CHICAGO (AP) -Ozzie Guillen may have patched things up with general manager Ken Williams after his latest outburst, but now hitting coach Greg Walker is apparently unhappy with the loquacious manager’s most recent tirade.
“I’m not going to comment on that. I’ll tell you this, Ozzie Guillen wants the Chicago White Sox to win and I want the Chicago White Sox to win. That’s all there is to it,” Walker said before Wednesday night’s game against the Royals.
“I’m doggone not going to get into a talking contest with him. He’s better at it than I am. He practices a lot more than I do. …”
They are former teammates and friends, but Walker apparently was upset after Guillen mentioned him during Sunday’s rant in which he called for Williams to make some changes in the White Sox’s sputtering offense.
“It could be me. It could be (hitting coach) Greg Walker, the players, anybody,” Guillen said Sunday.
Walker met Monday with team chairman Jerry Reinsdorf. Guillen met with Tuesday with Williams and said he cleared the air, insisting it wasn’t personal and that he wasn’t demanding anything but just wanted the team to improve.
“I’m not talking about it. It’s over. Any more talk on it is just a continuation of something that was blown out of proportion more so than it needed to be,” Williams said Wednesday.
Guillen was surprised to hear that Walker was upset over his name being mentioned. On Tuesday he said the hitting coach’s job was safe – for now.
“Who am I going to blame if my team is not hitting? My wife?” Guillen asked.
Guillen said he hadn’t talked to Walker about anything other than some routine baseball stuff and nothing about his outburst.
“I’ll repeat it again – from 2006 to now, I wish I knew how many times I’ve said ‘Greg Walker is still the hitting coach of the White Sox because I want him (to be).’ I think he’s doing his job. I don’t think it’s his fault that we’ve been in a slump for two years,” Guillen said.
“People think we’ve been in a slump for a couple months – no, we’ve been a slump (for two years). Someone has to be blamed. I’ll take the blame first, but he should take the blame second.”
With players like Paul Konerko, Jim Thome and Nick Swisher all batting around .200, the White Sox’s offense has struggled, especially with runners in scoring position, yet Chicago has been in first place for 44 days this season.
“I’m not talking about the hitting coach or the hitters or the incident that happened the other day. It’s very simple. We have a lot of talent players and these guys are going to hit,” Williams insisted.
“To place blame on one particular person, that’s a little bit of a stretch in my mind.”
Asked if the White Sox’s soap opera was a situation in which the team could thrive, Williams said a thick skin is needed to be in the public eye.
“Listen, if you’re in this town and you’re a sports executive or a player, a coach or whatever and you don’t have a certain amount of fire in your belly, that sometimes doesn’t necessarily come out in the most politically correct manner, you’re not going to survive very long,” Williams said.
“It is what it is. And quite frankly, I try to surround myself with as many of those type of people as possible. Sometimes you clash, but that’s all right.”
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