Insert Wizard of Oz pun here:

Disclaimer: This will be an subjective and biased look at the current manager of the Chicago White Sox, Ozzie Guillen. Enjoy.

For the first time since May 16th, the Chicago White Sox are not in first place in the American League Central. The collapse continued last night in a blowout loss to the Kansas City Royals in which three players and and both managers were ejected. With the bases loaded in the fifth inning, Sox pitcher D.J. Carrasco hit Miguel Olivo on the hand with the fourth pitch of the at bat. Olivo charged the mound. KC was already up 6-0. And while Mark Teahan tried bunting his way on earlier in the inning, Guillen says that he didn't order Carrasco to hit Olivo. On the previous three pitches, Carrasco was going inside to try and get a double play. After Olivo charged the mound, he and Carrasco were both tossed, then Ozzie was tossed after arguing the situation. However, crew chief Gary Cedarstrom, later apologized to the White Sox for Carrasco's ejection because a review of video from the game showed that the sequences of pitches were not thrown in an attempt to hit Olivo.

Now predictably, Ozzie had one of his many lengthy post game diatribes. But this one lacked the name calling and sometimes childish antics that normally punctuate his statements. The dude was cogently making points, even though it was something the MLB probably didn't want to hear. He admitted, out loud, that he has his pitchers hit opposing players. All teams obviously do it, but it's something the league wants to minimize and ultimately eliminate. But the Carrasco/Olivo situation was not one of those instances. You see, D.J. Carrasco isn't exactly a fireballer. When Ozzie wants guys to get plunked, he'll send in pitchers like Octavio Dotel and Matt Thornton who throw in the mid 90s. Plus...the bases were loaded. Now maybe, if Olivo took out someone in a double play with his spikes up earlier in the game, I could see there being a chance that Guillen would order the hit even if the bases were juiced. Ozzie is a firm believer in protecting his players and said out loud what all the 29 other managers practice silently.

I know that Ozzie is a bit more vocal than most skippers and on multiple occasions has really gotten into some serious shouting matches with umpires. He has said some things that most people don't agree with and some are even offended by. At the end of the day however, I think he is one of the best managers in baseball. In only his second year as manager, he won a World Series with a team that absolutely demolished the competition in the playoffs. This made him the first Latin born manager to win one. Last year's team was a complete disappointment especially considering the team's payroll. But the 2008 squad has pleasantly surprised most people who picked the Tigers and the Indians to finished atop the Central standings. When it looked as if the White Sox had a chance to really succeed earlier in the year but stumbled a bit, Ozzie lashed out claiming his offense was hot garbage and that GM Kenny Williams needed to make some changes. Guillen was particularly unhappy with the play of Nick Swisher and Orlando Cabrera, two new additions to the club made by Williams. (And of course there's the ongoing embarrasment that is Paul Konerko's .212 batting average and .665 OPS. Damn yo.) The team responded however by piling up the runs scored in the subsequent games and began to create some space between them and the other teams in the division. He seems to skillfully balance on that fine line between riling your players up and having them tune you out. Plus, he hates Jay Mariotti!

Happier times?

But now the pitching is really starting to falter. John Danks and Gavin Floyd have been the only remotely consistent guys in the rotation as veterans Javier Vazquez and Mark Buehrle continue to give up runs at an alarming rate. The team has given up 6.6 runs a game since the All-Star Break. That is NOT good. With Scott Linebrink on the DL the bullpen hasn't been great either. However, Guillen recently admitted after a loss that he didn't manage the bullpen well. He's always quick to jump on someone else who has made a mistake, but he'll also own up to his faults as well. It will interesting to see if he is able to manage the rotating CF/1B/DH nightmare between the newly arrived Ken Griffey Jr., Nick Swisher, Jim Thome and Konerko. He is also dealing with a void at third base with Joe Crede finally landing on the DL because of his back. Josh Fields and Juan Uribe have been splitting time there so far but if Crede stays out for an extended period (which as of today looks like it might be a possibility), Ozzie will have to make a choice. Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye continue to put the offense on their backs with terrific numbers, but when you're already down six runs in the sixth inning there's only so much they can do. These last two months will really show what Guillen is made of. He's been to the promised land before and he's been in the doldrums too. I think if the White Sox end up making the playoffs, Ozzie is going to have to pick his spots when lashing out or criticizing.

He's definitely not perfect, but hopefully people won't just brush these latest quotes aside because for all his eccentric outbursts, this one has validity. But he couldn't resist a parting shot. Later in the game last night, Zack Grienke hit Nick Swisher with a pitch and denied he did it intentionally. When asked about any future dust ups with the Royals, Guillen coyly said, "I signed a five-year deal with this organization, and we play Kansas City a lot." And you can bet D.J. Carrasco and his 82 mile an hour sinker won't be the one asked to get his hands dirty.