new or exciting.... The Sox will implode as usual...and the Twins will take the Division

[hab_m_b]

As long as the Sox pitching holds up, which it will even if Contreras or El Duque gets injured (Brandon McCarthy would be called up), they'll end up winning the division, but they will have to win it in their division. And how many White Sox teams have been 23 games over 500 in the past. If they play .500 ball for the rest of the season, they'll 93-69 record. This team hasn't faltered as much as other Sox teams against teams they are supposed to beat and teams with a better record against .500.

The starting rotation:

Mark Buerhle
8-1 2.67 era 108 innings pitched 97 hits 16 bb 67 k's

Freddy Garcia (the silent assasin because everyone forgets he's on the team)
6-3 3.75 era 96 innings pitched 88 hits 27 walks 61 k's

Jose Contreras (who only had one bad start all season and kept teh Sox in most of the games he's pitched in)
3-3 3.81 era 78.1 innings pitched 62 hits 32 walks 61 k's

Orlando Hernandez
7-2 4.88 era 62.2 innings pitched 73 hits 29 walks 42 k's

Jon Garland
11-2 3.61 era 92.1 innings pitched 88 hits 17 walks 46 k's

[mason54]

Originally Posted by hab_m_b

This win streak is the result of the Tribe firing their hitting coach, and it'll stop soon. The Tribe has been beating up on the NL West (10-0). They probably won't catch anyone because they're playing the Red Sox for two series and then the Orioles whereas the Twins play Detriot, Milwaukee, and the Red-Hot Royals under Bell and the White Sox will beat anyone they'll play ( Royals , Scrubs, Tigers) . I like the Tribe, especially their pitching, but I think their offense will cool back down to what it was before, and if that happens, Westbrook will continue to lose games. The bottom line is this: it doesn't matter how much the White Sox or any team lead by because we have more than half the season to go and every team basically plays in their division in the last month of September. Having said that, I would like to remind the Indians fan that their team is 13-19 in the division, whereas the Twins are 16-12 and the "BLACK SOX" are 20-5.

Anyways, Ozzie gets the provilege of saying whatever the hell he wants because his team is winning right now. Hell, even Carl Everett got into the act by saying the Cubs should implode their big URINAL, gays are wrong, and that Congress should focus more on the war than on steroids.

You forget to mention the Indians team ERA is 2.41 since June 5th, and they have the 2nd best bullpen in the AL.




9 in a row!!!!

[sabrescup05]

Who the hell is Brandon McCarthy?

[LivinginNegadelphia]

Originally Posted by hab_m_b

As long as the Sox pitching holds up, which it will even if Contreras or El Duque gets injured (Brandon McCarthy would be called up), they'll end up winning the division, but they will have to win it in their division. And how many White Sox teams have been 23 games over 500 in the past. If they play .500 ball for the rest of the season, they'll 93-69 record. This team hasn't faltered as much as other Sox teams against teams they are supposed to beat and teams with a better record against .500.

The starting rotation:

Mark Buerhle
8-1 2.67 era 108 innings pitched 97 hits 16 bb 67 k's

Freddy Garcia (the silent assasin because everyone forgets he's on the team)
6-3 3.75 era 96 innings pitched 88 hits 27 walks 61 k's

Jose Contreras (who only had one bad start all season and kept teh Sox in most of the games he's pitched in)
3-3 3.81 era 78.1 innings pitched 62 hits 32 walks 61 k's

Orlando Hernandez
7-2 4.88 era 62.2 innings pitched 73 hits 29 walks 42 k's

Jon Garland
11-2 3.61 era 92.1 innings pitched 88 hits 17 walks 46 k's

There is no way the Sox keep up this pace. I think Jon Garland will look like the ragdoll he usually is. Jose Contreras and Hernandez are unlikely to continue their pace. However, if the pitching does keep up its pace, then I see no reason why they can't and won't win the division.

[hab_m_b]

There are 4 teams over .500 in the AL Central, and the White Sox have a 9 game lead on the Twins. That being said, I will admit it doens't matter how big of a lead any team has in the AL Central because we have about 30 in division games in September and October. It should be fun to watch if the Sox can just play .500 ball for the rest of the year. BTW, the AL Central combined is 182-162 (20 games over)

The rest of the league is:

The AL East is 178-174 (2 games over)
The AL West is 140-138. (2 games over)
The NL East is 184-165. (19 games over)
The NL Central is 202-216. (14 games under)
The NL West is 160-191. (31 games under)

By far, the AL Central isn't the worst division in baseball. The NL west is the worst because the AL Central beat up on it (Indians were 12-0 against them). So that's my reasoning why I think it'll come down the final month for the White Sox, despite the big lead, and even though they are 22-5 in the AL Central.

[marinershockey]

Originally Posted by hab_m_b

Anyways, Ozzie gets the provilege of saying whatever the hell he wants because his team is winning right now. Hell, even Carl Everett got into the act by saying the Cubs should implode their big URINAL, gays are wrong, and that Congress should focus more on the war than on steroids.

Actually..the Sox saying whatever they want shows they are a team that lacks any class...and are unaccustomed to winning.... have you ever heard a twins player taking potshots like this?... I find it hilarious that Sox fans think they are hot shit that they are leading the division... such confidence from a team who hasn't won anything meaningfull in nearly 100 years...

[hab_m_b]

back for the predicted division winning Twins. Good luck trying to catch on fire...btw Ozzie can say whatever he wants as long as the Sox win. He's a player manager, and as long as everyone in the clubhouse is happy, I'm happy. Hey, at least he's a lot more active than that idiot Jerry Manuel, who only got fired up when the Sox played the Cubs. Last year we didn't get out 49th win until July 21, whereas this time around it's June 23rd.

[Bmetz311]

Ozzie's going to say whatever he wants whether the Sox are winning or loosing. That's the way he is. I admit Ozzie's comments could get him in trouble in the future, but I'd rather have someone who says too much than someone who doesn't say what has to be said. Ozzie does lack maturity, but he's got the guys playing loose, which is working out pretty damn well (50-22).

[Bmetz311]

Originally Posted by marinershockey

Exactly...the Sox have been in first place before the allstar break before.... This isn't anything new or exciting.... The Sox will implode as usual...and the Twins will take the Division

50-22 is pretty new and exciting, as is a 10 game lead over the Twins. This is even more remarkable when you consider that the Sox played the first 2 monthes without their best power hitter Frank Thomas, who's on an abseloute tear right now (7hr's in 40 ab's so far). Now that their hitting is really comming around, they are almost impossible to beat.

[_chitownfan]

Chi Sox will win the division and the Twins will take the wild card in my opinion... the Chi Sox are very good this year and i am very excited ... 8 in a row now.