'Outsiders' anger Ozzie

'Outsiders' anger Ozzie

Posted by scotgreg on Wed, 09/24/2008 - 23:13

Ozzie doesn't mind being criticized by reporters he actually sees at the ballpark, but he's quick to blow his stack when outsiders start taking shots.
ESPN and Fox got under his skin for questioning Guillen’s motivational strategy with starter Javier Vazquez, who was shelled by the Twins on Tuesday.
“I was trying to motivate him,” Guillen said. “If people think it was the wrong way, (bleep) them. They don't know me; I don't know them. They can say whatever they want about me. I've know Javy since he was a baby. I know Javy’s family, I know Javy’s kids, mother-in-law, father-in-law, everybody. That’s between Javy and me.”
It was widely reported Ozzie said Vazquez was not a “big-game pitcher.” The Sox’ manager said that was taken out of context.
“I wasn’t trying to down him, talk bad about him,” Guillen said. “I just tried to say, hey, he has to be aggressive. Is there something wrong with that, telling a pitcher he has to be aggressive? If somebody else said it, he’s a genius. I say it and I’m down on my players. Just be aggressive from the beginning. That’s all I said. Everybody in baseball has to be aggressive.”