Ozzie: Wrigley is just a bar

With the Windy City Series coming to an end, Ozzie Guillen took one more jab at the Cubs. Paul Sullivan noted how attendance at U.S. Cellular was much higher compared to the previous series in which the best team in baseball, the Dodgers, were in town. Ozzie didn’t shy from the question.

So the Sox need the Cubs to help them draw fans? White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was asked why attendance was so low at the Sox-Dodgers series, and said: “Because our fans are not stupid like Cubs fans. They know we’re (expletive).”

Guillen said Cubs fans will go watch any game at Wrigley Field because “Wrigley Field is just a bar.”

At least he’s honest?

It’s hard to take issue with this because he bashes his own team as well. But there are two things that are bothersome. 1) Ozzie defended all his Wrigley hating earlier this month by saying he never made disrespectful comments about the fans, players or the franchise. He definitely crossed that line here. 2) Let’s say it’s true that there are a lot of people that go to Cubs games just for the experience/to drink heavily and don’t know much about baseball. Let’s say that number is as high as 1 in 5 people at the stadium (which it’s not). The average attendance at Wrigley last year was more than 40,000. Even if you remove all those “stupid” fans, the Cubs would still have 32,000 people at the game. That’s still more than the White Sox would normally draw.

Lou Piniella was much more eloquent when discussing what impact the Cubs traveling fans have on ballpark attendance.

“You know what? We went to Detroit, in Michigan, and we lost three ballgames. But you know what? There were 42,000 people at the ballpark everyday, and it was great for the economy. It was great for the restaurants, It was great for the people who worked at the ballpark. It was great for the people who sold products there. We lost baseball games, but it was good for the economy in general. And here- look what the City Series does over here.”

Cubs fans may be stupid, but they’re also everywhere. Even in your house, Ozzie.