Waubsonsie Valley graduate Michael Bowden will make his major league debut today against the White Sox at Fenway Park. In this well-reported column, Alex Speier of WEEI.com reconstructs how the Red Sox approached Bowden, sharing several insider details about Boston's front office leading up to the 2005 amateur draft.
Sox: August 2008 Archives
Ozzie Guillen has turned the pregame media briefing into a kind of performance art. And it's not just when he generates headlines for some politically incorrect blanket statement about (insert name of opposing player/group of people here).
Day after day, sitting in the White Sox dugout, he patiently answers questions, even the ones that aren't really phrased as questions. He generally seems to enjoy the exchange, and on Monday he riffed for more than 15 minutes.
Guillen said that he doesn't know how many wins the White Sox have, nor does he study the standings all that closely.
"I just check the paper (to see) what they say about me," Guillen said. "As long as we win series, that's all I care."
He's also not reluctant to talk about other teams' players, or break down the Manny Ramirez trade: "With all due respect to Mr. Bay, I'd rather pitch (to) Bay than face Manny. ... Manny might be MVP in two months. He's got a chance."
When a Boston reporter asked for his impressions of Jed Lowrie, Guillen talked about the evolution of shortstops, and how it has changed from a defensive position to an offensive one.
"Thank God I grew up in the 80s," Guillen said. If I was playing right now, I'd be at Triple-A all my life."
