White Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen watched his club collect a solitary base hit during Saturday afternoon’s 10-0 drubbing at the Nu Stadium, a scenario that the unflinchingly self-critical manager declaring afterwards, “I™m the one who will take the blame, 100 percent, there™s no doubt.” Which is a hell of a way to let Jose Contreras (3.1 IP, 9 hits, 6 earned runs) off the hook. From the Chicago Tribune’s Mark Gonzalez :
œI™m embarrassed,” Guillen said. “And everybody in that room should be embarrassed. If they™re not embarrassed, they got the wrong job or they™re stealing money from baseball. I feel like I™m stealing the money from (chairman) Jerry (Reinsdorf). And that™s a shame. When you got more errors than hits, you better look yourself in the mirror and start second-guessing yourself. But I™m second-guessing myself right now, making the wrong lineup every day. I second-guess myself bringing in the wrong guys to pitch. Second-guess myself like we work so hard to put this team together, all the way from spring training and when I look on the field … ”
Guillen was just warming up.
“I was looking at the Little League game this morning, and they were playing better than we did. It was more fun. It gets to the point where you are a veteran player and I have a lot of respect for them, and you appreciate what they do for you in the past, but this is not major league baseball, sorry.
I™m not a loser or a negative guy, but I™m really realistic. That™s my problem in the past when I™m so realistic and people get mad at me and they don™t like the way I do stuff or the way I talk. Well, if you don™t want me to talk that way, (bleeping) play better.
œAnd I™m getting paid a lot of money to manage this club and I truly believe this “ I™m stealing money from Jerry Reinsdorf right now. I come here, make the lineup, go to sleep and watch (bleeping) Little League games.
In all fairness, nobody twisted his arm to start the shattered hulk of Jose Contreras in a must-win game. Should he not jump on the grenade for that alone? He should have kept going and copped to not stressing defense – or any activity at all – during BP all season allowing the Sox to lead the league in errors and unearned runs, to putting Uncle Joe from Petticoat Junction in the 3B coaching box, to bungling the Rios acquisition and shutting down Dye in the process. He’s about as culpable as just most on the team for this .500esque season – Kenny included. I’d let Konerko, AJ, Thome, Kotsay, Beckham and Buehrle off the hook and take everyone else to the woodshed. Oh, and ban Alexei’s weed dealer from the Cell.
I think the Cubs and White Sox should trade managers. That would rule.