Opinion: Baseball, Managers and Ozzie Guillen

I just read this article about White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen berating Rangers closer CJ Wilson.

Having spent last season with Wally Backman's South Georgia Peanuts, I saw firsthand how much a manager means to a team. It goes far beyond strategy - although strategic decisions are very underrated these days. More importantly, players respond to managers who treat them and the game of baseball with respect. And treating the game with respect can sometimes lead to ejections, hit batters, brawls and other things that don't fit Bud Selig's utopian vision of corporate baseball - a vision that included juiced balls and juiced players, until Bud got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

I think the article is a must-read for anyone who doesn't understand why a manager would get ejected, throw bats on the field or order a brushback pitch (or even a beaning). Ozzie Guillen gets a bad rap with the Chicago and national media, but the fact is, he knows more about baseball than Jay Mariotti or Bud Selig. Enjoy:

"You can be cocky, be yourself or have your own show time," Guillen said Friday. "But when you don't respect the opposition and do what he did, that's not professional. That's the reason I was screaming to him. When you're nobody and show people up like that. … Wait till you're somebody in baseball, and then do whatever you want to do."

Wilson, 27, has a lifetime 5-14 record with a 4.59 ERA and 36 saves over four seasons.

"[Yankees closer] Mariano Rivera never showed anyone up," Guillen said. "You have your own style, but you don't show up another team. That's when I started screaming. He should read my quote about whoever pitched in that game should be embarrassed because when you bring in the closer with a [four]-run lead, and you almost blew it, and you're acting like you're [Lee] Smith or Goose Gossage. That's embarrassing when you're cocky and have [nothing]."

Please go read the whole article. You may not agree with me, but keep in mind that the best managers in the game all act the same way - Guillen, Pinella, Sciosia, Leyland, LaRussa. It's no coincidence. Managers are much more important to the integrity of the game and the fortunes of their teams than the media would have you believe.

Suggested Reading:




"The Code" does a great job of explaining the inner workings of professional baseball. I highly recommend it.