Free Republic

My favorite element of the photo accompanying this column is the Secret Service agent moving in on me like a bouncer breaking up a brawl. In classic neighborhood tradition, I did the same move with the president of the United States that I do during virtually any photo op with any man, woman, child or dog. I throw my arm around ya, like we've known each other for years. THAT'S the Chicago way. But when you've got your hand squeezing the neck of the leader of the free world, it's the Secret Service's job to make sure you're not going...

WASHINGTON -- The Chicago White Sox have received numerous honors and compliments since winning the team's first World Series championship in 88 years last fall. But as they prepare to head to Spring Training later this week, the White Sox might have had their most enjoyable moment of a very special offseason on Monday afternoon. President George W. Bush greeted the White Sox in the East Room of the White House, lavishly praising the team for its solid play throughout 2005 and spectacular work during the playoffs and World Series. "The amazing thing about this team is you went wire...

Michael Jordan did it in 1991. Some members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team threatened to do it in 1993. Bobby Jenks, Scott Podsednik, Freddy Garcia, Tadahito Iguchi and Frank Thomas will do it Monday. But the only person we're talking about is Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen is hardly the first person to decline an invitation to visit the White House. But judging from the local furor, you might think otherwise. Mayor Daley, a Sox fan, seems to think Guillen has become too big for his britches. Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf would prefer that Guillen cut...

Richard M. Daley is as wrong as a man could be in knocking Ozzie Guillen for skipping the team's scheduled trip Monday to the White House. The mayor should be ashamed of saying, "I don't care who you are. Maybe you think you're too important." What a cheap shot after everything Guillen has done for this city. I hope this isn't Daley's way of getting even for a joke Guillen recently made. On his test to become a naturalized U.S. citizen, one of the questions Ozzie had to answer was this: "Who is the mayor of Chicago?" "Me!" he said....

CHICAGO -- Getting the chance to privately tour the White House in the nation's capital and meet with President Bush would be a fairly interesting and exciting experience, in and of itself, for any average American citizen. Being recognized for their 2005 World Series title by President Bush after their tour, as announced Thursday by White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, simply adds to that particular brand of excitement. But for Aaron Rowand, the Gold Glove caliber center fielder who was traded to Philadelphia just a month after the celebration ended, Monday's trip holds an even higher level of personal...

Ozzie Guillen had a .264 lifetime batting average as a player, but on his immigration test Friday, he hit a perfect 1.000. "Ten for ten,'' the Venezuela-born manager of the White Sox said after being sworn in as a U.S. citizen. Or, maybe nine for 10. "They asked me who the mayor of Chicago was. I told them, 'Ozzie Guillen,' " he joked. Guillen, who took the oath with his wife, Ibis, and son Oney, said becoming an American was a bigger thrill than winning the World Series. "You can only become a U.S. citizen once,'' he said, while --...

First baseman Paul Konerko and the White Sox agreed to a five-year, $60 million deal on Wednesday. Konerko had other offers. He had more money out there. He could have tied himself up through 2011 if he'd really wanted to play in an East Coast city with a prominent aquarium. "But the story here," his agent, Craig Landis, told ESPN.com, "was that Paul just wanted to go back to the White Sox."

CHICAGO -- The sheer and utter perfection found by the White Sox during their championship 2005 campaign now has been extended into the offseason. General manager Ken Williams and his staff entered this particular period with two major goals in mind: Re-sign free agent first baseman Paul Konerko and add a left-handed power presence to the middle of the White Sox order. The second goal was accomplished first, with the acquisition of designated hitter Jim Thome from Philadelphia. But the offseason's most important moment played out for the White Sox on Wednesday, as Konerko and the team agreed to a...

With the World Series trophy in tow, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen flew to Venezuela on Thursday on a private jet furnished by President Hugo Chavez for a weekend tribute in his homeland that will cap a whirlwind week. Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf supplied a plane for Guillen to fly from Chicago to Ft. Lauderdale, where Chavez's jet was waiting. Venezuelan officials have arranged for the trophy to be guarded by military personnel and transported in an armored car during the visit. Guillen is expected to return early next week when his schedule might begin to ease. Guillen was so...

Chicago Jews on Chicago White Sox Growing up, my family lived so close to Wrigley Field that on game days if I wanted to know if the Cubs were winning I only had to go out on the back porch and listen to how loud the cheers sounded. Add to that a father who was a newspaperman in the days when free Cubs tickets were distributed so liberally that sometimes even the nature columnist got them. So-in the ever-present debate over heredity vs. environment-you could say that being a Cubs fan was in the air that I breathed if not...

NEW CBSNEWS PRESIDENT: WORLD SERIES OVER SUPREME COURT? Sun Oct 30 2005 20:27:16 ET At his first editorial meeting of the "CBS Evening News" since being named president of CBS News last week, Sean McManus listened to the proposed rundown for that night's program: Harriet E. Miers' troubled nomination for the Supreme Court; the possible indictments of I. Lewis Libby Jr. and Karl Rove in connection with the leaking of the name of a CIA agent, the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma and the World Series victory of the Chicago White Sox. The NEW YORK TIMES reports on Monday, "Then they...

MIAMI - Al Lopez, a Hall of Fame catcher and manager who led the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox to American League pennants in the 1950s, died Sunday at 97. Lopez had been hospitalized in Tampa since Friday, when he suffered a heart attack at his son's home, Al Lopez Jr. said. Lopez was the oldest living Hall of Fame member, said Jeff Idelson, spokesman for the Hall. Lopez hit .261 with 51 homers and 652 RBIs during a 19-year career in which he was one of baseball's most durable catchers and set the record for most games caught...

Will it be Rocket Launch or Rocket Failure? Clemens vs. Contreras

CHICAGO (AP) -- The party was in full swing. Two days after the White Sox swept Houston for their first World Series title since 1917, the team hit Chicago's streets Friday for a ticker-tape parade and rally. Double-decker buses filled with players, coaches and their families left U.S. Cellular Field as hundreds of fans cheered. And they kept cheering all the way to the Loop for a celebration and a parade. There, one after another, the players and team officials took turns thanking the fans. ``Chicago, second city no more,'' said Paul Konerko, the first baseman who brought team owner...

The conservative Chicago theoretician was the source of Ozzie Guillen's baseball philosophy.

STARTING LINE-UPS FOR GAME 4 (Chicago up 3-0)Chicago White Sox S. Podsednik lf .278 T. Iguchi 2b .200 J. Dye rf .333 P. Konerko 1b .333 A.J. Pierzynski c .273 A. Rowand cf .308 J. Crede 3b .308 J. Uribe ss .333 F. Garcia p .000 Houston Astros C. Biggio 2b .214 W. Taveras cf .308 L. Berkman lf .417 M. Ensberg 3b .143 M. Lamb 1b .125 J. Lane rf .214 B. Ausmus c .231 A. Everett ss .083 B. Backe p .000

Starting Lineup: Chicago WSox at Houston Chicago WSox   Houston Pos Player HR RBI AVG   Pos Player HR RBI AVG LF Podsednik, Scott 1 4 .286   2B Biggio, Craig 0 4 .326 2B Iguchi, Tadahito 1 4 .207   CF Taveras, Willy 0 0 .357 RF Dye, Jermaine 0 3 .241   LF Berkman, Lance 2 8 .314 1B Konerko, Paul 4 11 .273   3B Ensberg, Morgan 0 9 .256 C Pierzynski, AJ 3 6 .259   1B Lamb, Mike 2 3 .273 CF Rowand, Aaron 0 3 .250   RF Lane, Jason 2 6 .237...

Arnold Fege's office at the Public Education Network is adorned with a picture of old Comiskey Park. He drives a car into work from Virginia every day adorned with a Sox sticker and license plate. "I do whatever I can to try to identify myself as one of those South Side renegades," he says. "But it's tough. This is the first time I've received any recognition since 1959." Teams like the Cubs, Yankees and Red Sox are known to have far-reaching fan bases. Finding like-minded White Sox fans in Washington has been difficult. But with the team reaching its first...