August 2, 200421 yr Article of faith: Sox need some Guillen contends players get down, fail to respond By Bob Foltman Tribune staff reporter August 1, 2004 DETROIT -- White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has said from the first day of spring training that talent doesn't always prevail. Every major-league player has talent, but what separates the winners from the also-rans goes beyond physical ability. The Sox have as much talent as most teams, especially in the Central Division, but Guillen wonders about the psyche of his team. "When they go down, they have a tendency to not believe in themselves," Guillen said. "They don't fight back." There is an old sports saying: "Don't think. You'll hurt the club." The Sox have a lineup full of analytical players. Guillen said they sometimes are their own worst enemies. "I think that happened to [Joe] Crede, that happened to [Aaron] Rowand," Guillen said. "When they struggle, they don't know how to come out. They have a tendency to … not panic, but they don't know how to come out of it." At various times, Guillen has mentioned that many of his players, such as Paul Konerko and Willie Harris, beat themselves up after an 0-for-4 day instead of just putting it behind them. "You have to have confidence," he said. "I was talking to Willie about it. If you show up every day with one attitude and one thing in mind and stick with it, you will have success in this game." Guillen said that what has happened after a tough day is they have come back the next day "[thinking like] a Triple-A player. When you are good, you show up as a big-league player." Guillen said the biggest thing for a major-league player is to learn how to play through the bad spots—like the Sox are currently going through. "It's easy to play when you are going good, and it's easy to manage," he said. "When you are doing bad, stick your head in there and believe in yourself. It's easy to quit, and I hope they don't."
August 2, 200421 yr I am happy our struggles are now and not in 6 weeks. The team is going to get hot and stay hot into the playoffs. I suspect we'll see one, if not both of our injured stars return. It's all good.
August 2, 200421 yr I am happy our struggles are now and not in 6 weeks. The team is going to get hot and stay hot into the playoffs. I suspect we'll see one, if not both of our injured stars return. It's all good. that's the thing. This division is going to be won or lost in the last two weeks of the season... just look at that schedule. If Thomas and Maggs can return for just the last two weeks of the season... there's still a chance. Ideally we'll only be at worst 1 or 2 games out going into that period...
August 2, 200421 yr Yeah... I'm pretty much tired of always ending up in 2nd place. We need to run away with 1st place this year
August 2, 200421 yr Yeah... I'm pretty much tired of always ending up in 2nd place. We need to run away with 1st place this year Yeah, we've averaged a 2nd place finish for the past 7 years. I'm tired of it too.
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