MLB's Not Happy With Ozzie? Gasp!

Guillen threatens retaliation against opposing teams, and the MLB is first to respond

Don't make Ozzie angry. You won't like him when he's angry.

White Sox fans, and for the most part White Sox players, seem to love Ozzie Guillen. It's a similar relationship fans have with White Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson: You'd hate him if he wasn't a White Sox guy, but you love him because he is.

But just like Hawk's penchant to complain about every ... single ... called strike (seriously, Hawk, put a cork on the complaints), Guillen's ability to say things that get him in trouble is the downside to his personality. When he gets angry, or thinks he needs to "defend his players," nothing can calm him down. And that's when he gets in trouble.

The latest instance came Saturday, when Paul Konerko, Gordon Beckham and Scott Podsednik were all hit by pitches in the Sox's 8-5 win over the Indians. If he knows it's intentional, Guillen promised retaliation to any team that hits his guys the rest of the season. A day later, Major League Baseball is making it clear they're none too happy with Ozzie's proclamation. The league is reportedly "looking into" those comments, according to a league source.

It's possible that nothing comes of this, that the MLB is just posturing for effect, but it's also possible that Guillen's history and lack of remorse here could get him suspended for a few games. Fortunately, Guillen's already said he doesn't care; his original comments made that much clear.

"If I see someone hit my player, and I know they hit him on purpose, it's two guys going down," Guillen said on Sunday. "I don't care if I get suspended. I rather have me suspended for two games than have my players on the DL for 30 days."

If that MLB source is right, Guillen needs to be far more worried about the former situation than the latter.

Eamonn Brennan is a Chicago-based writer, editor and blogger. You can also read him at Yahoo! Sports, Mouthpiece Sports Blog, and Inside The Hall, or at his personal site, eamonnbrennan.com. Follow him on Twitter.

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