Andrew at Defensive Indifference lists the 10 sports figures he blogged about most in 2007, as requested by the incomparable Jamie Mottram. As I did last year, I’m again participating in this project (thanks, Jamie!). Following Andrew’s lead, here is my list, in alphabetical order:

Barry Bonds. His stories pretty much write themselves.
Miguel Cabrera. Anyone who gets scolded by Ozzie Guillen for being too fat is okay in my book.
Fausto Carmona. One of the biggest surprises of 2007.
Daisuke Matsuzaka. Not as good as the hype, but still pretty good.
Gil Meche. Irresponsible spending almost got the Royals out of last place.
Jake Peavy. …read more

With the season winding down, I thought it might be fun to look back at some of the bigger surprises this year. In no particular order, here are nine things that have blown my mind:

When in doubt, turn on your players. That seems to be the modus operandi of Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who had a few choice words after a loss at Texas. Speaking of his team’s offense, Guillen indulged in a particularly ridiculous form of hyperbole:
Well, they’re killing me. They’re killing my family. They’re killing my coaching staff, killing the White Sox fans. They kill the owner. They kill everyone. I hope they feel the same way we feel.
Dude, I realize your team is looking up at the Royals, but get a grip. Is this baseball or genocide? Geez, I’m …read more

Ozzie Guillen manages the Chicago White Sox. Miguel Cabrera plays (very well, I might add) for the Florida Marlins. Both hail from Venezuela.
Now Guillen is telling Cabrera to lose weight. Quoth the Chicago skipper:
When you’re getting older and you go down, they say you’re fat. Right now it’s, “Oh, he’s a little chubby. He likes to eat.” When you’re not hitting .340 with 40 home runs, they’re going to call you a fat boy from Venezuela. You’d better lose some weight.
This is sort of touching, but it’s also sort of weird. Like, it’s nice to see Guillen concerned about his …read more