--SS Alexei Ramirez was on the bench once again Friday, but manager Ozzie Guillen said that it wasn't just about Ramirez. The entire team was supposed to get the message. "This was for everyone," Guillen said. "It was a message to the players -- good at-bats. Give me good at-bats. When you miss a ball over your head, and trust me I was a free swinger, too -- but then the next pitch is in the ground and you're still swinging, that means you don't care, you don't have concentration or you're trying to get lucky." Guillen said he needs to see improvement, and may get that chance on Saturday, when Ramirez could return to the starting lineup again.
--2B Chris Getz is still not the prototypical leadoff hitter that manager Ozzie Guillen covets, but the manager gave the rookie a huge endorsement before the series with Texas. In other words, Getz is there to stay at the top of the lineup. "He's been great," Guillen said. "This kid takes pitches, fights every at-bat, and he's out there against every pitcher. I love what he's doing. He solved one problem we had, and let's see how he does the next 400 or 500 at-bats." --OF/INF Brent Lillibridge got the starting nod in center field Friday, but the first-year Sox player needs to start showing something. manager Ozzie Guillen has said that Brian Anderson could be back in the next week to 10 days, and it could come down to Lillibridge or Scott Podsednik on the roster, with Podsednik out-playing the youngster.
--C A.J. Pierzynski took exception to the idea that the clubhouse does not have outspoken leaders other than manager Ozzie Guillen. "Ozzie is Ozzie, and Ozzie takes care of things his way," Pierzynski said. "It's been great for this organization, great for him, great for me. I think we do have guys that say that, but you guys don't see it because we don't have guys that come out in the newspaper and say it. We have some guys that are more professional than that. Everyone knows what they have to do, and we do have guys that will say stuff and do things when things need to be done. Ozzie is just the figurehead and will say things in the newspaper when he has to. For people to say that Ozzie is the only one that has a voice and says anything, I don't think that's true at all. You guys (the media) just don't see it."
--GM Ken Williams issued a warning to his pitchers Thursday, insisting they needed to protect Sox hitters better than they have so far this season. "Pitching-wise, you got to be tough through this season," Williams said. "You can't allow other teams to pitch inside and knock your players down and not reciprocate. You can't do it. You have to establish the inside part of the plate and move hitters off the plate in order to open it up more. If you don't do that and allow the other team to do it to your hitters, then you're losing at both ends. So we got to get better at those areas. We got to fight a little bit harder. And if we don't fight a little bit harder, it doesn't matter whether we think we're the best team or not. You got to go out there and prove it."
BY THE NUMBERS: 7 -- Career grand slams hit by A.J. Pierzynski, which ties him with Jorge Posada for the most among active catchers.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "This feels good. Like I said earlier, I just wanted to come in and contribute something. And I did. I felt relatively comfortable. The battle will be not to try to press and do too much." --- OF Scott Podsednik, after going 2-for-4 and scoring the winning run in his 2009 debut with the Sox on May 1.
