(670 The Score) Former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen acknowledged he was “a little sick to my stomach” to learn that he didn’t land the team’s managerial job recently, but he also shared support for new manager Pedro Grifol – while vowing to keep up his honest, passionate analysis of the team in his roles with NBC Sports Chicago and on 670 The Score.
“Of course I wanted to do it,” Guillen said on Inside the Clubhouse on Saturday morning. “Of course I wanted to be a part of this ball club. Of course when I went out to interview with them, I put everything out there to try to win the job. But that’s not me (to be the person who) can’t sleep or eat because I didn’t get the job. Not at all. I wish Pedro the best of luck. Anything he needs from me, I’m going to be there. And be ready – if he’s managing terrible, I’ll be on his butt. I did with it with the best manager in the history of the game, Tony La Russa. And if he’s managing good, I’ll let people know exactly what was good about it.”
The White Sox officially hired Grifol last Thursday. He worked for the Royals for the past decade, including the last three seasons as their bench coach.
Guillen first learned the White Sox were hiring Grifol as their manager from a media member, not a member of the organization. General manager Rick Hahn later called Guillen, and they had a productive conversation.
“I talked to Rick about it,” Guillen said. “I said, ‘Hey, I don’t have any regrets, thank you very much. Good luck.’”
Guillen noted that’s when he was “a little sick to my stomach,” but he then saw his grandkids and played golf later that day and felt better.
Guillen, 58, managed the White Sox from 2004-’11 and led them to the World Series title in 2005. He compiled a 678-617 (.524) record in Chicago. He then managed the Marlins in 2012 and has been out of the big league dugout since.
When asked, Guillen couldn’t say with certainty that he was a “legit” candidate, but he felt the question-and-answer portion of his interview with Hahn and other front office members was genuine.
“If the interview was legit, they had to feel very good what my answers were,” Guillen said. “They found out how much I know about this ball club – a lot.
“It was good. I gave them a lot of notice about this ball club.”
A fan favorite, Guillen emphasized he won’t change one bit moving forward.
“Ozzie is going to be Ozzie,” Guillen said. “When they win, I talk great about the ball club. When they lose, obviously I’m not going to say anything good about the ball club.
“I’m going to be fair, honest, (share) facts … I cannot say anything bad about you if you’re playing good or if you’re managing good or if you’re coaching good or you’re making the right decisions in the front office.”
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