(670 The Score) When former White Sox championship-winning manager Ozzie Guillen was informed by chairman Jerry Reinsdorf that he wasn't going to be a candidate for the organization's recent managerial opening, Guillen was admittedly "sick to my stomach for a couple of days."
"My hopes were down and I was very sad, very upset," Guillen said on the Mully & Haugh Show on Tuesday morning. "I was not mad at all. But I was very sad. Thank god my family, my granddaughter, my grandkids, my wife, my kids, (they just needed) a few days to talk me out of that – 'Hey, continue to do what you're doing, you're a lucky guy.'
"Now I'm more relaxed. I'm very happy."
While Guillen was initially devastated, he doesn't want that to be construed as disapproval over the White Sox's hiring of Tony La Russa as their new manager. To the contrary, Guillen believes Reinsdorf and the White Sox made a shrewd move in bringing on the 76-year-old La Russa as their new leader in the dugout.
"Tony's name came up and I told my kids, 'This is the guy the White Sox need,'" Guillen said. "My kids went crazy – 'Are you crazy, dad? He hasn't managed for so many years.' I said, 'I watch this team every day for the last two years, and this is a team, this is a guy, he can guide them to be what they want to be because of the way he is – his attitude, his mentality about winning.'
"(Regarding the) question marks – everybody says, 'He's too old, he's been out of the game.' Tony wasn't out of the game. He was in the game. He just wasn't managing. I'm on board with that (hire). I like it. I love it and I hope those guys out there let, those guys follow him and play the way people think they can play the game."
