Ozzie Guillen

Oswaldo José Guillén Barrios (born January 20, 1964), well known as Ozzie Guillén (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡiˈʎen]), is a former professional baseball player and current manager of the Chicago White Sox.[1] Born in Ocumare Del Tuy, Venezuela, he played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop for the White Sox (1985–97), Baltimore Orioles (1998), Atlanta Braves (1998–1999) and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2000).[1] He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. As a player, Guillén was regarded for his passion, speed, hustle, intensity and defensive abilities and his ebullient love for the game. He is the first Latin American manager in major league history to have won a World Series.

Ozzie Guillen Rant - 2008 Version


Hillarious Ejection of Ozzie Guillen of White Sox vs Cubs 6/20/2011


Baseball career
[edit] Player

Guillén was a light-hitting, quick-handed shortstop, emerging from a line of Venezuelan shortstops that included; Chico Carrasquel, Luis Aparicio (both White Sox players), Dave Concepción, and Omar Vizquel (who now plays for Guillen as a utility player for the White Sox).[4] He was originally signed as a free agent by the San Diego Padres in 1980.[5] In December 1984, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox as part of an eight-player trade.[5]

In 1985, Guillén received both the American League Rookie of the Year and The Sporting News Rookie of the Year awards, becoming only the third rookie shortstop in major league history to win a fielding title.[6][7] He became known for his daring, aggressive style of play, as was demonstrated on August 2, 1985 in a game against the New York Yankees.[8] With the game tied 5-5 in the 11th inning, Guillén hit a two-out single and, then proceeded to steal second base.[8] When the next batter hit an infield single, Guillén never hesitated as he rounded third base, catching the Yankees defense off guard and scored the game-winning run.[9]

Guillén suffered a severe knee injury in a collision with outfielder Tim Raines on April 21, 1992, that caused him to miss almost the entire season, and which subsequently diminished his defensive range as well as his stolen base output for the remainder of his career.[1][10][11] Guillén recovered in 1993 with his most productive season offensively, posting a .280 batting average, and career highs with 4 home runs and 50 runs batted in, as the White Sox won the American League Western Division title.[1][12] He hit .273 and scored 4 runs in a losing effort, as the White Sox were defeated by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1993 American League Championship Series.[13]

In October 1997, after 13 seasons with the White Sox, Guillén was granted free agency status and signed a contract to play for the Baltimore Orioles.[5] In May 1998, the Orioles released him and he signed with the Atlanta Braves as a utility infielder.[5] He helped the Braves win the 1999 National League Championship Series against the New York Mets with a 10th inning, pinch hit single in Game 6 of the series that tied the score at nine runs apiece, as the Braves went on to win the game and the series.[14][15] The Braves would eventually lose to the New York Yankees in Guillén's only World Series appearance as a player.[16] After playing one year with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2000, he retired as a player at the end of the season.
[edit] Playing career statistics

Guillén was an All-Star in 1988, 1990-1991, and won the Gold Glove Award in 1990.[1][17] He led American League shortstops twice in range factor, once in assists and once in fielding percentage.[1] Guillén's .974 career fielding percentage ranks him 40th overall among major league shortstops, ahead of both Luis Aparicio and Dave Concepcion.[18] While he was considered one of the best fielding shortstops in the American League, Guillén was often overlooked in post-season awards because his playing career coincided with that of Cal Ripken, Jr.[3] Guillén ranks among the White Sox all-time leaders in games played, hits, and at-bats.[19] As a hitter, he was known as a free swinger, posting one of the highest at bats per walk ratios in major league history.[20] Guillén played his entire Venezuelan Winter League career with Tiburones de La Guaira.
G AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI BB IBB SO SH SF HBP AVG OBP SLG
1993 6686 1764 275 69 28 773 619 239 25 511 141 141 7 .264 .287 .338

[1]
[edit] Manager

Following his playing career, Guillén coached for the Montreal Expos in 2002 and the World Champion Florida Marlins in 2003 before he was hired in the offseason to replace Jerry Manuel as the White Sox manager.[21] He received a standing ovation from the crowd of 37,706 Chicagoans when introduced before his first game as a manager at U.S. Cellular Field on April 13, 2004. On May 30, 2005, the White Sox extended Guillén's contract, making the move while the team had the best record in the majors (33-17). The White Sox picked up the 2006 option on his contract, added two more years and included an option for the 2009 season. In October 2005, he led the White Sox to their first American League pennant since 1959, and their first World Series win since 1917 with a 4-game sweep of the Houston Astros. Guillén claimed that he might retire after the 2005 season should the White Sox win the World Series, but at the parade celebrating the World Champions he received cheers from the fans when he announced he would indeed return to manage the next season. In November, Guillén was voted the 2005 American League Manager of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers Association of America.[22] In 2006, he managed the American League All-Star Team to a 3-2 victory over the National League.[23] On September 4, 2009, Guillén won his 500th game as manager of the Chicago White Sox as the White Sox defeated the Boston Red Sox by a score of 12-2.[24][25] Guillen has publicly stated that he feels the 2003 steroids list should be released to the public.[26]
[edit] Managerial record
World Series Championship
League Championship
Division Championship
Team Year Regular Season Post Season
Won Lost Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
CHW 2004 83 79 .512 2nd in AL Central - - - -
CHW 2005 99 63 .611 1st in AL Central 11 1 .917 2005 World Series Champions
CHW 2006 90 72 .556 3rd in AL Central - - - -
CHW 2007 72 90 .444 4th in AL Central - - - -
CHW 2008 89 74 .546 1st in AL Central 1 3 .250 Lost to Tampa Bay Rays in AL Division Series
CHW 2009 79 83 .488 3rd in AL Central - - - -
CHW 2010 88 74 .543 2nd in AL Central - - - -
CHW 2011 33 35 .395 AL Central
CWS Total 633 570 .524 12 4 .750
Total 633 570 .524 12 4 .750
[edit] Personal life
Guillén in 2008

Guillén married Ibis Cardenas in 1983. They have three sons: Ozzie Jr., Oney, and Ozney.[27]

Guillen is known for being somewhat eccentric and outspoken, which sometimes lands him in the middle of controversy.[28] In June 2006 he was quoted as calling Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti a "fag."[29] He later apologized for offending any homosexuals, but did not back down in his criticism of Mariotti.[30]

In early 2010, Guillen set up a Twitter account, and he tweets in both English and his native Spanish. According to his Twitter feed, Guillen is apparently a fan of Bed, Bath and Beyond, as he tweeted from a location he called "bed and bath," commenting that he "love(s) this places [sic]."[31] Conversely, Guillen is apparently not a fan of Comcast, tweeting in April 2010 that "they suck."[32]

In 2010 he spoke against Arizona's new law to deal with illegal immigration. Guillen described illegal immigrants as "workaholics." "And this country can't survive without them," he said. "There are a lot of people from this country who are lazy. We're not. Prove me wrong. A lot of people in this country want to be on the computer and send e-mails to people. We do the hard work. We're the ones who go out and work in the sun to make this country better."[33] In August, Guillen said that Asian players were treated better than Latino players.[34]
References from Wikipedia.com