Ozzie's and Coop's warnings to the bullpen guys are pretty well known. One member of the bullpen, however, is walking on thinner water than the rest. Here's Coop:
"Sisco right now is the guy I'm worried about. He's the guy that's not clicking. It's just a matter of him relaxing and throwing more strikes. You know, if you throw strikes, we can use you. You don't throw strikes, we have to get someone who will."
So, how much time does he have to turn things around?
"He's got some more rope, but he's got to show us that he can go out there and officially get guys out. Make us feel a lot more comfortable that he can go out there when the score is 10-3 and close the game out without us getting anyone else up. He knows that, and he seems to put pressure on himself. You know what? Everyone gets a little anxiety, but what are you going to do with that? Are you going to crawl into a ball and let them pound you, or are you going to throw the punches? We want him throwing the punches. ... These are all big boys, and they know the reality of things. We've been around long enough to know that. If that puts too much pressure on them, then they're not the guy we want anyway. They've got to relax and go out there to show everyone what they can do."
Chicago radio listeners will get a 2-day break next week when Mike North heads to New York's WFAN to anchor Don Imus old show. Wanna hear Pappy take on Vinny from Queens? He won't be in the air in Chicago but will be at wfan.com (Tuesday and Wednesday from 6 to 10 in the morning).
And the latest Palehose 7 strip: The Extra Ten Percent.