There are plenty of people throughout baseball who dislike Ozzie Guillen. Considering he may be the most outspoken manager in the history of the game, that is understandable. For Ozzie’s thoughts on affirmative action, click here. For his take on smoking weed, click here. If you would like to hear him dime out Fox, click here. For Guillen’s thoughts on his 2011 bullpen, check this out. As you can see, the guy is willing to share his opinion on everything and anything.
While he may never hesitate to criticize others, you cannot say Guillen is afraid to hold himself accountable. The Chicago White Sox have gotten off to an extremely disappointing start this season. After stacking their lineup by adding slugger Adam Dunn and retaining both Paul Konerko and A.J. Pierzynski, Chicago is toting a 9-14 record as April approaches its end. Naturally, critics and fans turn to the coaching staff for not being able to produce with the $125 million payroll the White Sox have assembled. Ozzie turns to himself.
“If somebody has to get fired here, it has to be Ozzie Guillen,’’ Guillen told the Chicago Sun-Times on Monday. ‘‘It doesn’t have to be Greg Walker. It doesn’t have to be [pitching coach] Don Cooper. It has to be Ozzie Guillen because I’m the one who makes the lineups, I’m the one who tries to get the best from my players and I don’t know how to do that right now.’’
It’s tough to not respect a guy who is willing to literally place himself on the hot seat. Chicago loves Ozzie and he’s a players’ manager, so I doubt he is going anywhere anytime soon. I’m sure he knows that, but a coach who is willing to stick his nose out for his staff and shoulder the blame during a rough stretch is OK in my book.
