Phil Garner might manage in the NL now, but he is no stranger to the White Sox.

In fact, the Astros' manager might have had his most intense rivalry with the Chicago South Siders back in the days when he managed the Brewers.

Garner set the tone for the intensity of the Brewers-White Sox rivalry when he managed the Milwaukee club, then in the AL.

The intensity hit it high - or low mark, depending on your perspective - when Garner and then White Sox manager Terry Bevington tangled in a bad imitation of WWF wrestling on July 22, 1995.

Garner kept the rivalry up even after the wrestling match. For example, when he learned that the Sox had increased their payroll by $19 million a year after his fight with Bevington, he said:

"As a matter of fact, I like him less now than I ever did. That SOB (got) $19 million, so that's how afraid of us they are. That's what I counted. Actually, I may be a little short on that ... They're that scared of us."

The White Sox's "big city" attitude is what irritated the guy called "Scrap Iron."

"We're not an event to them," he said. "See, that's the other reason I don't like them. (Owner) Jerry Reinsdorf sits in his ivory tower down there ... they look down on us. That's the bottom line. I don't like that.

"That's the main reason right there, that's the bottom line. And we haven't done anything to command their respect ... But when we start whipping them, then, by George, it'll be a different tune."

Reinsdorf and then Brewers owner Bud Selig are friends, but Selig didn't mind the rivalry.

"(Garner) doesn't like 'em, I know," Selig said. "They can fight all their battles on the field. Hopefully, they're not physical battles, just baseball battles. But there is a rivalry there. I think it's good. Baseball needs more of that. That's fine."

Garner freely admits he did whatever he could to stoke the Brewers-Sox rivalry, from challenging the then TV tandem of Hawk Harrelson and Tom Paciorek to a fight to going after Bevington that wild night in Chicago.

"There was something going on between me and Bevington, which is kind of funny looking back because I don't even really know the guy," said Garner.

Houston coach Doug Mansolino also became part of the Brewers-Sox rivaly, while a coach for the Sox. A bit of a Garner look-alike, he too got into verbal spats with Garner and the Brewers.

Garner later admitted he kept fueling the rivalry on purpose. "It's like when a husband and wife argue all the time and they like it better when they're arguing than getting along," Garner said. "I kind of kept it alive because it was fun for us."

Houston coach Cecil Cooper also had many years of competing against the White Sox when he played for the Brewers.

Many things have changed since those battles between the Brewers and White Sox. Garner's tenure with the Brewers ended, and he even managed and was fired in Detroit before getting the Houston job. Bevington has been long gone. Ozzie Guillen, who played for the Sox back in the rivalry days, is now the team's manager.

In fact, the bench-clearing brawl that featured the Garner and Bevington clash in 1995 started when Guillen shoved Jeff Cirillo.

Despite that fact, it's unlikely you will see Gar and Ozzie wrestling during the Series, but both are still intense competitors who set the tone for their teams. So, you can expect a spirited, competitive World Series.

- This story also appears on Gregg Hoffmann's Midwest Diamond Report. MDR covers the Brewers, Cubs, White Sox and Twins and other aspects of Midwest baseball and its history.