The Ozzie & Swish Dish Continues…
Via the Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley with a hat tip to BBTF:
Nick Swisher spent one forgettable season on the South Side.
But that should have been plenty of time for the New York Yankees outfielder to figure out that taking any sort of slap at White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen — as small as it may be — is a no-no. Because Guillen always will get in the last word.
A Q&A with Swisher that ran in the New York Post was brought to Guillen’s attention Sunday. In one segment, Swisher was asked about his new teammates and his new manager, Joe Girardi.
‘‘Never want to play for anybody else,’’ Swisher said. ‘‘There’s just something about him, man. He brings everybody together. Best manager I ever played for.’’
Acquired from Oakland before the 2008 season, Swisher had a rough year with the Sox, losing his starting job in the final few months and becoming noticeably pouty. He was traded to the Yankees over the winter.
‘‘I hope Girardi is a better manager than me because he manages the New York Yankees,’’ Guillen said. ‘‘He manages one of the biggest sports teams on the earth. I hope [Swisher] gets along with him. Things didn’t work out here for him, but it seems that when somebody leaves this ballclub, they find a better manager.
‘‘That’s part of the game. That’s the way it is. That’s the way Swisher is. Things work out for him good, everyone is great. That [stuff] doesn’t work out for him, it’s someone’s fault.’’
Now, we know that Ozzie Guillen has no class. So, while the Yankees don’t face the White Sox until the end of July, and that’s three months from now, this could get interesting later – as we know Ozzie likes to order his pitchers to throw at people.
Then again, Nick Swisher is presently 2 for his last 14 with 5 strikeouts. So, if Swish continues down this road, like he did last year, then Nick may not even be in the Yankees picture come the end of July.
In any event, for now, in Yankeeland, the biggest Swisher worry may be that Jason Giambi is coming to town and there’s a chance that one of the Yankees next few games may get rained out. Remember back in May of 2006 when, as members of the A’s, Nick Swisher and Joe Blanton spent $1,000 in one night on vodka at a club in New York City? Can you just imagine what would happen if Swisher and Giambi found themselves hanging out at the same watering hole next week? Sounds like a TMZ moment in the making…
It’s interesting Guillen took offense to that. I saw the article, and I didn’t read it as any sort of slap.
As for the $1,000 in vodka, that would buy about two bottles in a nightclub (it’s what guarantees you a seat at the club.)
But yeah, point taken on Swisher and Giambi – that could get wild!
I was also surprised Ozzie took that as an insult. He must really hate Swisher to take that comment and get so heated about it. Then again, he is Ozzie Guillen.
Also, I think we all knew Swish was going to come down to earth at some point. With A-Rod and Nady out let’s just hope he can fall back into his career average.
i dunno, most of swisher’s outs seem to be near miss home runs…unless that’s just how he operates all the time and i havn’t seen enough of him
I was also surprised Ozzie took that as an insult. He must really hate Swisher to take that comment and get so heated about it. Then again, he is Ozzie Guillen.
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Ozzie Guillen is a pretty horrendous human being. Honestly, I don’t see how any player would want to play for him. He pats himself on the back and takes credit for any success and blames players (and calls them out in the papers) for any failure.
Keeping aside my feelings for Swisher, I don’t even see what in Swisher’s comments could be construed as unflattering to Guillen such that he’d feel the need to respond. He’s a total narcissist and a douche.
As I mentioned when Swisher was hitting .440, he was very likely to have a very cold streak at some point, which I said might look like a 2 for 30 with 13 K’s and 3 BB.
I also said he’s still slightly better than Nady. But the Yanks miss Nady for purposes of platooning, and depth and pinch-hitting.
As for Ozzie Guillen, he’s a part of the body we all have and cannot live without. Hint: it’s not the brain.