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White Sox, Cubs rained out

Jun 17, 2009 - 1:18 AM By RICK GANO AP Sports Writer

CHICAGO(AP) -- With rain coming down, the prospect of a long delay had Ozzie Guillen feeling a little queasy, especially since he was in one of his least favorite spots in baseball - Wrigley Field.

Several days ago the talkative manager of the Chicago White Sox said anytime he has to visit the venerable home ball park of the Chicago Cubs, it makes him ill.

Guillen particularly dislikes the cramped visitor's clubhouse and the long, winding tunnel that leads from the dressing quarters to the dugout. He was really unhappy one year when he was forced to park at a fast food restaurant across the street. And last season he suggested there were rats in the batting cage underneath the right field bleachers.

Before Tuesday night's opener of the crosstown series was postponed about 10 minutes after it was supposed to start, Guillen was hardly backing off.

"The rats. I don't see any because I'm not looking for them. The rats are all the way down there in the outfield," Guillen said.

"I don't want to come to this place. If I have to, I have to."

While many see Wrigley, built in 1914, as charming because it sits in a neighborhood and is a throwback to older times in the game, Guillen doesn't like the amenities for the players.

"We don't have a clubhouse; we have a closet upstairs. When somebody has to use the bathroom during the game, we have to take a taxi to get up there," he said.

"If we want to hit, we have to go to the rats. Listen, I want to make this clear: I'm not talking about the people (working) in the building; I'm talking about the building. The people in this building treat me unbelievable, great. It's not fun to come here. We're spoiled in the other side."

What would make Guillen's trip a little more palatable would be beating the Cubs and getting on a run.

The Cubs have struggled, as well.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella put it simply: "Both teams could use a good series."

Both captured their divisions last season and both have struggled offensively in the first 2 1/2 months this year. And they've had key players sidelined by injuries. The Cubs' Aramis Ramirez and the White Sox's Carlos Quentin - who led their teams in RBIs a year ago - were both on the DL Tuesday night.

It's been suggested that Piniella, whose tantrums while arguing with umpires over his long career have featured dirt kicking and base throwing, needs to be more emotional to get his team rolling.

"What do I need to show fire for? I'm not a dragon," Piniella said before the game was rained out.

"Look, if I was out there arguing all the time what they'd be saying is, `Well this guy has lost his cool,"' Piniella said.

"If I have some beef out there with the umpires, I'll go out there and beef. I will stand up for our players and do what I'm supposed to do. I don't think by me going out there and kicking dirt and doing those things, it's going to get anybody fired up to play baseball."

Cubs' ace Carlos Zambrano, who was supposed to start Tuesday night in his first game at Wrigley Field since his wild outburst while arguing with an umpire eventually led to a suspension, will now pitch Thursday against the White Sox's Gavin Floyd. The Cubs' Ryan Dempster faces John Danks on Wednesday. No makeup for Tuesday night was announced.

NOTES: Sidelined the past five weeks with a dislocated left shoulder, Ramirez has been hitting off the tee with a fungo and hopes to start swinging with his regular bat in a few days. Once he does, he figures he'll need about two weeks or so before he'll be ready to begin a minor-league rehab assignment. ... The Cubs recalled infielder/outfielder Jake Fox from Triple-A Iowa and put lefty Jason Waddell on the 15-day disabled list.