What Guillen's Remarks Were Really About
2006-06-25
Posted by: badanov
After speaking with friends at music trivia we decided to delve further into the context of remarks White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen made in the presense of several baseball writers.
The underlying issue to all this was a charge by several baseball writers that Guillen tried to get a rookie pitcher to hit a Texas' Hank Blaylock, coming after ChiSox catcher, A.J. Pierzynski was hit by pitches twice...
...next thing you knew, Tracey, the rookie, was in the game with instructions to drill Texas' Hank Blalock. He didn't do it. And then we saw Guillen screaming, apparently at Tracey, in the dugout. Tracey apparently broke into tears and was sent to the minors the next day.
Guillen was still talking about it Tuesday, getting defensive about a column written by Ron Cook in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Cook wrote that Guillen, "has become the biggest creep in baseball -- at least on the days Barry Bonds takes off.''
But Guillen said the whole thing has been misinterpreted. Maybe he was screaming at the whole team and not just Tracey.
"This kid was not sent down because that happened,'' Guillen said. "He went down because we made a trade [for Boston Red Sox reliever David Riske].''
Mariotti wrote about the incident, too, saying that Guillen shouldn't be asking a kid pitcher to be "a goon-on-demand.'' He also said he wondered if Guillen has lost his mind.
What isn't clear is how the charge came about. We don't believe Sun-Times writer Greg Couch in his contention that Tracey was specifically instructed to hit a batter by Guillen. So, we are left wondering if the observation wasn't spurious. Guillen, we can extrapolate, has denied the charge but was defensive about it when he read about the remarks.
What we were told was that Guillen was a creep for talking about it, we were left in the dark whether he admitted the charge.
This looks like a mini-rush to judgement with regard to the brushback pitches, but it also appears the over the top reaction to his candid remarks were, well, over the top, as well.
We can see how, Chicago baseball writer Jay Mariotti's sexual preferences notwithstanding, Guillen may have been inspired to say what he did: Mariotti had well worn out his welcome with Chicago White Sox fans and employees with his condescending, preening columns. WHat we have read seems to indicate Mariotti is persona non grata in the Chicago clubhouse because of his columns.
Do pitchers conceive to hit opposing batters? Probably and likely in retribution for previous incidents. Are they right to do it? Of course not but it does happen and it doesn't become an issue even after the benches clear.
And one thing you don't do regardless is talk about it, especially when the myopic media wants to.
If you have something to add, Fire Away!
Number of Comments so far: 0
Click here
for a list of stories in the Pro Sports category