The Truth About Ozzie’s Latest Rant

And on the tenth day, it was a drama-free clubhouse no more!

Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen responded to Bobby Jenks’ criticism of the White Sox’s front office problems Saturday. It was unfortunate because Ozzie really seemed like he wanted to take the high road here…he just couldn’t stop talking.

The first minute just had a couple quick jabs, but by the fifth, sixth and seventh minutes, the damage had been done.

“A lot of the stuff with Ozzie and the front office gets old,” Jenks told the Chicago Tribune. “It has been a problem for a long time. It was a problem before last year. It was a problem before last year. … It’s going to be nice for me to see how things are done here.”

He also said Guillen’s son, Oney, has middle child syndrome. This in response to Oney’s tweets revealing details of private conversations Jenks and Ozzie had. Speaking as a middle child, is that supposed to be an insult? We’re the best and we’re damn proud of it!

(Full transcript of Ozzie’s comments after the jump)

So this is pretty long and it’s redundant at times, but it’s worth a read if you’re into the Jenks/Ozzie feud. There are some good one-liners and it’s full of irony.

You should also read it because some very patient sportswriters, Scott Merkin of MLB.com and Doug Padilla of ESPNChicago.com took the time to transcribe this. It wasn’t easy and they deserve a lot of credit for doing so. Anywhere you read this stuff on the web, it all originated at their fingertips (via Ozzie’s mouth).

First of all he can’t make any comments about last year because he was never in the clubhouse. He spent more time at his house than he did in the clubhouse.They told me about it. I didn’t read it yet. The only thing I can say is that I feel bad for him because I think the way we treated this kid, just the White Sox and myself, or our front office people, we helped him a lot on the field and off the field. The only thing I can say is that he pitched well for me when he was with the White Sox. I hope that because of the problems we had off the field, it was not the reason he had a bad year. Everybody here had a good year. I’m very sad. I’m not even mad about it because I’m very sad about the way he thinks about us. Am I going to say anything bad about him? I’m not going to waste my time. He’s not part of my program.It’s very sad because he should look at himself in the mirror and all the things he said in the paper to realize what he said. That’s something, like I said in January, if there was one player I ever managed, I do more stuff for him than anybody else on the field and off the field. But in the meanwhile it’s better that he doesn’t say anything about Oney. He can say whatever he wants about me because I will take the high road.I don’t want the aggravation again talking about his thing. But he better be careful talking about Oney because Oney knows a lot of stuff about him. I just talked to Oney to make sure he lets that thing go. But if Oney said everything he knows about Bobby Jenks, it wouldn’t be a pretty thing. I said [to Oney] to make sure you don’t say anything because he has a family, I respect his wife, I respect his kid. I’m not even mad. I wish I was mad about it because I will rip his throat [out]. That’s sad because coming from him that surprises me. Everybody in this organization do a lot of great things for him.Did he pitch good for us? Yes, very, very good. But in the meanwhile just worry about setting up some games over there. Just worry about Boston, don’t worry about the White Sox. Too bad that all the stuff we had between me and Kenny interrupted his career because he did a lot of bad things last year. We lied for him, we protected him. I’m the first manager in the history of baseball to give a guy a week off to take care of his kids when his father-in-law was sick. It wasn’t even his wife, it even wasn’t nothing as a member. But it was out of respect I have for his family. I sent him home because he had to babysit his kids because his father-in-law was sick. I don’t think any manager is doing that. But coming from him, I expect that. I don’t think anything.He has to worry about Boston and what he has to do for them. And I bet you Tito Francona won’t put up the [expletive] we put up with here. They don’t. I have Tito’s number there to call him to call him and say make sure you tell Bobby to worry about the Boston red Sox and don’t worry about what happened here or whatever. We don’t miss him. You ask 30 guys in there. By the way, I was asking for his phone number to talk him to about it and nobody had his phone number. None of his [former] teammates had his phone number. That you can tell what happened.But me, that’s fine. He wasn’t talking about the ball club, he was talking about Ozzie and Kenny. I respect that. Thank God he wasn’t talking about the club. If Bobby was taking about the club ehhh, I would have been everywhere on ESPN because I will rip his guts. But he was talking about me. I can take that. Just be careful of what you say about Oney because Oney will say stuff he’s not supposed to be saying. That’s just a warning for him just in case somebody don’t call him. Just stay away and don’t name Oney for this because it will be pretty ugly.I don’t know. I’m the only manager who let his kid play in the dugout, swimming pool. We do. It surprised me about it. I think he might be a little bit angry about not playing here maybe.What he said, he should look himself in the mirror and know he’s very wrong. I never deny we got problems here last year but the most important player I have is Paul Konerko, JP, AJ, who else is out there, Rios, you can go ask them. We have problems? We all know that. Did that interrupt the players to perform? Nah.Bobby was tired about that? So was I and so was Kenny. But I will apologize on behalf of the White Sox to him because we interrupt. That’s one of the biggest reasons we finish second. He showed up once a week to pitch.How many games did he pitch? He had a lot of problems, but we were loyal to him by playing him. I was a very bad manager because I kept him as my closer when he couldn’t. He has to look at himself in the mirror. Too bad I still love his kids and his wife. Too bad 2011 I want a low profile and I want things to go smoothly.That happened last year and I can make a book about this kid. A book, not one page. I can make a book out of this kid. I feel bad and sad he thinks that way about us and me. I feel very sad about it. He knows I can easy kill this kid in the newspaper.He’s not going to win. I talk to you guys every day. I’m not going to waste my time. Thank you for the ring. You did a good job and believe me, you were in the big leagues because I helped you. I trust him and I like him. He was good for us.Just make sure you worry about Francona and Boston. Don’t worry about the White Sox.And please someone who knows him, please don’t talk about Oney. It’s going to be ugly. I talked to my wife about it to make sure to tell Oney to let it go. It can be bad. Me? That’s ok. Kenny is ok with it. I talked to Kenny. But Oney? Stay away from Oney. He’s not a good kid. When you go to that point with him, Oney knows a lot about a lot of things. Make sure he stays away from him.