White Sox general manager Ken Williams has no reason to fear a suspension or fine, Major League Baseball executive vice president Sandy Alderson said Friday, nor should the Sox worry about umpires holding a grudge against them for remarks made by manager Ozzie Guillen that led to back-to-back suspensions.
That assurance from Alderson came in the wake of a volatile week between the Sox and Major League Baseball over umpire Hunter Wendelstedt's report saying Guillen spit at him when he was ejected from a game against Cleveland Aug. 9.
''There isn't any reason Ken has to be concerned,'' Alderson said of Williams' speculation that he, too, would be punished for defending Guillen. ''He's free to make his comments publicly about his and my comments. He didn't impugn the integrity of umpires. From my standpoint, the case [with Williams] is closed.''
Alderson acknowledged he and Williams had a ''heated'' telephone discussion Thursday when Alderson called to notify the Sox' GM that baseball disciplinarian Bob Watson had imposed a second two-game suspension and $2,000 fine on Guillen for branding Wendelstedt ''a liar'' in comments to the media Wednesday.
''The purpose of my call [Thursday] was to give Ken a heads-up [of the additional penalty] that was imposed by Bob Watson,'' Alderson said. ''It was a heated conversation, but there's no reason for Ken to expect there will be any action as far as he's concerned.''
Told Friday of Alderson's comments, Williams said the matter would not have escalated had Guillen and managers in general had an avenue of appeal.
''When people feel they haven't had an opportunity to defend themselves or express their opinions, but are punished without that due process taking effect, there's going to be some sort of lashing out,'' he said of Guillen's comments.
An angry Williams had defended Guillen on Thursday, telling reporters he asked Alderson, ''What is my fine and what is my suspension?''
Alderson said it was Guillen's public denunciation of Wendelstedt more than anything else that was the reason for his second two-game suspension and fine, served Thursday and Friday.
''To the extent there are questions [about umpires], there are [internal] avenues to do that,'' Alderson said. ''We certainly follow up on issues of that nature.''
He added the Sox should not believe Wendelstedt and other umpires will hold the dispute against them.
''That's one of those urban myths,'' Alderson said of reprisals. ''There may have been a time in baseball history when those types of grudges existed, but those times are gone. There is too much supervision for that sort of thing to exist. Umpires are very professional and are concerned about professionalism. There's just too much scrutiny, not just from our department but from the media, instant replay and the umpires themselves for that to happen.
''I'm very confident that will not be the case, and part of the action taken by Bob Watson [against Guillen] was to again reinforce the notion that if there are concerns, there are ways that can be handled privately with far better results.
''We take the profession of umpiring very seriously, as the umpires do themselves. There is integrity among umpires, and they're professionals. Do they make mistakes? Yeah, all of us do. But we do everything we can to be sure that perception that there is a grudge doesn't exist.''
http://www.suntimes.com/output/sox/cst-spt-ssep21.html
That assurance from Alderson came in the wake of a volatile week between the Sox and Major League Baseball over umpire Hunter Wendelstedt's report saying Guillen spit at him when he was ejected from a game against Cleveland Aug. 9.
''There isn't any reason Ken has to be concerned,'' Alderson said of Williams' speculation that he, too, would be punished for defending Guillen. ''He's free to make his comments publicly about his and my comments. He didn't impugn the integrity of umpires. From my standpoint, the case [with Williams] is closed.''
Alderson acknowledged he and Williams had a ''heated'' telephone discussion Thursday when Alderson called to notify the Sox' GM that baseball disciplinarian Bob Watson had imposed a second two-game suspension and $2,000 fine on Guillen for branding Wendelstedt ''a liar'' in comments to the media Wednesday.
''The purpose of my call [Thursday] was to give Ken a heads-up [of the additional penalty] that was imposed by Bob Watson,'' Alderson said. ''It was a heated conversation, but there's no reason for Ken to expect there will be any action as far as he's concerned.''
Told Friday of Alderson's comments, Williams said the matter would not have escalated had Guillen and managers in general had an avenue of appeal.
''When people feel they haven't had an opportunity to defend themselves or express their opinions, but are punished without that due process taking effect, there's going to be some sort of lashing out,'' he said of Guillen's comments.
An angry Williams had defended Guillen on Thursday, telling reporters he asked Alderson, ''What is my fine and what is my suspension?''
Alderson said it was Guillen's public denunciation of Wendelstedt more than anything else that was the reason for his second two-game suspension and fine, served Thursday and Friday.
''To the extent there are questions [about umpires], there are [internal] avenues to do that,'' Alderson said. ''We certainly follow up on issues of that nature.''
He added the Sox should not believe Wendelstedt and other umpires will hold the dispute against them.
''That's one of those urban myths,'' Alderson said of reprisals. ''There may have been a time in baseball history when those types of grudges existed, but those times are gone. There is too much supervision for that sort of thing to exist. Umpires are very professional and are concerned about professionalism. There's just too much scrutiny, not just from our department but from the media, instant replay and the umpires themselves for that to happen.
''I'm very confident that will not be the case, and part of the action taken by Bob Watson [against Guillen] was to again reinforce the notion that if there are concerns, there are ways that can be handled privately with far better results.
''We take the profession of umpiring very seriously, as the umpires do themselves. There is integrity among umpires, and they're professionals. Do they make mistakes? Yeah, all of us do. But we do everything we can to be sure that perception that there is a grudge doesn't exist.''
http://www.suntimes.com/output/sox/cst-spt-ssep21.html
