Great Ozzie Interview on off-season Day I

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Sox Drawer: Ozzie Guillen Exclusive

 

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What did Ozzie tell Chuck about Jermaine Dye?

Monday, October 5

 

There’s a clubhouse filled with more boxes than humans.

 

There’s an outfield without any grass, just layers and layers of dirt.

 

This was the U.S. Cellular Field Ozzie Guillen entered on Monday morning, there to visit his office one final time before going home for the winter. His White Sox season over. Speculation for next season just beginning.

 

And he had a lot on his mind.

 

Fortunately, we brought along a camera and microphone.

 

Before his team took the field on Sunday, Guillen had two overwhelming thoughts.

 

One, he didn’t want a front row seat to the Tigers celebrating a Central Division title. And two, he was concerned about one of his players who wouldn’t, or should I say, couldn’t even look at him.

 

That was Jermaine Dye.

 

Over the last two months, Guillen has repeatedly said that Dye is one of his all-time favorite players. But the soon-to-be-free agent will likely not be re-signed.

 

Ozzie knows it.

So does Jermaine.

 

And considering their tight relationship over the last four years, they were both having trouble coming to grips with the painful reality that Guillen was probably managing Dye for the very last time.

 

“It was kind of hard when I was thinking about JD,” Ozzie told Comcast SportsNet. “And I don’t think JD wanted to have eye contact with me. I don’t think it was one of the hardest things I ever went through with the players, because I went through a lot, but when JD said to me before the game that this might be the last game I’m going to play for you, I don’t want to say that it was creepy, but kind of. I got a lot of feelings out there.”

 

So in your gut, has Dye played his last game with the White Sox?

 

“Yes, because our budget is going to be pretty tight. That’s the only reason. Do we want JD here? Of course. Kenny Williams loves him. Jerry (Reinsdorf) loves him. The fans...he’s one of my favorite players. The relationship between JD, his family, and myself was pretty special. And that’s why it was kind of hard for me to maybe not see him again in a White Sox uniform.”

 

Dye might be gone, but after Sunday’s season-ending defeat, Guillen was impressed by several players who are coming back.

 

Jake Peavy walked into Ozzie’s office, and even though it was completely out of his control, he apologized to Guillen for not being able to pitch when the Sox traded for him, and promised that he’ll be ready when Spring Training begins in February.

 

Paul Konerko also offered a mea culpa, telling Ozzie “sorry we let you down.”

 

Gordon Beckham thanked his manager for giving him the opportunity to play 103 games, less than a year after being drafted by the White Sox out of the University of Georgia. Guillen said he told his rookie phenom, “I didn’t give you the opportunity, you did it yourself.”

 

His players’ humility left a deep impression.

 

“That was the first time I’ve ever felt that way with the players because they expressed themselves,” Guillen said. “They expressed themselves about the way they felt about the season, and it's something I will talk to Kenny and Jerry (Reinsdorf) about what they say…and you’re always pleased by the way they were thinking.”

 

Who’s Guillen’s MVP?

 

“We can talk about Podsednik. But I think it’s (DJ) Carrasco. A lot of people say, well the MVP is the person who has the best numbers. Well, the manager’s MVP is the guy who helped him out the most. When I said in 2005 that Tadahito Iguchi was my MVP, people didn’t believe me. Carrasco was picking garbage from everybody.”

 

Guillen and Kenny Williams will speak frequently over the offseason. They had a 15-minute conversation inside the Sox lunchroom on Monday. Fans have a laundry list of players they want the Sox GM to sign for next year, as we saw by all of your comments here last week.

 

Sign Chone Figgins.

Trade for Carl Crawford.

Add Matt Holiday.

Deal Bobby Jenks.

Etc, etc, etc.

 

But when I asked Guillen if he could go to Kenny and say, “I need one thing this offseason, what is it?” he replied:

 

“Sign (Mark) Kotsay.”

 

But what about from the outside? What else do you need?

 

“I don’t have the title, but there are two things. If we sign (Scott) Podsednik, then we’re almost set. If we don’t sign Podsednik, then we’ll need speed at the top of the lineup. A lot of people think about (Chone) Figgins. Well, Figgins is going to cost a lot of money. Behind Figgins there are going to be 30 teams. And when you have 30 teams, it’s like going fishing and there are 30 boats out there to catch one fish. Well, good luck.”

 

And good luck to Jayson Nix and Brent Lillibridge, who struggled mightily at the plate this season, and will definitely have to improve if they hope to make the club next season. Guillen said he sent messages to both rookies. “They don’t play the way they have to play. They struck out too much. Offensively, they want to play a big man game when they’re little. (If they do that), they’re not going to go with me, because we need those guys to be better offensively than we had this year.”

 

Probably the biggest surprise from our 25-minute interview was Guillen’s admission that he doesn’t just answer fan emails, but that he has actually used some of your ideas in ballgames.

 

Said Ozzie, “I put Carlos Quentin third (in the lineup) one time because we were desperate about something. One fan wrote it in, and I put him in (third). I put A.J. Pierzynski batting second. Some idiot from Joilet. I said, ‘maybe this guy knows more than me.’ And we did. And we win with him!”

 

Did you thank him?

 

Ozzie answered sarcastically, “No, because I didn’t want to give him the credit.”

 

Part 1 of our conversation runs Monday on SportsNite at 6:30pm, 10pm and midnight. Part 2 is Tuesday.

[ThunderBolt]

Jake Peavy is f***ing fantastic. Just a guy who was born to compete.

[Whitewashed in '05]

That must have been hard for JD and Ozzie as its been well documented they have a pretty close relationship. It doesn't sink in to me when someone leaves until I see them in that new uniform, but this got me thinking of the great moments that JD provided. He helped ease the wound from Maggs leaving and drove in the run that ended our 88 years without a championship. Even though he had just about a bad a second half as any player can have, we still have to appreciate him for what he did. Everyone knew JD was probably gone when we acquired Rios, but that's the way it is. We've needed a CF for a long time.

 

Thanks for the memories JD!!!

[greg775]

Great article. But who replaces JD in the order? Kotsay? Give me a break.

KW is gonna have to find a big bat.

Edited October 6, 2009 by greg775

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

I love Ozzie's man-crush on Mark Kotsay. It's about time one of his bench player man-crushes fell on somebody good.

[greg775]

He may be good. He should not be a starter. Not saying you think he is a starter, but I'm worried Oz thinks he's Dye's replacement.

Edited October 6, 2009 by greg775

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

He may be good. He should not be a starter. Not saying you think he is a starter, but I'm worried Oz thinks he's Dye's replacement.

Not only did Ozzie NOT call Kotsay a starter, he also refrained from playing Kotsay as a starter when people on this board wanted Ozzie to play Kotsay as a starter. Did you read the article? Look at his MVP of the team: it's DJ Carrasco. Does that mean Ozzie is going to slot Carrasco into the rotation anytime soon? Probably not. You're overreacting, again.

[greg775]

Good. I'm glad Oz considers him a plus off the bench.

I like having him around, but he's definitely not anybody that can lead us to greatness if he plays every day.

[justBLAZE]

Great f***ing article, Jayson Nix sure did strike out too much and I really don't think should be a starting 2B for us next year.

Edited October 6, 2009 by tommy

[NorthSideSox72]

Probably the biggest surprise from our 25-minute interview was Guillen’s admission that he doesn’t just answer fan emails, but that he has actually used some of your ideas in ballgames.

 

Said Ozzie, “I put Carlos Quentin third (in the lineup) one time because we were desperate about something. One fan wrote it in, and I put him in (third). I put A.J. Pierzynski batting second. Some idiot from Joilet. I said, ‘maybe this guy knows more than me.’ And we did. And we win with him!”

 

Did you thank him?

 

Ozzie answered sarcastically, “No, because I didn’t want to give him the credit.”

 

Wow.

 

[Harry Chappas]

Mark Kotsay hits the Cyification type pitchers (i.e. Cyasaurus from Seattle and Trevor Cahill). He is a good LH platoon bat off the bench that can play four positions.

[iamshack]

Wow.

Another reason why this organization is so much fun to follow...

[BigSqwert]

Wow.

I had the same reaction.

[BigSqwert]

And thanks for posting this Mike. Good stuff.

[dasox24]

Fantastic article... Can't wait till next year! Peavy is gonna dominate.

[jphat007]

I hope some of these guys have huge bounce back years. I think that'll really dictate how we do next year. We aren't going to get anybody 'big' in the offseason methinks. We're gonna rely on pretty much everybody bouncing back and the young guys improving a little bit.

[knightni]

I guess that people who watch games and keep track of things can sometimes have as much insight as the manager.