Ohman thrilled about return to Chicago

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The first thing you notice when you get to reliever Will Ohman’s locker is his uniform number: 77.

“I just feel like I’m a blue-collar guy,” Ohman said Saturday. “I wear No. 77 because I’m the offensive lineman of baseball. I’m important, but I’m not well known. I just go out and do the work.”

The 33-year-old Ohman had stability in his career at one time in Chicago. Now, he’s hoping for it again.

Drafted in 1998 by the Cubs, Ohman stayed with the organization, through good times and bad, until 2007. After that, it was on to Atlanta, Los Angeles, Baltimore and Florida.

“I was talking to (Cubs GM) Jim Hendry,” Ohman said. “I told him 10 years in one place and then it turned into six teams in five years.”

Ohman weathered multiple elbow and shoulder woes while with the Cubs. He also earned a reputation for being, shall we say, talkative. He got into some hot water with the Cubs in ’07 when it came to talking about an injury, but he said he and his old club are fine now.

A veteran of 392 big-league games, Ohman figures to be a situational lefty for the Sox, but he said he’ll do whatever he’s asked to do and that he loves being back in Chicago.

“Favorite city in the country,” he said. “I love it there. A two-year deal on a contending team, that’s a no-brainer. I’m going to do whatever they ask me.

“A long time ago, a manager told me a ‘role’ is what you eat for dinner. What will happen, I assume, because of the versatility of the pen, I will be slotted as the left-handed guy for the sixth-through-eighth innings, for the big left-handed bat with runners on base. But if (Matt) Thornton or (Chris) Sale are down for a day or two, I could pick up the back end.

“I’ve learned what I do well and not to try to do more than that.”