By Miguel Mike Medina
Ozzie Guillen had his jersey retirement ceremony on Saturday afternoon. The organization retired his No. 13 jersey. Guillen is the first manager to receive the honor.
Former White Sox catcher AJ Pierzynski honored Guillen on this monumental day. Together, they won the 2005 World Series. It was Guillen’s first season as the White Sox manager.
“Ozzie always had time for players’ kids,” Pierzynski said. “He loved having them in the clubhouse, especially after tough losses because somehow kids always made everyone smile.”
Guillen is one of those figures that you loved if he was on your team, but you disliked him if he was your opponent. Guillen played the game with a lot of tenacity and focus. He valued defense and always hustled. As a manager, he always defended his players and never hesitated to argue with umpires. He always wanted his players to give it their best, even if a player didn’t feel very confident about himself.
Family is very important to Guillen. He carried Venezuela on his blood. This weekend, Guillen made a lot of Venezuelan folks very proud with this honor. His wife and children were there to support him. His grandkids think he’s the coolest grandfather in the world.
“I have never been nervous in baseball,” Guillen said during his speech. “I never was nervous managing baseball. I’m never nervous seeing all these people here. But today, yes, I am nervous. I am very nervous because this is different. It’s a different moment to be with my friends, front office people.”
Guillen is a grateful man to have been part of the White Sox organization for a long time. He never imagined that Chicago was going to be the organization he would be linked to forever, to the point of seeing his number retired.
It’s not about stats, hits, and championships. It’s about the people who helped Ozzie reach the highest level of success. It all began with the owner Jerry Reinsdorf. He allowed Ozzie to play and manage for the White Sox. He believed in him.
The greatest honor of Ozzie’s career was to manage the White Sox. The 2005 team was special with Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye, Bobby Jenks, Scott Podsednik, Juan Uribe, Mark Buehrle and many more.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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