A LoveFest of sorts for Sox
Kenny Williams doesn't miss much.
The White Sox general manager read multiple newspaper reports about how Friday's "town hall meeting'' at the Palmer House Hilton would be better housed in a ring surrounded by barbwire.
He read about how angry Sox fans were for last season's 72-90 showing, the franchise's worst since 1989.
Williams also read about how eager fans at SoxFest were to tee off on all of the moves he made -- and didn't make -- this winter.
"I know what I read, about how it was going to be a tenuous situation,'' Williams said after facing White Sox fans along with manager Ozzie Guillen and radio broadcasters Ed Farmer and Chris Singleton. "But I never did think that.
More Coverage Video , class="mediaItem">SoxFest begins
"Our fans, to a large degree, have shown us through their support that they have a certain amount of confidence in what we're doing. So what comes through, with all due respect to the media, I don't always buy into it.''
Instead of shredding Williams for last season's fourth-place finish or criticizing the GM for failing to land big-names players such as Torii Hunter, Miguel Cabrera and Aaron Rowand this winter, most Sox fans voiced their approval for new additions like shortstop Orlando Cabrera, outfielder Nick Swisher and veteran relief pitchers Scott Linebrink and Octavio Dotel.
"Is (White Sox chairman) Jerry (Reinsdorf) in the room?'' Williams joked at one point after being feted by a fan.
There was one early inquisitor who stood up and said: "2005 is ancient history. Last year was a stinking, rotten year. Somebody has some explaining to do.''
Williams did just that, insisting the Sox will return to contender status this season after addressing their two biggest weaknesses from 2007 -- the offense and the bullpen.
That's not to say the entire gathering was upbeat.
Williams did lose his temper on one occasion, and it was Farmer's continued focus on Hunter choosing the Los Angeles Angels over the White Sox that lit the fuse.
"I don't care about Torii Hunter,'' Williams snapped. "He's a great guy; I love him as a person. But I prefer to focus on who we have, not who we don't have.''
Like Williams and Guillen, players attending SoxFest were eager to look ahead to the upcoming season, not behind.
"I think we made some good baseball moves,'' first baseman Paul Konerko said. "Maybe not the glamorous ones that people hope for, but if you look at what went wrong last year, what we needed, I think we got those things.
"That doesn't mean other things can't go wrong this year, but I think we probably succeeded in our objective for the off-season.''
Catcher A.J. Pierzynski had a pained look on his face when asked about 2007.
"Last year was the first year I've been on a losing team,'' Pierzynski said. "It was a new experience for me, and I'm not going to lie -- it (stunk). It really (stunk).
"It was miserable every day. It was horrible coming to the field and trying to answer questions about why we couldn't get it done. No one had an answer.''
Guillen suffered more than anyone, but he is confident the new blood and holdover talent will mesh well for the White Sox.
"I'm real happy with the team we have,'' Guillen said. "I feel bad for Kenny because my winter was nice. I know Kenny's winter was not nice because he had a lot of work to do.
"As soon as last season was over, he knew, we knew, we had to get better. And once again, he put a tremendous ballclub on the field.''