On Wednesday, the Chicago White Sox studio crew on NBC Sports Chicago took some subtle shots at Parkins & Spiegel on 670 The Score. Danny Parkins knows what it is they heard that elicited the reaction. He just isn’t sure why the reaction was so harsh.
“Apparently Ozzie and some others maybe got upset about what we said because then they started referencing and vaguely talking about us on TV,” he told the Score audience.
Guillen characterized what Parkins and Matt Spiegel said about the White Sox postgame show after game one of a doubleheader as criticism.
“They’re crying like a little girl. ‘Ozzie said this’. ‘Ozzie said that.’ ‘Oh Ozzie!’. Alright. Do your own show,” the former manager said on TV.
Danny Parkins said he was pointing out how harsh the criticism of the team from its official broadcast is. He never said that was a bad thing.
In fact, he thought it was being pretty clear that he was happy with what he was hearing from the NBC Sports Chicago crew. He said it was important that the White Sox leadership and decision making be held accountable as we get deeper into the season and the games get bigger.
“I’m so confused, genuinely. I don’t think that’s like a beef. Ozzie’s being playful, whatever. It is what it is. But if you’re gonna take a shot and say that we were crying? Were we crying yesterday? Weren’t we complimenting them?”
He took the compliments a step further. Parkins mentioned a column from The Athletic’s Jon Greenberg in which the writer called Guillen “the Charles Barkley of Chicago,” saying that he couldn’t think of a better description for the White Sox analyst.
“That’s how I see Ozzie. As a completely singular baseball analyst who is completely unafraid to come at people. So he’s coming at us. Totally fine! I just think it’s weird he’s coming at someone who defends him all the time.”
In trying to think about things he has said about Ozzie Guillen in the past that could cause the former skipper to hold a grudge, Danny Parkins wondered if perhaps his belief that Guillen could not get another job as a manager caused some hard feelings.
Parkins admitted that he has said on the air that he thought Ozzie Guillen became toxic when he praised Fidel Castro while he was the manager of the Miami Marlins. Parkins also said that there is a part of him that hopes Guillen never becomes a manager again, even if it is in Chicago.
“He would be a clear upgrade over Tony La Russa. I would love it for the White Sox. I would hate it for us, because we wouldn’t have him on TV anymore.”
