Ozzie Guillen Would Be The PERFECT Manager For The Stretch Run Of The White Sox Season
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It was a very somber episode of Red Line Radio this week. 90% of that was because Chief and I were kicking it with Bruno Mars Tuesday night and we were super fucking hungover and Carl was at the Rage concert at the UC and was also super fucking hungover.
But we also are all super pissed off about our sports teams. The Blackhawks just traded everyone and their mother and the dynastic is OFFICIALLY over, not that it hadn't been for years already. The Cubs stink. The Bulls are solid but not spectacular. The Bears are staring down the barrel of like... a 4-5 win season. At best.
Everything sucks. The White Sox specifically are the most disappointing. The rest of the teams are not in "competitive windows", so they have built in excuses, but the White Sox told us they were trying to win a championship this year.
Well... it's almost the All Star Break and they're under .500. It's actually pathetic. Sure, they're about to sweep a 4 game set against the Twins and will only be 1 back as they enter the 2nd half, but still. The first half wasn't fun. It was littered with bad baseball and bad PR, with most of the bad PR being a direct result from their HOF manager doing or saying something stupid.
For the first time in the last two years, it really seems like this is going to be LaRussa's last season at the helm. I would be SHOCKED if they fire him, but he's just not built for this anymore. I think he's starting to figure it out and wouldn't be surprised if he steps down during the break. That's NOT a scoop, just something I could see MAYBE happening.
And if that does happen, here's something that won't ever happen that would give the White Sox a spark for the 2nd half: hiring Ozzie Guillen as their manager for the last 80ish games. He's maybe as pissed off as anyone at the White Sox start and with how TLR is managing the club. Take this clip for example:
Calling Tony LaRussa "Ricky Renteria with credentials" is a MASSIVE dig at Tony. And Ozzie is correct. That's all Tony is right now, a dude that's in over his head who happens to have great credentials. It'd be like hiring Phil Jackson to coach the Bulls right now because of his accolades from the 90s. I know that's not an apples to apples comparison but you get my point.
Ozzie would get into this dugout and I know 2 things would happen:
1. There would be accountability from top to bottom. Everyone would be held to the highest of standards and expected to bust their ass to meet those standards
2. The clubhouse would be loose, fun and they'd be hellbent on winning for Ozzie.
Now is Ozzie the long term answer? Not a clue. Prolly not. This is all hypothetical anyways as it'll never happen so long as this front office is calling the shots and I truly understand why, but on the flip side... I know it'd work. I KNOW it would, especially for an 75 or w/e game sprint to finish off the year. He'd get the fellas geared up to roll through their weak ass schedule to end the year.
You can get my response in better detail on Red Line Radio that just dropped this morning.
Fire away!