The White Sox have signed two former Cubs, free agents Brooks Kieschnick and Damon Buford, to minor-league contracts.
Kieschnick, formerly a outfielder, will be tried as a pitcher. The 6-foot-4-inch, 230-pound Kieschnick, who starred as a pitcher in college at Texas, has been pitching in an independent league this year to refine his skills.
Outfielder Anthony Sanders also was acquired from Triple-A Louisville in the Cincinnati organization in return for future considerations. The Sox also transferred the option of their 1997 No. 1 draft pick, infielder Jason Dellaero, from Charlotte to Double-A Birmingham, where he will try his hand as a pitcher and shortstop.
Kieschnick, 29, was the Cubs’ first-round selection (10th overall) of the 1993 draft and has had 173 major-league at-bats with the Cubs, Cincinnati and Colorado.
Buford, 31, has spent nine seasons in the majors with five teams, most recently the Cubs in 2000-01.
Time to rest: Sox right fielder Magglio Ordonez sat out Thursday night’s game because of a stiff back.
“He gets it loose, and the longer he plays or stands or whatever, it tends to tighten up on him a little bit,” manager Jerry Manuel said. “I talked with him a little [Wednesday] along with [trainer] Herm Schneider and he just feels that he needs a day to kind of get it worked on and he will be fine. Hopefully he will be ready to go [Friday] and the rest of the season.”
The Sox had received encouraging news Wednesday when Ordonez returned to the lineup after tests showed he did not have appendicitis or kidney stones. Ordonez, who leads the team with a .342 batting average and nine homers, left Tuesday’s game in the fifth inning with abdominal pain.
“He complains a little bit about swinging, but I told him [Wednesday night], `You’re just swinging at balls over your head. Something is going to start hurting as hard as you swing.”‘ Manuel said. “You know that Magglio is a guy who comes to play every day and comes to play hard every day. I don’t know if he is at that level where he can play in pain and still be effective. The best thing to do is give him the time off.”
Labor pains: The public discussions of setting a strike date–possibly in August–during stalled labor talks has been unsettling to White Sox players.
“As players we don’t even talk about that,” catcher Sandy Alomar said. “We think we’re going to play all throughout the year. It hasn’t even come to our minds that we are going to strike. This season is going to be played. The issue is next year. Fans suffer [with a work stoppage]; the players suffer.”
Sox reliever Keith Foulke says he is disenchanted with both sides. There have been nine work stoppages since 1972.
“There is nothing really we can do about it,” Foulke said. “That’s why we have union representatives and the owners have their people. Personally, I am a little disappointed they haven’t got something done. I hope they can get something done before the start of next year. We had our labor meetings in the spring and our union told us some things that make you wonder what the owners really want to do. I guess we just have to be hopeful we can get this stuff worked out.”
The last work stoppage in baseball was 1994 when the Sox were leading their division. The 232-day strike wiped out the World Series for the first time in 90 years.
“The fans started to come back in a lot of ballparks, but we can’t interfere with the game. The game is bigger than the players,” Foulke said. “We have to respect that–players and owners. We just have to work this out and never miss a beat.”
