Call them the Bright Sox

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Call them the Bright Sox

Guillen says players must have fun, pull for each other

Mike Bauman

 

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The rap on Chicago White Sox teams of recent seasons was that they were divided, too often down-in-the-mouth, and ultimately, underachievers.

This year, if an improved outlook can be infectious, the Sox are about to catch it from their rookie manager.

 

"I have nothing to lose," Ozzie Guillen says with a smile. "Tony Peña won manager of the year and he finished third."

 

Welcome to OzFest, South Side of Chicago style. You want enthusiastic? You want upbeat? Here he comes. Ozzie Guillen is happy to be here. He is on a mission to convince everyone that this is the only way to feel. Sitting in the visiting clubhouse at Scottsdale Stadium on Tuesday, he was happy to share his enthusiasm for his new job.

 

"This division, anybody can win it," he said of the AL Central. "With the talent we got here, I think it's a shame that these kids didn't win it last year. To me, the talent was good, but it's a shame because I've been a White Sox fan all my life. Most of the guys are back here and I think we have a chance. A lot of people don't think we have a chance. If all my players believe, we will win."

 

OK, Mr. Guillen. Will they believe?

 

"They believe it now, I hope," he says. "I talk to them every day about this. I think the chemistry of the team is real important. Talent makes it easy to win. But if you don't have chemistry, if you don't care about each other, if you play your way, if you're selfish and all this stuff, believe me, it's going to be tough to win. If everybody stays together and does the things they're supposed to do, pick each other up and treat each other like a real family, it's going to be easy for them to win.

 

"We are lucky enough to have this job. You know how many people want to be a baseball player, make all this kind of money and live this way? So why don't you enjoy it?

 

So why don't you want to come to the ballpark and enjoy yourself and do the best that you can do every day? That's the way I look at it. I have to be pleased with what God gave me to be. I'm doing something I always loved to do and I'm getting paid for it. That's why every time I come out to the park I bring my energy and try to keep everybody happy with what we're doing."

 

Guillen, 40, was a shortstop for 15 seasons with the White Sox. He was a popular player. It may be tougher to be popular as a White Sox manager, but he is not worried. He feels that he has been preparing for this job for much of his life. The last three seasons he was a third base coach, including 2003 with the world champion Florida Marlins.

 

So Ozzie, what's the basic difference between coaching and managing?

 

"The only difference is I have to talk to the media every day, whether I want to or not," Guillen says with a smile. "And I make out the lineup."

 

The new manager has an open mind about this experience. His mind is generally open to both knowledge and enjoyment.

 

"Every day allows you to learn something; every day baseball comes up with something that you don't know about," Guillen says. "It can be a play, it can be a rule, it can be many things. Every day you have to prepare yourself, because you will learn something. Hopefully, you can retain what you learn.

 

"To me, it's fun. I'm having more fun right now than I ever have. I don't have to do anything. I just make up the lineup card and let the players play. I pitch batting practice if I want to. I hit fungos if I want to. As a coach, you've got to do all the dirty work."

 

But some managers complain about the administrative aspects of the job. What about the paperwork?

 

"I'm not doing any paperwork," Guillen says with another smile. "I don't like it. First of all, I don't write English, so no paperwork for me."

 

There is one aspect of managing that Ozzie Guillen, the consummate people person, finds difficult. Very difficult.

 

"The hardest thing for me in Spring Training is when you've got to release somebody," Guillen says. "That's the worst thing I ever did in my life, release somebody or send somebody to the minor leagues. That's the hardest thing I've ever had around baseball. It's the worst thing I've had so far in my experience as manager."

 

The 25 people who do make the club, though, will be treated like members of the manager's family. That doesn't mean all hugs and pats on the back, but there will be a relationship.

 

"I treat them like my kids," says of the players. "I treat them the way they should be treated. I have 28 right now, but I'll have 25 kids to take care of in the summer."

 

In the AL Central, in the absence of a dominant team, the White Sox can be penciled in as contenders. They should score plenty of runs. There are questions about their pitching depth. But if some of their basic shortcomings were attitude and a lack of team unity, those problems have been addressed with the hiring of the new manager.

 

If Ozzie Guillen's personality makes a difference, the 2004 White Sox will be happier and more united. That kind of thing doesn't automatically translate into, oh, better team defense. But it can't hurt.

 

Mike Bauman is a national columnist for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.