AJ Blaming Walker?

Did anybody see the Daily Southtown story from yesterday reporting AJ and Walker getting into it because AJ supposedly didn't know that Manny Declarmen had a cut fastball? Ridiculous. That's like blaming faulty intelligence for Iraq. Here's some of the story, the Southtown site took it down already:

New England Sports Network (NESN) cameras caught Pierzynski and Walker getting into an argument after the White Sox catcher grounded out in the seventh inning of the South Siders' 11-1 loss to Boston.

Bench coach Joey Cora had to step in between the two.

"We've gotten into it many times before and it wasn't his fault, it was probably my fault," Pierzynski said. "He misunderstood what I said, just ... we were getting one hit at the time, two hits, it's just one of those things that happen. ...

"I'll apologize or whatever, but it wasn't a big deal. It wasn't like there were punches thrown or anybody was fighting or anything like that. Like I said, it's not the first time we got into a shouting match and I'm sure it won't be the last."

According to manager Ozzie Guillen, the incident began when Pierzynski came back to the dugout after the groundout and said he did not know pitcher Manny Delcarmen throws a cut fastball. The hitting coach is usually responsible for informing hitters of what pitches opposing hurlers throw.

"He told Walker, 'I didn't know Delcarmen throws cutters,' " said Guillen, who said he was sitting a few feet from where the incident happened. "The information, that's the (20th) time we face Delcarmen since I've been managing (Pierzynski is 0-for-3 lifetime vs. Delcarmen).

"If he doesn't know what he has, don't make an excuse. That's a bad excuse. You put the coach on the spot to listen to that. The way we hit, if you come up to the hitting coach and say that, you put someone's job on the edge. ...

"I think what A.J. did, to me, I think it was wrong. Walk had all the information and all of a sudden he ask, 'I don't know he got this pitch.' And obviously Walker said 'I prepare myself real well for this game and I expect everyone to do it.' That's why Walker got real mad."

Walker said the incident was no big deal, adding it was just "A.J. being A.J. and Walk being Walk."

The issue is especially salient this season because not only is the team struggling, but Guillen believes his coaches are being perhaps blamed unfairly.

"I wasn't happy about it," said Guillen, who added all his coaches should return next season. "But I say someone has to step up and do it. I think one of the players do something wrong, they blame it on somebody else. I think Walker, I don't want to say he overreact, he reacted the right way."