Known for courting controversy during his tenure as the Chicago White Sox manager, Ozzie Guillén wasn’t afraid to publicly criticize his players.
While it was an old-school tactic meant to light a fire under underperforming athletes, it’s rarely used today with the modern, more sensitive player. However, Guillén embraced it – but there’s a fine line between motivation and throwing your team under the bus.
That sentiment echoes the reaction to White Sox manager Pedro Grifol’s recent criticism of his team’s performance. Grifol said after Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles that his team was “******* flat” in a game that saw starter Kyle Bradish throw seven no-hit innings.
The White Sox didn’t record a hit until Danny Mendick broke up the no-no bid in the eighth inning with a pinch-hit home run.
“Alright, I don’t have much,” Grifol began. “(Garrett) Crochet pitched his a** off. We got no-hit through eight and had a pinch-hitter break it up. The rest of the guys — not the rest of the guys — most of the guys were ******* flat today. Unacceptable. That’s all I got.”
Pedro Grifol on the team’s performance today
“Fucking flat” https://t.co/HoGXSpJULc pic.twitter.com/ETahn20vDm
— CHGO White Sox (@CHGO_WhiteSox) May 27, 2024
The White Sox have been mired in a deep slump since Grifol took over as manager. The 54-year-old Grifol, who spent nearly a decade in the Kansas City Royals organization, came into Tuesday with a 76-141 managerial record for his career. As of Tuesday, the floundering White Sox are a dismal 15-40, sitting 21.5 games out of first place just after Memorial Day.
Whether it’s the players, the coaches or upper management, something has to give. And on the White Sox postgame show, Guillén expressed approval for Grifol finally voicing his frustrations.
“I don’t want to take away anything from Bradish because he threw the ball very well, but Pedro, it took you 216 games to say what you feel,” Guillén said. “I love it — love it. Why? Because you’re a human being, you’re eating up all the stress to yourself, and you’re protecting the guys. You have to protect your players, but some people have different ways to do it.”
Grifol’s approach was approved by Guillén, who was happy to see the manager call out the team’s poor play. The longtime former White Sox manager sees Grifol’s harsh remarks as long overdue and the right approach. And it’s a clear departure from the past, when managers may have shielded players from criticism, and Guillén is glad Grifol is prioritizing honesty with the fans.
Ozzie loves that Pedro Grifol is speaking his mind pic.twitter.com/EYRsZhqYj7
— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) May 26, 2024
But Girfol also didn’t need Guillén’s approval. On Monday, he doubled down on those remarks that saw him under fire.
“I’m doubling down on what I said yesterday, OK? I thought we were flat, and that’s where I’m gonna leave it,” the White Sox manager explained. “We have to make adjustments today and go out there and play the game as hard as we can. They got their opinions. I have mine. This is not divided by any means. This is not them against Pedro; Pedro against them. It’s just a situation where I thought we were flat. They didn’t think we were flat. It’s over. We’re gonna go out there and play baseball.”
“Just go out there and play the game hard,” Grifol added. “The way we’ve been playing the game — and respect the game. We all have a responsibility here in the Major Leagues to go out and give our best every single day. We have a responsibility to our owner. We have a responsibility to the uniform we wear and to the fans that come see us play. And we have a responsibility to do this every single day. Not once in a while. Not four out of five. Not six out of seven. Every single day, we have a responsibility. And I’m not gonna say everyone’s gonna be perfect on that because I certainly have to cross-check myself once in a while. But I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let the whole day, meaning me personally, be flat the whole day. If I catch myself being flat, I gotta kick myself in the a** and make sure I’m giving everything I got every single day I put a Major League uniform on.
“This is a privilege to be a Major Leaguer. It’s a privilege to be in this building. And every single day you come in here, you have to look at it that way. I’m not gonna make too big of a deal of this. This was yesterday. Today, we’re playing Toronto. Yesterday, we played Baltimore. We got swept by Baltimore. We have to look to improve today and play our hard-nosed baseball game, and try to come out on top. This is not about wins and losses. This is about the responsibility that we have as individuals and as a team to give the very best we have every single day.”
Here’s Pedro Grifol “doubling down” on his postgame comments from yesterday, when he called his team’s performance “fucking flat,” and addressing voiced disagreement from players. pic.twitter.com/yui0hcNE8p
— Vinnie Duber (@VinnieDuber) May 27, 2024
After doubling down, the White Sox lost 5-1 to the Blue Jays on Monday. Although they did have 10 hits, they had nothing to show for it. And Grifol’s rallying the troops likely didn’t inspire confidence from anyone except perhaps Guillén.
