Before Friday’s series opener between the Rangers and White Sox, managers Buck Showalter and Ozzie Guillen chatted, a conversation which presumably included possible repercussions from their teams’ mini-beanball war last month in Texas.
“We talked about a lot of things,” Showalter said. “I wanted to make sure he knew I thought he did a great job at the All-Star Game. I really appreciated him taking Mike [Young] and Gary [Matthews Jr.].
“I’ve said it before: If I was Ozzie, I wouldn’t be happy about [A.J. Pierzynski getting hit twice] either.”
Guillen has been vocal about the incident, which included Sean Tracey allegedly failing to retaliate, so the Rangers surely have gotten the message.
“They better,” he said. “I went to the [batting] cage and hugged everybody on the ballclub. I hugged [Mark] DeRosa, [Hank] Blalock. I told them, `Yeah, I told the guy to hit you.’ But if something happens, it’s on.”
With two outs in the ninth Friday, reliever Rick Bauer hit Scott Podesednik in the right shin.
Vicente Padilla, who hit Pierzynski, pitches Sunday.
Evening the `score’
The subject of his Texas speech given to Chicago reporters Thursday while the Sox were losing in Detroit touched a nerve with Guillen, who heard negative comments on flagship station WSCR-AM 670.
“A couple of idiots on the radio said, `How is Ozzie going to talk about the Texas Rangers when they play the Detroit Tigers?'” Guillen said. “Well, tell those stupid people on the radio . . . when somebody in the media asks me a question, I have to answer. Somebody asked me about Texas, I have to answer about Texas.
“Tell those idiots to show up here and ask me those questions the same day. They say I’m an idiot, stupid, don’t know what I’m doing. Well, if they’re here, they would listen to what [the media] ask me and they wouldn’t have to kill me on the radio the next day.”
Extra innings
The Sox have sold 2.8 million tickets this season, guaranteeing it will be the second-highest total ever. The remaining five games with Texas and Minnesota on this homestand are sellouts. . . . After struggling at Triple-A Charlotte, rehabbing reliever Dustin Hermanson threw a scoreless inning Thursday, although he allowed one walk. . . . The White Sox-Angels makeup game Aug. 7 will start at 6 p.m. and be shown on Comcast SportsNet.
