The End of an Era

We all knew this was going to come sooner or later.

The Chicago White Sox, after much speculation, decided to release Ozzie from his contract yesterday, which means that he will more than likely become the next Florida (Miami) Marlins manager. Fittingly enough, Guillen ended his run with a 4-3 Sox victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

In his managerial career on the South Side, Ozzie went 678-617, placing him third on the team's all-time managerial wins list, trailing only Al Lopez (840-650) and Jimmie Dykes (894-933). Among Sox managers with at least 400 or more wins, Ozzie is third in winning percentage (.524), trailing only Paul Richards (.529) and Al Lopez (.564). Guillen is also the only manager in Sox history to reach the postseason twice (2005 and 2008).

Even though this year wasn't entirely Guillen's fault, the aura surrounding the team was becoming toxic enough to the point where someone had to go, and that usually falls on the manager. I'll miss the fact that he was exactly what the team needed following the disastrous end to the Jerry Manuel era in 2003, when I started to believe for the first time that I would never see a White Sox world championship. Ozzie was brash, loud, opinionated and on top of all of that, he was a former Sox player who knew the franchise in and out. Jerry Manuel was a nice guy, but he was too laid back and too quiet for Chicago, and he was an outsider when he came in. Ozzie brought fire, energy and more importantly, attention to a franchise that was sorely lacking it. Not only that, he achieved something that no Sox fan ever imagined witnessing: a World Championship in 2005. Wire-to-wire regular season, 11-1 postseason, including a World Series sweep.

Throughout the long history of the White Sox, there have been plenty of great managers that have come through the South Side. However, Ozzie was able to do something that Al Lopez, Paul Richards, Jimmie Dykes, Gene Lamont, Jerry Manuel or Tony LaRussa couldn't do: bring a World Series trophy to Chicago.

Thanks for everything Ozzie, and best of luck to you in Miami! On a side note, let the speculation commence as to who will become the next White Sox manager. Personally, I'd rather not go the route of Tony LaRussa version 2.0.