White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen is sick and tired of his batters getting beaned, intentional or not.
Guillen was upset Sunday after Paul Konerko, Scott Podsednik and Gordon Beckham got hit by pitches by the Cleveland staff a night earlier in Chicago’s 8-5 win. Guillen acknowledged he didn’t think the Indians were throwing at them, but he’s had enough of watching his players get hit.
“Yesterday I get upset, they hit one guy and they throw in into another guy. I got upset. I know for a fact they’re not throwing at nobody, but enough is enough,” Guillen said. “I have Konerko bruised all over the place. Around the league, be careful because we’re going to hit people. I don’t care if I get suspended because I need to protect my players.”
The White Sox have been hit by pitches 45 times this season, fifth in the majors. The Indians have been hit 65 times, most in the majors.
I feel like this “retaliation” is happening a lot this season. When players get hit, the other team later throws at their star player. This seems to be happening even in games where the outcome is a forgone conclusion and I’m not sure why. The issue is only getting worse. When Prince Fielder was hit by Guillermo Mota, he tried to confront Mota in the locker room after the game. Of course, Mota only threw at Fielder because the Brewers hit Manny Ramirez.
I know Ozzie Guillen is trying to protect his batters by issuing this warning, but he should care about being suspended. Teams need their managers and Guillen knows this. White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf can’t be too pleased. He’s paying Guillen to manage games, not get thrown out of them.
If a player is crowding the plate then fine, brush them back. Guillen’s right in that if the pitcher is unable to do that without hitting the batter, then he shouldn’t even attempt it. It just makes for messy baseball and umpires need to wise up. They’re beginning to crack down on pitchers, but they’re going to need to be even stricter if this continues.
