Clubhouse controversy follows Sox home

With the White Sox reeling from their sixth straight loss - not to mention dropping nine of 12 overall - the team continues to make news off the field. First came obscenity-laced rants by manager Ozzie Guillen, and now there are reports that players tried to bust their way out of a hitting slump that involved an inflatable dolls display in the locker room.

When you score only nine runs in six games and have the American League's lowest batting average at .229, the rain clouds will find you, as Ken "Hawk" Harrelson likes to say.

Now we want to hear what White Sox fans have to say about those issues, or whatever bothers you the most about this team. But before posting your comment at the end of this story, or e-mailing us your views at sportstalk@dailyherald.com, here's how writers in Toronto handled the dolls in the clubhouse story, which also was reported in Chicago newspapers today.

John Lott, National Post

TORONTO - Before Sunday's game, members of the Chicago White Sox illuminati erected a clubhouse shrine designed to revive their team's flaccid fortunes.

It consisted of two inflatable dolls, faux female of course, with an arrangement of strategically placed bats and two signs reading "You've Got To Push" and "Let's Go White Sox."

The display was gone after the Toronto Blue Jays handed the Sox their fifth consecutive loss. Toronto's pitchers came up big in the 4-3 decision and the Chicago batters came up short. …

After a game featuring an assortment of pivotal moments, the White Sox were still breathing heavily over a third-inning call that went against them.

Robert MacLeod, Globe and Mail

TORONTO - The Chicago White Sox were all dolled up and ready to go, but it was a determined Roy Halladay who left the visitors with nothing more than deflated egos.

In an unorthodox attempt to inject some mojo into their slumping offence, the White Sox erected a tawdry shrine in their clubhouse before yesterday's game. The shrine included inflatable female dolls posing with the team's bats.

The heavy-handed effort by the White Sox to pump up their self-confidence was quickly shot full of holes by Halladay…

Canadian Associated Post

TORONTO - After the blowup dolls didn't help lift the Chicago White Sox out of their slump, manager Ozzie Guillen tried a more traditional approach: he changed the batted order.

Guillen batted Orlando Cabrera leadoff for the White Sox's game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night. He also moved Carlos Quentin up to second and dropped Nick Swisher to sixth in the order.

On Sunday, the White Sox arranged all their bats in front of a pair of blowup dolls on a clubhouse couch in an attempt to shake the team out of its funk. It didn't work as Chicago lost its season-high fifth straight, scoring just nine runs in that span. The White Sox are batting 7-for-55 (.127) with runners in scoring position over the past eight games and an AL-worst .232 for the season.

Some Chicago fans questioned the appropriateness of having blowup dolls in the clubhouse, but Guillen had no problems with the gag.

"I'm not going to make the players apologize," he said. "I don't think that was a big deal. It's our house. I don't think we did anything wrong and I don't think we did anything to make people upset. We did something to have fun and stay loose. Those dolls don't work. …

Chicago Tribune

… (Ozzie) Guillen did believe the privacy of the Sox's clubhouse was invaded Sunday by Canadian publications that described the placement of two inflatable dolls on a couch over the players' bats in a light-hearted attempt to break out of a hitting slump.

"If someone thinks it's a big deal, I'm not going to apologize or make the players apologize," Guillen said. "I don't think it was a big deal. It's our house. It used to be whatever was in the clubhouse stayed in the clubhouse, and then all that changed.

"We did something to have fun and stay loose. Those toys don't work. We don't need dolls. We need hits."

Your turn

There you have it. Now it's your turn to comment.