The good ole' days
Although Ozzie Guillen has to constantly adjust on the fly to the ever-changing ways of Major League Baseball as the White Sox manager, he's still an old-school guy at heart.
Read Guillen's take on Friday's incident between Cubs manager Lou Piniella and outfielder Milton Bradley, as an example. Guillen applauded Piniella's standing up for the team as a whole and not coddling one high-paid player, and backed Piniella taking the argument into the private environs of the clubhouse.
But Guillen remembers from his days on the field how the players, not the manager or coaches, would police bad behavior from certain individuals.
"You know what's funny, because players now, they're scared to take charge because they might lose the relationship of his teammate. They might lose a friendship," Guillen said. "I remember when something was not right in the clubhouse or the dugout, players take care of that.
"Now, the manager and the coaches have got to be the guys to do it. I don't think players now in baseball, they don't have the guts to get on his teammates for something they do wrong. We're missing that.
"That's the reason Lou has to be the guy taking charge or me taking charge," Guillen said. "I remember when players don't like something about your teammate, they jump on your (rear end) and get on it. If you like it, you like it. If you don't, that's the way we're going to do stuff here.
Guillen talked about how he used to get on Frank Thomas, the greatest hitter in White Sox history, as well as pitchers such as Roberto Hernandez and Jason Bere when they played together. It never was a personal thing for the White Sox shortstop.
"All those guys were out of line," Guillen explained. "It's not because I hate them. It's just because it was my job to teach them the way they teach me. They grow up to be great professional players. They grow up to be great teammates.
"But that's what it was in the past. Now, people are just mute, blind and deaf. And that's not the way to do it."
As for Guillen's personal lessons learned, he brought up encounters with Hall-of-Famer Tom Seaver and current White Sox hitting coach Greg Walker as examples.
"I remember Tom Seaver, I did something stupid on the field and Tom Seaver grabbed me and was choking me from the dugout all the way to the training room in Yankee Stadium," Guillen said. "He saw something he didn't like, unprofessional, and he let me know right away that's the wrong way.
"Not because he choke me I hate him. I think I learn a lesson. I appreciate the way he teach me. I remember one day, I was throwing balls all over the place, I was 0-for-20, like every week, and I was bouncing a ball to first base.
"Greg Walker grabbed me and said, 'You bounce the ball once again and I will kick your (rear end),'" Guillen said. "I learned from that. I learned to be a professional. I learned to suck it up when you're not good in the field, and I think the reason I'm a leader when I was playing was because I grew up with the right people."
Peace seemed to be made on Saturday between Piniella and Bradley, which is how a highly-charged situation like this one should play out, according to Guillen--one-day disagreement and then back to normal. But he clearly approved the manner in which one of his favorite managers took care of an individual issue for the betterment of the team.
"Everybody handles the ballclub different," Guillen said. "I think Lou handled it the right way because you have 24 guys you have to respect. You're not a manager of one player. You're the manager of a team. It's all about the team.
"He did what he was supposed to do. Everybody has to respect that. He showed the team that Lou cares about his ballclub. I think that was a good thing to keep him quiet. Everything was down low the way it should be.
"It's all about respect," Guillen said. "Respect the fans. Respect the media. Respect the game. A lot of people say, 'Oh, he played hard.' No, that's his job."
Read Guillen's take on Friday's incident between Cubs manager Lou Piniella and outfielder Milton Bradley, as an example. Guillen applauded Piniella's standing up for the team as a whole and not coddling one high-paid player, and backed Piniella taking the argument into the private environs of the clubhouse.
But Guillen remembers from his days on the field how the players, not the manager or coaches, would police bad behavior from certain individuals.
"You know what's funny, because players now, they're scared to take charge because they might lose the relationship of his teammate. They might lose a friendship," Guillen said. "I remember when something was not right in the clubhouse or the dugout, players take care of that.
"Now, the manager and the coaches have got to be the guys to do it. I don't think players now in baseball, they don't have the guts to get on his teammates for something they do wrong. We're missing that.
"That's the reason Lou has to be the guy taking charge or me taking charge," Guillen said. "I remember when players don't like something about your teammate, they jump on your (rear end) and get on it. If you like it, you like it. If you don't, that's the way we're going to do stuff here.
Guillen talked about how he used to get on Frank Thomas, the greatest hitter in White Sox history, as well as pitchers such as Roberto Hernandez and Jason Bere when they played together. It never was a personal thing for the White Sox shortstop.
"All those guys were out of line," Guillen explained. "It's not because I hate them. It's just because it was my job to teach them the way they teach me. They grow up to be great professional players. They grow up to be great teammates.
"But that's what it was in the past. Now, people are just mute, blind and deaf. And that's not the way to do it."
As for Guillen's personal lessons learned, he brought up encounters with Hall-of-Famer Tom Seaver and current White Sox hitting coach Greg Walker as examples.
"I remember Tom Seaver, I did something stupid on the field and Tom Seaver grabbed me and was choking me from the dugout all the way to the training room in Yankee Stadium," Guillen said. "He saw something he didn't like, unprofessional, and he let me know right away that's the wrong way.
"Not because he choke me I hate him. I think I learn a lesson. I appreciate the way he teach me. I remember one day, I was throwing balls all over the place, I was 0-for-20, like every week, and I was bouncing a ball to first base.
"Greg Walker grabbed me and said, 'You bounce the ball once again and I will kick your (rear end),'" Guillen said. "I learned from that. I learned to be a professional. I learned to suck it up when you're not good in the field, and I think the reason I'm a leader when I was playing was because I grew up with the right people."
Peace seemed to be made on Saturday between Piniella and Bradley, which is how a highly-charged situation like this one should play out, according to Guillen--one-day disagreement and then back to normal. But he clearly approved the manner in which one of his favorite managers took care of an individual issue for the betterment of the team.
"Everybody handles the ballclub different," Guillen said. "I think Lou handled it the right way because you have 24 guys you have to respect. You're not a manager of one player. You're the manager of a team. It's all about the team.
"He did what he was supposed to do. Everybody has to respect that. He showed the team that Lou cares about his ballclub. I think that was a good thing to keep him quiet. Everything was down low the way it should be.
"It's all about respect," Guillen said. "Respect the fans. Respect the media. Respect the game. A lot of people say, 'Oh, he played hard.' No, that's his job."
I'm not a fan of Ozzie's habit of publicly hammering his team, but I'm with him on this one. I think it may be a result of players moving around so much that they don't have clubhouse leaders. If teams stay together long enough leaders(by example and vocal) develope.
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