Ozzie Guillen To Bust Out Parenting Skills

The White Sox have lost their last four games, and their normally powerful offense is puttering along with a .221 batting average. Things just aren't going well at all for the Pale Hose.

In Wednesday's Chicago Sun-Times, White Sox hitting coach Greg Walker accepted all responsibility for the team's struggles, and in Thursday's editionOzzie Guillen let Walker know he's right. It's just he's not alone.

''And my coaching staff, hell, yeah, they have to take the blame, why not?'' Guillen said. '''It's my fault.' Hell, yeah, it's your fault because I will take the blame. All coaches -- Ozzie, video guy, everyone -- we have to take the blame because the guys aren't producing.

"Maybe we do too much, maybe we're not doing enough. Now it's time to coach. Horse[crap] fighters throw in the towel and quit the fight. Good fighters get up when they get knocked down. And we're good fighters.

"We're in trouble right now, and I told my coaches, 'Now we have to coach, now we have to be friends, now we have to deal with them because they're not playing right. It's easy to coach when everyone is playing right, 13-2, winning streak of five. No, managing is when you really struggle, and then you have to feel it.

"It's the same with your kids. Your kid is doing great in school, it's like, 'Everything is fine, I love you.' When the principal wants to talk to you because your kid is getting in trouble in school, now you have to be a dad. Now you make the decision, do you punish him or do you talk to him? That's what I do. Right now, I talk to them because I know they're trying.''

The White Sox' current four-game skid coincides directly with Jim Thome's recent placement on the disabled list. A large part of the problem with the Sox offense is their reliance on the home run. Fifty of the ninety-nine runs that the White Sox have scored have come via the long ball, which is entirely too high a percentage if a team is going to win consistently. You win by the home run, you die by the home run.

And right now the White Sox are dying.

Previously at the Fanhouse:
Jim Thome Is Likely Headed To The DL
Ozzie Wants Chicagoans To Support Sammy
Ozzie Guillen Would Like To Play In Venezuela
Ozzie Guillen Says He Should Be Fired