White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen had a rough weekend, losing 3 out of 4 to the Toronto Blue Jays.
The frustration appears to have boiled over as Ozzie let loose via Twitter after the game on Sunday.
It would be pure speculation to say Guillen had been consuming alcohol which led to his sudden drop in inhibitions, but there were some misspelled words that were even excessive by Ozzie standards. Ozzie knows it does little good to sound off about the media, but he’s been due for quite some time after a relatively quiet 2010 season.
I don’t think these infractions warrant a penalty from MLB, but Joe Torre might owe Ozzie another phone call.
At 24-31, the White Sox are just two losses shy of their low point last year, where they were 24-33 before going on the 25-5 run.
Guillen wasn’t the only one whose frustrations got the best of him. John Danks, who fell to 0-8 after allowing nine runs in four innings (six in the first, including a grand slam and a solo HR).
Danks made headlines by getting into a screaming match with Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista, who threw his bat down in frustration after popping up in a 9-2 game.
Tony Siragusa once said “it’s okay to squash a mosquito with a sledgehammer,” and while it was still early in the game and you understand it wasn’t quite time to let up on the pedal yet, I still side with Danks on this one.
Danks was obviously frustrated and is having a miserable season, but it wasn’t necessary for Bautista to show him up like that.
Danks made a mistake and Bautista failed to hit his MLB-leading 21st homer. if a guy has struck out multiple times on the day or pops up in a close game, you sympathize with his frustrations, but not in in a seven-run game when the guy at-bat is hitting .350 and leads the league in home runs.
I haven’t heard anything about how Bautista carries himself – if he’s humble, cocky, or whatever – and it’s not right to speculate. It was just a wrong place, wrong time thing.
There was no retaliation and the teams don’t meet again until the last series of the season.
Guillen said he plans to make a decision about the six-man rotation by June 1, and Danks’ most recent performance definitely makes him the low man on the ladder. Whether it’s in his mechanics or in his head, something is wrong with Danks and he needs to work through these problems.
Being in the rotation, things have only gotten worse for him, so maybe it’s time for a temporary change.
The White Sox are in Boston for Memorial Day and start a three-game set with the Red Sox.
Jake Peavy (1-0, 3.00 ERA), Gavin Floyd (5-5, 3.69) and Phil Humber (3-3, 2.85) are scheduled to take the hill for the White Sox.