The Cell: Not-so-sweet-home Chicago
Yes, Ozzie Guillen has a knack for opening his mouth and instantly getting himself in trouble.
As everyone has heard by now, over and over, Guillen was hit with a five-game suspension less than a week into his new job with the Miami Marlins for making complimentary comments about Fidel Castro.
It was yet another in a series of verbal gaffes for Guillen, but he gets it right every now and then.
Take last season for example.
As the White Sox were fading toward the finish line, their surprisingly poor play at U.S. Cellular Field came up.
“Maybe we should just stay at a hotel when we get back to Chicago,” Guillen said near the end of his run as Sox manager. “We didn't play good baseball at home all year. I wish I had an answer. When you don't win home games, it's going to be tough.”
As the White Sox prepare for this afternoon's home opener against the Tigers, they have already taken a step toward erasing bad memories of 2011.
The Sox make their home debut after going 3-2 on a road trip to Texas and Cleveland.
Winning away from home, and winning games against AL Central opponents like the Indians, are musts if the White Sox hope to turn it around under new manager Robin Ventura.
Winning games at the Cell is even more important.
The Sox were 36-45 at home last season, just their second losing record on the South Side in 21 years. In the American League, only the Twins (33-48) were worse at home.
So, what happened?
“I don't see a real reason why we don't play well (at home),” Brent Lillibridge said late last season. “It's been one of those years where you feel more comfortable on the road, for whatever reason.”
There was a lot of head scratching in the clubhouse when home performance came up.
You can start with the numbers when looking for an explanation, but they do not add up.
As a team, the White Sox batted .252 and had a 4.10 ERA at the Cell. As a team, the Sox batted .252 and had a 4.10 ERA on the road.
Those are what you'd call even splits.
Baffling.
White Sox pitchers have been good at keeping the ball down in their hitter-friendly ballpark in seasons past, but they gave up 80 home runs in 2011 compared to 67 on the road.
Sox hitters hit 86 home runs at the Cell and just 68 on the road, so that should have balanced out the pitching.
It didn't.
Looking for the real reason why the White Sox played so poorly at home last year?
Look in the mirror, Sox fans.
Yes, you are vocal and supportive when things are going well. But when they are not, like last season, you are vocal and mean to the boys in the home uniforms.
Before making their way home from Cleveland Wednesday, reporters asked Sox players about the rough treatment at the Cell.
“Fans certainly can do whatever they want,” relief pitcher Matt Thornton told mlb.com. “But there were times last year where he would take a strike and they would start booing in an at-bat. He would take strike 1 and they would start booing.”
Thornton was specifically talking about teammate Adam Dunn, who was even worse at home (.149, 8 home runs, 97 strikeouts) than he was on the road (.169, 3 HR, 80 strikeouts).
Thornton could have substituted Alex Rios, Gordon Beckham or Brent Morel, who also heard boos all year, for Dunn.
White Sox fans pay good money to go to games and are free to do as they please, as Thornton pointed out.
This year, it's up to Dunn and Co. to give them something to cheer about. If that happens, the Sox should revert to their winning ways at home.
sgregor@dailyherald.com