When Ozzie Guillen went down across town, Luis Salazar felt the pain in the Cubs clubhouse.
”Ozzie is like my son,” said Salazar, hurrying to get dressed after Wednesday`s game so he could visit Guillen in the hospital. ”I know what he`s going through. I know how much it hurts and how bad he feels. I want him to know I am going to be with him.”
Salazar knows what Guillen is going through, because he went through it himself in 1985 when he was playing for the White Sox.
He injured his knee, underwent surgery and spent a year and a half rehabbing with Sox trainer Herm Schneider, who will oversee Guillen`s recovery.
”Herm Schneider will keep him working hard and get him back,” Salazar said.
Guillen and Salazar, natives of Venezuela, played together on the Sox in 1985, Guillen`s rookie year, and four games in 1986 while Salazar was rebuilding the knee. The next season, Salazar signed a minor-league contract with the Padres and started his comeback, but he and Guillen remained close.
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Still going strong: Left-hander Paul Assenmacher went to the mound for the ninth time in 13 games Wednedsday. That`s as many games as shortstop Shawon Dunston and more games than Salazar, Joe Girardi or Hector Villanueva.
Manager Jim Lefebvre said after Wednesday`s game he planned to rest Assenmacher a little more. ”With a guy like that, a manager has a tendency to want to go to him a lot,” said Lefebvre. ”But I noticed today he looked a little tired.”