No one had a better spring-training perspective on the White Sox than shortstop Ozzie Guillen. He was among the few players who did not echo the party line about 90 to 100 victories and a trip to the World Series.
“This is either going to be a great season or a miserable (expletive) season,” Guillen said.
After calling it right, Guillen took center stage as the White Sox bid good riddance to a season in which players won 80 games and management traded away eight veteran players with a combined 92 years’ experience in the major leagues.
Guillen worked Kansas City reliever Scott Service for a seventh-inning walk in what he believes was his final plate appearance with the franchise that handed him the shortstop’s job in 1985. He was replaced by pinch runner Norberto Martin, then received his fifth standing ovation of the afternoon as he left the field.
Guillen, who learned Thursday that the White Sox will not exercise the option on his contract for 1998, left tickets for 40 to 45 friends for Sunday’s game. He ran on the field by himself at the start of the game, with teammate Robin Ventura ordering others to stay back for a few moments. One by one, his teammates ran onto the field, hugging the shortstop on the way to their positions.
“It touched my heart,” Guillen said. “I saw those guys coming out hugging me, and I didn’t want any balls to get hit to me that inning. I saw Dave Martinez crying and Robin crying. That means a lot.”
Guillen has played in 1,742 games with the Sox, fourth most in club history. He is fifth with 1,608 hits and eighth with 693 runs.
“Hopefully, they will retire his number,” Frank Thomas said. “He has been a special character around here for a long time.”
Guillen, 33, will test the free-agent market in hopes of landing a starting job elsewhere. “I saw him play in Las Vegas when he was 16,” Kansas City manager Tony Muser said. “He’s a fine shortstop and will continue his career somewhere.”
No surprise: Despite being hitless in his last 10 at-bats of the season, Thomas won his first batting title and the first by a Sox player since Luke Appling in 1943. Thomas hit .347 and wasn’t pushed by a pack of challengers in the season’s final two weeks.
“I was fortunate,” Thomas said. “The last few years, guys have been hitting .360. I guess the pitchers were better in the American League this year.”
Out with a bang: Albert Belle drove a 3-0 pitch from Kansas City starter Jim Pittsley into the left-field seats in the first inning for his 30th home run. That gave him at least 30 home runs in each of the last six seasons.
Belle believes he lost several home runs to the dimensions of Comiskey Park. He said he would discuss bringing in the fences with management.
“Maybe they can make it more hitter-friendly next year,” Belle said. “I’ll bring it up in the off-season. I’d like to see 325 (feet) down the lines, 365 in the gaps and see if that’s really 400 feet to center field.”
Belle finished his first season with the Sox with a .274 batting average and 116 runs batted in. He was third in the AL with 45 doubles and finished with 76 extra-base hits, the second-highest single-season total in club history.
Belle has 264 home runs and 827 RBIs over the last seven seasons. He leads the majors in both categories since 1991, with Barry Bonds second with 257 home runs and Thomas second with 823 RBIs.
But Belle could have been much more productive this season. He batted .253 with men in scoring position, his lowest since 1992. He hit .351 with men in scoring position last year.
