GM shares some blame with Manuel

[The Bones]

By Teddy Greenstein

Tribune staff reporter

 

September 29, 2003, 11:58 PM CDT

 

 

White Sox general manager Ken Williams refused to sling any mud Monday after he formally announced manager Jerry Manuel's dismissal.

 

Williams didn't try to blame Manuel for the Sox's three-game collapse in Minnesota. He didn't say Manuel lacked fire or intensity. He didn't question any aspect of how Manuel handled the team.

 

It all came down to winning and losing.

 

And although Manuel posted a .515 winning percentage in six years, the sting of only one postseason appearance was too much for Williams to overlook.

 

"There are a lot of Jerry Manuel fans out there and a lot of people who are supportive of him," Williams said. "I urge you to continue to be supportive. I certainly will.

 

"But I think it's a necessary thing to do. We need to change the voice and direction of the ballclub."

 

Williams offered few clues about what he would look for in Manuel's replacement. Only this much is known:

 

Williams considers big-league managing experience a plus but not a necessity.

 

Although the Sox retained their entire coaching staff other than third-base coach Bruce Kimm, none will be considered for the job. Williams said Kimm was let go to allow the next manager to bring in one coach of his choosing.

 

Williams is likely to wait until after the World Series to announce his hire.

 

"I have a profile of things I'm looking for," he said. "But if I get into particulars, I'm not sure if the person I'm interviewing will tailor his answers based on what I've said publicly. I'd rather get the true person."

 

Williams informed Manuel of his decision Sept. 23, with the Sox on the verge of postseason elimination. He gave Manuel the choice of leaving that day or remaining with the club for the final six games.

 

"He did what I expected," Williams said. "He said he wanted to finish what he started. That's the quality of the man we're dealing with."

 

Williams said he also accepted some blame during his meeting with Manuel.

 

"I looked the man straight in his eye and told him, 'I feel like I failed you as well,'" he said. "So, yeah, I share that burden as I sit here today."

 

Manuel said his goodbyes Sunday in Kansas City and asked for privacy for the next few weeks.

 

"I don't have any regrets as to what I did," he said. "None whatsoever."

 

Williams has said repeatedly he believes the Sox had enough talent to win the AL Central and thrive in October. But Manuel indicated last week he didn't necessarily agree with that.

 

"I think a lot of times, clubs are guilty of evaluating their personnel as what it should be potentially," he said. "A lot of times that's a trap. You say, 'We should, we should, we should.' But if you study it and evaluate it and check it out seriously, you might come up with something a little different. I'll just leave that like that."

 

Williams said the downfall of the 2003 Sox was their record against last-place teams. They went a combined 17-15 against Detroit, Tampa Bay and Texas.

 

"That is a focus issue," he said.

 

But not one that should be blamed on Manuel.

 

"Jerry and the coaches did all they could," Williams said. "They were hard [on the players] when they needed to be and lightened the mood at times. But for whatever reason, it just didn't happen."

 

Williams, continuing a theme he discussed Sunday, said he wants to field a team with more "grinders."

 

Asked to elaborate, Williams replied: "It's Carl Everett, it's Carlos Lee, it's 80 percent of the Minnesota Twins team. They will tell you that they looked across the field and were somewhat in awe of the team here from Chicago. They quite simply went out and grinded their way and busted their tails and scraped and scratched their way into knocking us right out of this thing. And I have much respect for them for doing that."

 

Asked again later, Williams said the Sox had their "fair share" of grinders. He mentioned Lee, Magglio Ordonez, Tony Graffanino and Joe Crede.

 

"It may be necessary at this time to look not to the top of the talent list but maybe the top of the grinder list," Williams said. "Because that's what [the season] is, a 162-game grind."

 

Williams also said the Sox might have too many "big swingers" who struggled against pitchers with good breaking balls and changeups. And don't get Williams started on the subject of double plays. Paul Konerko led American League hitters by grounding into 28 double plays. Lee and Ordonez tied for sixth with 20.

 

As for Frank Thomas, Williams praised him for his 42 home runs and .390 on-base percentage, which ranked just outside the league's top 10. Thomas will have until five days after the World Series to inform the club whether he wants to return for $6 million. If Thomas declines, indications are the Sox will set him free rather than offer the required $8 million.

 

"The ball's in Frank's court," Williams said. "We can't react until he makes his move."

Copyright © 2003, The Chicago Tribune

[bulokis]

I agree with KW that we need to fix our flaws. Everytime the sox faces somebody who has a change up or any slow pitch, we sucked and fell flat. Everytime we see a new pitcher, its like a rebirth of Cy Young. I believe if we get players who work on the pitcher by getting more pitches then poking the baseball for a hit like a Christian Guzman, we will fair well. Heck, the guy on deck see a lot of pitches and the pitcher gets tired and we can ran him off the field quickly.

 

I listened to the press conf. earlier, KW was asked if he should have done the firing earlier, KW said "I, WE, could have done a lot". So with these words I believe he wanted to fire KW in the middle of the season but somebody stopped him.

 

We have a lot of similar hitters in Thomas, Paulie, Daubach, Valentin etc. Hopefully, this offseason will be better days than this season that just concluded. I guest we'll wait and see if we will be satisfied with the changes. Good luck KW!

[Chisoxfn]

Good Article.