Ozzie Guillen had some advice Thursday for Craig Grebeck, the man expected to fill his position, if not his shoes.
”Grebey`s just got to focus on playing baseball and not worry about what the press says and what the press asks about,” Guillen said. ”I know there`s a lot of doubt, like if there`s a ground ball up the middle, people are going to say, `Ozzie would catch that ball.` Ozzie can`t catch that ball right now. That`s what I want people to understand.”
Grebeck, Guillen said, shouldn`t put pressure on himself. There`s enough pressure without that. ”You`ve got to just go out and play and do the best you can every day,” Guillen said. Which he did a couple of hours later, when he worked color with John Rooney and Ed Farmer on WMAQ.
His man: One bobble doesn`t mean anything. Grebeck made one Wednesday night. He`ll make more, but so would Guillen. ”I feel confident with a ball being hit to him with two outs in the ninth inning, tying run on third,” manager Gene Lamont said. ”I feel very confident when the ball`s hit to Craig Grebeck.”
The other pudge: The Rangers, primarily because of Ivan Rodriguez (who didn`t start Thursday), had caught 13 of 19 potential base-stealers before Thursday night, best in baseball. Sox opponents have stolen 11 of 16.