by Neil Hayes, The Chicago Sun-Times , Chicago Sun Times

Sports Illustrated asked 380 major-league players this question: Which manager do you least want to play for? Their answers were a slap to the faces of Chicago's big-league managers, with the Cubs' Lou Piniella winning -- or is that losing? -- with 26 percent of the vote and the White Sox' Ozzie Guillen second with 21 percent.

This isn't good. Remember when Piniella was working the phones and recruiting free agents in his first heady days as the Cubs' manager? Now he repels them. Guillen's youth should help him to identify with today's players. Turns out, players identify him as someone they don't want to be around.

Ozzie ranking high -- low? -- on the list isn't a shock. He's always in the middle of some kind of controversy. That kind of constant drama wears people out, especially when viewed from afar. That's the thing about Ozzie: He's someone you have to spend time around to understand because as telling as what he says is how he interacts with people. Somebody's negative opinion might change if they saw how much his players' kids adore him, for example.

Not that he cares what anybody thinks. He's loud, brutally honest, politically incorrect on occasion and always profane. He's not going to change.

''I hope I've got 25 guys who hate my [expletive] guts and give me another ring,'' he told me recently. ''What, do I want 25 guys to love my ass, eat in my house, drink together and we're in last place? I don't want that. I want 25 guys who hate my guts and win. I'm not here to make friends. I've got a great relationship with players -- unbelievable -- but they're not my friends. I never send anybody a Christmas card. Ever. But they're my family. When they wear this uniform, I'll kill for those [expletive]. When I walk in that door, they are family. When I walk out the door, I don't give a [expletive] about them.''

A softer, gentler Lou

Players not wanting to play for Ozzie might become a problem for the Sox, just like it might become a problem for Piniella and the Cubs . Might it have played a role in San Diego Padres ace Jake Peavy rejecting the trade that would have brought him to the South Side? Roy Oswalt said he didn't want to play for the Sox, either. Piniella's now-infamous ''piece of [expletive]'' assessment of Milton Bradley might make a player pause before accepting a trade to the Cubs .

Chicago is the most unique market in Baseball, and nobody wants to play here?

Piniella's name atop the list is puzzling, especially because what we've seen this season has been the softer, gentler Lou -- although Bradley might not agree. Then again, everything about Piniella is puzzling these days.

It's as though the person we see in the dugout at Wrigley Field isn't the real Piniella, but an actor hired to play a mellower version. Or maybe Sweet Lou's sweet-tempered, somewhat-addled twin brother.

Regardless of whether he still has the same inferno in his belly or should retire, he didn't know what he was getting into when he came to Chicago. No clue.

Remember the news conference in October 2006 when he referred to Chicago's famed shopping district as the ''Michigan Mile'' and thought the Sox were the North Siders? He didn't do his homework, plain and simple. He thought this was like jobs he had in Cincinnati or Seattle. He failed to acknowledge the significance of the fishbowl that is Wrigley Field. He didn't know the smell of angst and the sound of hand-wringing goes with the ivy-covered walls and red marquee.

What Piniella failed to understand was how pressure that has been building for 101 years can make players explode and teams implode.

''We'll dispel those curses here in short order,'' he boasted then.

Two years later, those curses seem more formidable than ever.

Popular with the fans

They speak their minds. That's the biggest reason players don't want to play for Ozzie and Lou. Ask Bradley. Piniella's assessment of his struggling outfielder during their recent clubhouse confrontation was so blunt that it was a player with a history of anger-management issues who provided the voice of reason.

The truth is not what today's players want to hear. In some cases, they want to be coddled and sheltered. Ozzie and Lou don't do that; they won't do it. It might not make them popular with players, but it makes them popular among fans, although Piniella's popularity has slumped in proportion to the Cubs' team batting average.

''A lot of people say, 'You throw your players under the bus,''' Guillen said. ''No, I don't throw my players under the bus. I tell them what they need to hear.''

Players might not want to play for them, but they keep Chicago Baseball interesting, that's for sure.

Everybody has an opinion about Ozzie and Lou, but nobody can claim they aren't entertaining.

Comment at suntimes.com.

SI PLAYER POLL

Among the questions in Sports Illustrated's poll of 380 major-league players: Which manager do you least want to play for?*

Lou Piniella, Cubs 26 percent

Ozzie Guillen, White Sox 21 percent

Tony La Russa, Cardinals 10 percent

Joe Torre, Dodgers 4 percent

Eric Wedge, Indians 4 percent

* Not all players responded to question

NOTE: Torre also made the list of five managers the respondents most would like to play for: Bobby Cox of the Braves, Torre, Mike Scioscia of the Angels, Joe Maddon of the Rays and Terry Francona of the Red Sox.

Managers' numbers

A look at the accomplishments of the five least popular managers in the poll: Win Division Pennants WS pct. titles titles

Lou Piniella .521 6 1 1

<Tony La Russa .534 11 5 2

Joe Torre .540 13 6 4

Eric Wedge .502 1 0 0

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