Guillen says his job easier than Piniella's
Sox manager cites high expectations on North Side, 102 years without winning a title as stressful factors
By Mark Gonzales, Tribune reporter 7:11 p.m. CDT, August 22, 2010
ct-spt-0823-white-sox-bits--20100822 KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Manager Ozzie Guillen thought managing the Cubs was stressful enough for Lou Piniella before he stepped down Sunday because of his mother's illness.
"I think it's easy to manage this side (of town) because they don't expect us to win," Guillen said. "I remember two years ago, we didn't even hit spring training and all of a sudden they're going to win the championship and they have (Kosuke) Fukudome on the front page. That's a lot of pressure."
Guillen cited the large number of day games, outdated facilities at Wrigley Field, the high expectations and the 102 years without winning a World Series as stressful factors.
"A lot of people talk about winning a championship, but it's a lot of losing years out there, a lot," Guillen said. "That's frustrating. There's no doubt it's easier to come to this side of town and work."
Pena in pinch: Tony Pena wouldn't mind getting another chance to become a starter after throwing 91 pitches in seven innings and not walking a batter Saturday in his first major league start after 285 relief appearances.
"Oh yeah, we can do that," Pena said Sunday. "I'm a long guy now, so you never know. I feel strong."
Pena came through the Diamondbacks organization as one of their top prospects and was a starter though the 2005 season at Double A before converting to a reliever.
"He saved maybe a week of baseball for the White Sox, from the standpoint of the pitching staff," Guillen said. "A week. That's a lot. I was pretty impressed."
Extra innings: Guillen said he would like an extra catcher and two pitchers when 25-man rosters can be expanded on Sept. 1. He said that decision would be left up to general manager Ken Williams and assistant GM Rick Hahn.