Pressure getting to Guillen
MANAGER'S CORNER | Sox skipper admits he considered making '08 season his last, but he wants to manage 'until I'm dead'
SEATTLE -- Ozzie Guillen admitted on Saturday before the White Sox defeated the Mariners 8-4 that there was a time earlier this week that he thought to himself, ''I'm done with this job after this season.''
All the criticism was wearing on him.
(AP)
PHOTO GALLERY
White Sox 8, Mariners 4
So what is Twitter?
Twitter is a free social networking service that allows readers like you to receive updates (or "tweets") from Joe all day long via our Web site. Check back all-day long as Joe updates you on the latest Sox news -- from the game and practice to on the road and from the locker room. You can also get updates sent right to your phone or IM whenever Joe has news to share -- for free.
Enough so that for the first time that he could remember, even his wife, Ibis, called him up.
''I had to explain to my wife what was going on,'' Guillen said. ''She saw me 'bleeping' all over the place, and all of a sudden she wanted to know what was going on. When people in my family have to start asking me what's going on, that's what bothered me the most.''
But before his critics start celebrating and writing his managerial obit, know this: Guillen is a roller coaster of emotions, and for the most part, those emotions pass.
''I want to manage until I'm dead, but in the meanwhile, I get worn down when people keep saying stuff they don't know,'' Guillen confessed. ''When people say stuff and put me and my ballclub in a bad spot that we shouldn't it is a challenge. But you know what? I like a challenge. When I signed the contract to become a manager in Chicago, I knew what I had to face. I know the people of Chicago. But every day is a different day, but some days are tougher than others.
''What I think about is how much I love the game compared to how much I want to leave, and there are times lately where I say, 'Wow, why do we have to go through this situation?' I can live without these problems, I can live without the smell of the ballpark, do I want to leave right now? Not right now. Maybe when I have my grandchildren I want to spend time with them, but right now my family is happy. As long as they are happy and support me, and as long as my players go out there and respect me, play the game the right way ... If I lose my players then it's time for me to leave.''
This week was quite the odyssey for Guillen.
There was ''Dollgate'' in Toronto, followed up by the infamous ''bleep rant'' about the Cubs and the perception that the Sox (18-17) are second-hand citizens in the Windy City. Then Guillen had to sit back the rest of the week and take the bullets from the media -- both near and from afar.
''A lot of people don't like the way I talk,'' Guillen said. ''You might not like it, I may sound arrogant, but if you look at what I say, I just tell people, 'Look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself is Ozzie Guillen lying?' ''
As it stands right now, the ink on Guillen's contract extension that he signed late last season is still not dry. It takes him through 2012. And the fact is, it won't be winning or losing that determines his outcome, either.
''I never quit a battle,'' Guillen said, when asked if another 90-loss season could sway his decision. ''I'm the captain of the boat, and if we're going to sink I'm going down with it.
"And if we win it all again, oh man, I will be so cocky this time they won't be able to stand my ass. I will rub it in peoples' face. When we won in 2005, I was in the back just taking it easy. If we win now, no matter what stage it is in my career, believe me, I will rub it in people's faces."
