Guillen Being Guillen Again?

Prior to Saturday nights game against the Rays, Jose Guillen and pitching coach got in a heated face to face argument which required teammates to separate the two.  No punches were thrown but some chairs were knocked over....related story......

Guillen and McClure argued face-to-face, but no punches were thrown. Guillen, who unleashed a profanity-filled tirade against his teammates in May, went 0-for-4 and struck out twice.

Guillen declined to comment on the incident.

"It's been handled in-house and honestly," Royals manager Trey Hillman said after the game, "it's a non-issue. It's not a big deal. It's not going to characterize anybody."

It was the third locker room altercation in the majors in the last 10 days -- none of them pitted player vs. player. Pitcher Shawn Chacon threw down Houston general manager Ed Wade and Boston slugger Manny Ramirez reportedly shoved a team official.

Guillen was sitting at a table by his locker when he toppled over a chair and made a comment in Spanish. After a teammate attempted to calm him down, Guillen appeared to get more agitated, tossed over another chair and said, "Coaches don't need to be all up in our ... business."

McClure, who was sitting at his locker, turned around and said, "Jose, if you're talking about me, then you need to shut ... up."

Guillen then knocked over another chair, yelled at McClure and confronted the coach.

Guillen told McClure he wasn't talking about him and wasn't being disrespectful toward the coach. Guillen added he didn't appreciate McClure telling him to be quiet.

After signing a three-year, $36 million contract as a free agent in the offseason, Guillen is hitting .274 with a team-leading 13 home runs and 64 RBI.

McClure would not acknowledge the incident occurred. He said Guillen "should be on the All-Star team" that will be announced Sunday.

In late May, after the Royals lost their 10th straight game, Guillen criticized his teammates and added, "Too many babies in here."

Guillen was suspended by the Angels for the last two weeks of the 2004 regular season and postseason for inappropriate conduct after expressing his displeasure with manager Mike Scioscia. After the year, Guillen was traded to the Washington Nationals.

His first outburst back in May I didn't have a problem with as the Royals needed a bit of a shakeup then.  However his outbursts are becoming frequent.   Is Guillen becoming a candidate for anger management counseling? 

I always knew that getting Guillen in KC would be a double edge sword. A veteran presence, that can hit is great, but at what cost? Like you said, his first tirade is understandable, but he crossed the line with this last one. You know what he is? A habitual line-crosser! IMO he is beyond a candidate for counseling, and just may be the poster child.

     He probably just wanted some tickets.  His family was rafting in, and McClure wouldnt give up two lousy tickets.

     Do you know how many innertubes they had to use to get here?

My answer to the subject:  maybe.  Call me naive, but I think it's still too early to give up on the guy.

Dude goes 0-4 and gives his coach some lip, knocks some chairs over... BIG DEAL.  Is this all the media has to pick up on?  "Three such dugout instances this weekend..."  Where's the blood?  The scrapes haven't even been as good as that classic Geraldo vs. Skin Heads episode...

Here's a novel idea:  HOW ABOUT THE MEDIA TALKING ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON ON THE FIELD?  Has is been that boring this weekend?  Is this why I have to endure crappy commercials on FOX Sports and ESPN?

Don't get me wrong.  His actions APPARENTLY aren't how I want people to see me act, or how I want to see my kids act in the dugout.  But, again, I think the media is making mountains out of molehills.

It wasn't exactly unknown that he was firey BEFORE we signed him to a 3yr multimillion$ contract.  It's not all that surprising to me that in July of the first year, he hasn't turned a Jekyll and Hyde and begun acting like an altar boy.

It's a shame me have to put up with this crap.. both the media and an immature player's tantrums... but THIS incident isn't enough for me to vote to throw him overboard, yet.  But... noted.  If he doesn't eventually turn around, we shouldn't renew his contract and we should keep an eye out for opportunities to sign mature, promising players.

Okay, let me preempt some criticism:

Incident was BEFORE the game, and the 0-4 performance was after the incident.  Got it.  Still doesn't change my bottom line.

After I push post, I'm looking for some online reading comprehension classes.

GO Royals!