Dick Allen Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 (edited) Ozzie apparently gets very sensitive when players who are or have played for him say someone else is the best manager they ever played for. Per the Tribune: White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen fired back in amusement over comments made by former Sox Nick Swisher, who called the New York Yankees' Joe Girardi the best manager he's played for. "He's got to say what he's got to say," Guillen said Sunday. "He was talking about people he's only known for two weeks. That's hard to make that statement when you only know people for two weeks, but that's Nick. "I'm not pretending to be the best manager. I never will. But I guarantee that I will manage a lot longer than he will play. That's all I can say. And I've got more friends in baseball than I have enemies. "Some people can't handle the way I manage. It's not easy. When you manage you have to deal with 25 to 50 people every year to make people happy. You can't. But it's easy when you hit .350 or .390, everybody is a good manager." In Sunday's New York Post, Swisher, who's hitting .333, said of Girardi: "Never want to play for anybody else. There's just something about him, man. He brings everybody together. Best manager I ever played for." Swisher spent only one season with the Sox after batting .219 and seeing his playing time diminish late in the season. Swisher also said of beleaguered Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, who has spent little time with the club because of a hip injury: "Greatest ever. Just an awesome guy. Very misunderstood." Said Guillen: "All of a sudden, [swisher] knows everyone on the ballclub. I was reading the article, and I just laughed. You only got one week, two weeks on the team, and everyone is nice? "That's the way Swisher is. Things work out for him good, everyone is great. That [stuff] doesn't work out for him, it's someone's fault." There's no doubt in my mind Swisher's personality is at least partially an act, but since there was about 6 or 7 weeks of spring training and the season is a couple weeks old, I don't think its outside the realm of possibility Swisher has met most if not all of his new teammates. This could get interesting, and entertaining. Edited April 20, 2009 by Dick Allen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chw42 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Daymn. Ozzie's taking no prisoners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Hooray for artificial controversy!!! SELL THOSE NEWSPAPERS!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCSox Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I had a feeling that Swish's swift departure may have had something to do with the fact that he's a complete knucklehead. Ozzie tends to not get along with players who have maturity issues (Anderson). That said, I'd hate to see what would happen if a Sox player had Swisher's personality and hit .330. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderBolt Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Cowley needs to stop blowing this kind of stuff out of proportion. Did anyone actually read what Swish said? It was nonthing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathom Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Yep, this is nothing. A lot worse was Cabrera saying Scioscia was the best manager he's had while playing under Ozzie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claydude14 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I still don't know how I feel about Swisher. I bought a Dirty Thirty shirt from NickSwisher.Net for crying out loud. On the Yankees where the team has no personality, I can see where Swish would be loved by his teammates; but we'll see how that rolls when he's not tearing things up. Here his locker room routine was instantly challenged by Joe Crede. I want a book on the 2008 team, what an oddball clubhouse it must've been with Swish, O Cab and the Pie Man Tobey Hall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilmot825 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I honestly think there was a rift between Ozzie and Swish that no one really knew. Both guys are great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg775 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Swisher has not hit on this current Yankee homestand after his torrid start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitewashed in '05 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Ozzie has problems with people who act like fools and don't perform. It only got worse when he benched Swish and he started pouting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderBolt Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 QUOTE (wilmot825 @ Apr 19, 2009 -> 11:18 PM) I honestly think there was a rift between Ozzie and Swish that no one really knew. Both guys are great. I have a theory that the Swisher trade was more like a divorce between Swish and Ozzie. That there was just a fundamental disconnect in personality between the two. I don’t think Swish did anything overtly terrible, he joked around when things were bad, he was probably the guy behind the doll thing, he even pouted when benched, but who wouldn’t? I think Ozzie can be really internal when things are bad, yeah, he’ll lash out every once in a while, but who hasn’t seen him quietly seething on the bench when things get bad? I think he took that into the clubhouse with him, and that guys like AJ, Konerko, Thome, and Dye respect that and understand it. But when the Sox had lost a couple games straight, and here was Nick Swisher with that eternal grin on his face, cracking jokes, Ozzie freaks out. I don’t think Swisher did anything to help the situation, if anything he just continued being himself. Kenny probably, didn’t even want to trade him, but the Ozzie-Swish situation forced his hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDsDirtySox Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 I was able to get quite a bit of information on this situation from an insider. Without going into too many details... the entire team, and I mean everyone was tired of Swisher... Ozzie just happens to be the one who will talk about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderBolt Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 QUOTE (JDsDirtySox @ Apr 19, 2009 -> 11:39 PM) I was able to get quite a bit of information on this situation from an insider. Without going into too many details... the entire team, and I mean everyone was tired of Swisher... Ozzie just happens to be the one who will talk about it. Was this insider Joe Cowley? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg775 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Was everybody also tired of Cabrera, Boone Logan? I'd be shocked if Swisher was that bad a clubhouse influence, but it's obvious he made a big mistake moping or doing whatever he did to anger Oz when Oz finally wisely gave up on him in September. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitetrain8601 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 QUOTE (JDsDirtySox @ Apr 19, 2009 -> 10:39 PM) I was able to get quite a bit of information on this situation from an insider. Without going into too many details... the entire team, and I mean everyone was tired of Swisher... Ozzie just happens to be the one who will talk about it. I doubt that because there were supporters of the doll incident. There were guys who loved Swisher on the team. I wouldn't be surprised if Konerko was one of the guys who didn't though. I'd like to know what you heard though through PM if you would be comfortable. You don't have to give up your source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WCSox Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 QUOTE (JDsDirtySox @ Apr 19, 2009 -> 08:39 PM) I was able to get quite a bit of information on this situation from an insider. Without going into too many details... the entire team, and I mean everyone was tired of Swisher... Ozzie just happens to be the one who will talk about it. Interesting. Can't say I'm surprised, though. QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Apr 19, 2009 -> 09:44 PM) I doubt that because there were supporters of the doll incident. There were guys who loved Swisher on the team. I wouldn't be surprised if Konerko was one of the guys who didn't though. Ozzie's definitely an old-school guy, and that attitude is reflected in the personality type of the guys who've made it on his squad (Konerko, Dye, Thome, Contreras, etc.). I sometimes worry that Quentin takes the game TOO seriously. Even the "clowns" (Buehrle, AJ, Rowand, Crede) play hard and are/were visibly upset during losing streaks. For better or worse, I think it's clear that certain personality types won't work in Ozzie's clubhouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Dye Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 The day Swisher did his solo-back-bump after a homer, it was kinda weird because that moment usually is immediately followed by everyone joking around, but it just remained awkward Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanne Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 f*** Nick Swisher! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 (edited) Every player thinks they should be starting and/or are good enough to start, or they wouldn't have made it the majors. The problem is, just like Toby Hall, is that there's a time and place for everything, and Swisher didn't know when to draw the line. When you're playing horrifically, that kind of act wears thin pretty quickly. Then, when you pout, at a time when the White Sox are struggling for their playoff lives...and the manager is depending on a 30+ year old journeyman for a spark when you have a guaranteed four-year contract, well, that just doesn't sit well with too many people in a clubhouse. It just came across as a "me first" attitude. Thomas could be that way about his stats, every player is to an extent (like O-Cab with his errors)...but there's a time and a place for putting the team first, at least openly. You can think and feel that you're being treated unfairly or even ostracized, but suck it up. You're an adult, or should be. I think the Cabrera thing was a bit overblown (and he learned from 09, Cabrera realizes/ed what a closed fraternity baseball is and how it really made things difficult in the FA market this offseason, just like AJ coming off his 04 SF season) with Ozzie, and EVERYONE got frustrated with Vazquez (and MacDougal now)...but Swisher going was a case of addition by subtraction, just like the Tigers and Gary Sheffield. Edited April 20, 2009 by caulfield12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyyle23 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Apr 19, 2009 -> 11:44 PM) I doubt that because there were supporters of the doll incident. There were guys who loved Swisher on the team. I wouldn't be surprised if Konerko was one of the guys who didn't though. I'd like to know what you heard though through PM if you would be comfortable. You don't have to give up your source. The doll incident was towards the beginning of the year. I could totally see Swisher wearing on everyone by the end of the year when he got benched and started pouting. And I am sure that Swisher has friends on the team as well, but I dont think the doll incident precludes the team from getting sick of his little show that he is always putting on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soxfan3530 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 GO AWAY NICK SWISHER! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 19, 2009 -> 08:42 PM) Was everybody also tired of Cabrera, Boone Logan? Sure as hell seemed like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 19, 2009 -> 06:10 PM) Swisher also said of beleaguered Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, who has spent little time with the club because of a hip injury: "Greatest ever. Just an awesome guy. Very misunderstood." Explains Swisher's hot start? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyyle23 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 20, 2009 -> 11:15 AM) Explains Swisher's hot start? lol, Swish and Arods cousin are really good friends, he is also very misunderstood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scwible Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 David Kaplan had an shot for Swisher around the time when he got traded. He basically called him a fraud. All an act. He said early on he was really easy to get to come onto comcast and do his crazy interviews where he said everyone was the best. Once things slowly rolled downhill he said he was the hardest person to try and talk to and hard to get him on tv. Things are good, he's everywhere. Things go south and he's no where to be found apparently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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