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Guillen says he wants his pitchers to retaliate
June 15, 2006
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said the next time one of his players is hit intentionally by an opposing pitcher, he wants his pitchers to retaliate.
Texas right-hander Vicente Padilla hit A.J. Pierzynski on the right arm in Pierzynski's first two at-bats of Wednesday night's 8-0 Rangers victory, raising a red welt on the arm of the White Sox catcher.
Rookie right-hander Sean Tracey threw inside to Texas' Hank Blalock in the seventh in an apparent attempt at retaliation, but Tracey failed to plunk Blalock, who ended the at-bat with a groundout.
TV cameras caught Guillen in the dugout throwing a water bottle to the ground in disgust as Tracey faced only the one batter. Later in the inning, Guillen was seen in the dugout yelling at Tracey, who pulled the collar of his jersey over his head.
After Wednesday night's game, Guillen claimed he was angry because he wanted to get reliever Agustin Montero into the game to face Blalock.
"I told my players, if that thing happens against anybody, we'd better do something about it," Guillen said prior to Thursday night's game against the Rangers.
Guillen said when he was a player, getting hit intentionally would mean fisticuffs.
"I tell you one thing, if Padilla hit me twice, right now I'd be in the hospital or I'd be dead. But I will fight. I will fight," Guillen said.
In the next breath, however, Guillen said he did not expect the unpopular Pierzynski to charge the mound after getting hit a second time Wednesday night.
"Everybody's got a different way to go about their business," Guillen said. "But hit me and we'll fight. I might get my butt kicked but we'll fight. I grew up fighting. I played the game the way it should be played. I manage the way you have to manage in this game."
Guillen knows Padilla, and Guillen was unaware of a motive for the two hit-by-pitches. Guillen did say he was sure Padilla, who does not speak to the media, was intentionally throwing at Pierzynski.
"Padilla hit the man because he wanted to hit the man," Guillen said. "Baseball people know. ... Maybe Padilla doesn't like him. ... If you play against A.J., you hate him; if you play with him, you hate him less. Padilla is a friend of mine, but I don't like what he did because he could have broke (Pierzynski's) arm."
Guillen insisted there would be no retaliation by his pitchers on Thursday night.
"Are we going to hit somebody today? No. I never carry one day to another," Guillen said. "If I'm going to do something, I do it right away. And we're in a pennant race. If one of my players gets in trouble, they get suspended and miss a couple of games."
Guillen said he was sure Rangers manager Buck Showalter did not order Padilla to hit Pierzynski.
"Buck didn't know anything about this," Guillen said. "Padilla is a great kid, a tremendous pitcher, but he doesn't communicate with anyone. I don't think Buck plays that game. He's not one of my favorite people but he's a pro."
Showalter did not blame Guillen for being angry.
"I would have been too," Showalter said. "Every manager doesn't like to see his guys hit with a pitch, whether it's a curveball, a changeup or a fastball."
Tracey was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte on Thursday, but Guillen said the move was made to create a roster spot for right-hander David Riske, acquired in a trade with the Boston Red Sox.
"This kid was sent down because we made a trade, that's the reason we did it," Guillen said.
Updated on Thursday, Jun 15, 2006 9:09 pm
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