Ozzie is not one to hold back when it comes to speaking his mind. Something I consider an admirable trait if only because it annoys the higher-ups.
His latest bit came Sunday afternoon when he all but admitted that he has ordered his pitchers to intentionally hit opposing batters. All this came after a game when Sox D.J. Carrasco was tossed when he hit KC’s Miguel Olivio with the bases loaded. That incurred a less than friendly interaction between the two teams.
“I’ve hit people before on purpose. Yes I have, because that’s my job. Protect my players.”
Of course, the media jumped all over this like this was big news. We all know that big story here is not that this kind of thing happens but that a MLB manager, even one with a big mouth like Guillen’s, came out and admitted it.
I’ve heard a couple different strands of responses to Guillen’s statements:
1. What! Managers are still condoning this? I can’t believe this is still happening.
and
2. Of course, this happens! It’s a part of the game of baseball. Guillen is just a moron for talking about it. Boy, in Bob Gibson’s day…
Response #1 usually comes from the office of MLB, the mainstream sports media, and little old ladies with blue hair. The difference is that the Office of the MLB understands clearly that this is has been happening but fails to recognize it officially (see steroid scandal 10 years ago).
Response #2 comes from most everyone else.