White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen may be a great in-game manager, but away from the field, he is nothing but a distraction. Ozzie recently went off on his team saying changes need to be made, prompting a response from his General Manager: ''Very interesting, very disappointing,'' Williams said. ''It's never a good idea to throw your boss under the bus, especially when that boss has had his back as much as I have. I guess that lineup will be real interesting to see on Tuesday." It is obvious that Guillen is on the outs with players and management. He called for changes on Tuesday, saying that he could be fired, or that his hitting coach could be fired: ''It can be me. It can be [hitting coach] Greg Walker. It can be the players. It could be anybody. I'm sick and tired to watch this thing for a year and a half. I'm not protecting anybody anymore."The White Sox are currently in first place by one game, when last year they were 7.5 games out of first, so I don't really see where he is coming from. The White Sox are on a three game losing streak and if it continues, I wouldn't be surprised to see him let go. Bench coach Joey Cora has some experience managing and is familiar with the White Sox, so letting Guillen go and naming Cora the manager should make for an easy transition. The White Sox have a great thing going with their veterans working hard and their young players coming through -- it is just too bad their big mouth manager has to cause such a disturbance in the clubhouse.
18 comments:
why would they fire a first place manager?
I dont mean to bash, i see where you are comign from.
but a first place manager doesnt make sense.
Ozzie has every right to be angry at this team as well as the fans. When you get 4 quality starts from your starters and only 1 win game it means either your bullpen is bad or you can't hit. The Sox bullpen this year has been great, so that leaves the hitting. A runner on 3rd 1 out,the Sox can't even score one runs, and its not something new this has been going on since the 2nd half of 06. It has nothing to do with Ozzie, its the players fault and their lack of offense. All Ozzie can do is set the lineups and change pitchers, he can't make these guys hit.
He's an embarassment. The Pale Hose are in first place despite their manager.
are you kidding me. Ozzie has every reason to be pissed. We have had this sorry excuse for an offense for the past two seasons. So how are you going to say that our veterans are producing. You obviously dont watch the white sox on a daily basis
I'd personally love to see him become the Giants next manager.
Ozzie is just being Ozzie! How long should he go before blowing up at these guys? The Sox should be 5 or 6 games up on the division, but they are only 1 up. Ozzie knows that if Cleveland lands a big bat and closer in July they are right back in it. It has everything to do with the poor offense. Pitching has been great all year. Without Quentin they have absolutely nothing going offensively. Time for the big guys to earn their keep. Never should have allowed Konerko to become a 5/10 guy. Great guy, but when he is down he is way down and it happens way too often. They also need a true lead off hitter to make things happen. That allows everyone else to fall back into their place. Cabrera #2 and AJ down in the order. Kenny needs to go get one because they could take this division and with their pitching they could sneek up on Boston in a playoff series!
It's the Dusty Baker syndrome - "I could win if only I had better horses..." Well, you got what you got, Ozzie. Good managers don't cry for better players, they get the best out of the players they have. Check out Tony LaRussa's Cardinals this year - kicking butt with a lineup everyone said was sub-500. What about the (Wow!) Rays? The Marlins? Last year's Rockies? Quit boo-hooing, Ozzie, and get the job done!
Let's see . . . poor hitting with RISP, not being able to bring in runners that reach scoring position with no outs. Sure, what's there to be mad about? As a Sox fan, I'm glad our manager is complaining. Eli, what veterans do you see working hard? They're terrible and deserve to be criticized. The Sox should be 6 games up by now, but Thome and PK can't hit for jack right now. Nothing Ozzie said was incorrect and he doesn't need to be nice when he says it. He's as pissed off as the fans are. I'm glad.
You obviously arent following this team closely. He's not on the outs with the players at all...they love playing for him. Kenny Williams response basically said the same thing Ozzie did...only in his more eloquent Stanford-like manner. More is expected of these guys and it's been going on too long.
I agree with the bulk of the comments and agree that you must not watch much White Sox baseball because any Sox fan that has watched this team for the last 2 years has seen enough of this slow station to station baseball. They have slow footed sluggers who either hit solo homeruns, strikeout or hit into a double play. I agree that they need a true leadoff man and I would love to see them dump Thome and\or Konerko. I agree that Konerko is a good guy and a good hitter but he is just way to streaky and slow. I think its great that Ozzie finally said what every Sox fan has been saying for a long time.
Ozzie Guillen is an embarassment to Chicago. In fact the whole White Sox organization is an embarrasment. Kick Guillen and the entire frnchise out of the city.
You should not be paid what some of those guys make and not produce. If you don't do your job how long do you last. Ozzie needs to stay on them. They mope around like they don't care I'll still get my money no matter what. Just what I think
Does any other manager open his mouth as much as this idiot does. Enough is enough, let Baines or Cora take over for the rest of the year and fill it next year. They are winning spite him not because of him.
The only one talkin is Konerko, who is batting .205 for the year and is still the team captain?
I'm glad to see there are other who feel as I do. By that I mean they know you have no idea what you are talking about. Ozzie is a distraction? Sure he is. Since you get your info 3rd hand (at least), you don't see that Ozzie blows up in order to take the heat off the players. The team goes on a losing streak and he goes on a rant. Some of the columnists (who don't bother going into the clubhouse) start writing that he is in trouble, that he lost the team. The fact is, he gets the crap from all sides and the players just go out and play, and usually play better.
As far as his being a distraction, here's how Jim Thome, one of your hard working veterans, see's it:
''As far as what Ozzie does, Ozzie cares. It's his team. Maybe he did it to motivate us. We have to get it done.
Oh, yeah, he sounds distracted, doesn't he?
Ozzie constantly criticizes his players in the media - absolutely the WRONG way for any leader to treat his team. That's Management 101. He gets crap because he continues to flap his jaws to the media when he'd be much better off dealing with his team like a man - face to face, behind closed doors.
This is what Ozzie does. He sees the pressure building and he goes on a rant, which immediately gets the media and pressure pointed at him and lets his team relax and do their thing. Look what the team has done since the rant.
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