Cowley: Ozzie Has To Have The Last Word
(WSCR) It's clear the White Sox and former manager Ozzie Guillen didn't exactly have a clean break when Guillen took off to Miami.
In the recent weeks, Guillen has sounded off at his former organization, making it very clear that he was asked to leave two days before the end of the 2011 season. He's taken great offense to reports that he quit on his former team.
"Ozzie always has to have the last word," Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times told The Mully and Hanley Show. "You have to realize that as an organization and probably tell everyone on the staff, everyone in uniform, everyone in the front offices, if you don't want retaliation, keep your mouth shut. Don't talk about him. ... Everyone is going to be asked at the start of the season, 'What's it like without Ozzie?' or 'What's it like with Robin?' There's a way to answer it so that there's no gray line. You basically answer it smart and you won't be in the cross hairs.
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On Monday, chairman Jerry Reinsdorf released a statement dispelling any rumors that Guillen had quit on the team, saying that Ozzie left "with our organization's blessing and at my urging." Cowley said the White Sox could have avoided this controversy had that statment been released at Guillen's departure.
"This could have all be squashed right at the end of the season," Cowley said. "If Jerry Reinsdorf would have come out and spoken, or if Kenny Williams would've said in his press conference: 'Look, Ozzie wants to stay. We would like to see him finish the last two days and say his proper goodbyes, but you have a team down in Miami that wants to negotiate with him, get the negotiation done and then march him out on the final home game to build excitement going into the offseason.'"
