Guillen Calls Out Team, Not Manager

[love_that_reefer]

At first, the only sounds came from Joel Peralta's mouth.

He sat there, head in his lap, facing his locker. The words were nearly inaudible.

"Oh my God, oh my God," he mumbled.

A few minutes later on the opposite side of the clubhouse, Jose Guillen broke the silence. Frustration was boiling over after Wednesday's 9-8 loss to the Twins. Kansas City gave up a five-run lead in the ninth inning, extending its losing streak to 10 games.

"This is all on us," Guillen said. "This is not about what kind of moves the manager made. He cares about us, and he wants to win more than anyone. He's preparing every single day to win and works hard every day. And we've been letting him down."

As the media horde surrounding Guillen got larger, his voice grew louder and his words got harsher.

"We've got 25 people," he said. We've got to play as a team, win as a team and lose as a team. We've got too many babies here. They don't know how to play the game and play the game right, the way it's supposed to be played.

"That's the problem here. Now I know why this organization has been losing for a while."

Guillen is right about that last part. The Royals have lost like this before -- 19 in a row in 2005, 13 in a row in 2006.

Zack Greinke was one person who thought those days were over. Before Tuesday's game he spoke about how this year's team wasn't like former teams. He had no reason to believe a loss like this could happen.

After seeing his eight-inning, eight-strikeout quality start blown in the ninth, Greinke could only think back to a loss in the 19-game streak where Kansas City fell to Cleveland after blowing a seven-run lead in the ninth. He didn't think they could lose that one.

Or this one.

"It just shouldn't happen," Greinke said.

Peralta finally got up from his locker after a few minutes. He walked by Tony Pena Jr., who was so dejected he hadn't even changed out of his uniform.

When Peralta got back to his locker, he didn't have much to say about giving up the game-tying home run in the ninth and go-ahead home run in the 10th. He couldn't describe what happened.

And as much as Guillen talked, he couldn't either. The Royals' 10th loss could puzzle them for a while.

"What else do you want to hear, huh?" Guillen shouted. "You just understand whatever you want to understand. We lost the game."

Hopefully this will light a fire under their sorry asses. Guillen is right about what he says even if he went about it the wrong way. Not like he has helped all that much even though his May is a lot better than his April. It was good for him to defend Hillman though. The way they lost the past two games is pathetic!!!

[catman]

It is refreshing to see a player take the responsibility on himself. The Royals started off pretty well this season and have slumped badly recently. Losing 11 in a row is not a good way to build confidence.

[Killah Sith]

This is the edited version because apparently Guillen dropped 32 F-bombs in the rant. I think it's exactly what the team needs, someone fiesty.

[love_that_reefer]

Killah Sighting!!!

[Killah Sith]

Yeah no doubt. It's like seeing an endangered species.

[brewersfan19]

that is funny Killah!! + rep pts. for you!

[love_that_reefer]

Guillen has straight mashed since his tirade. He is now third in the AL in RBI!!

[BronxBomberz]

Guillen has straight mashed since his tirade. He is now third in the AL in RBI!!

Unfortunately, he did it against the Yankees in those 4 games. He's beasting

[Killah Sith]

Actually he has been great since someone dropped him and I picked him up on my fantasy baseball team. I admit, I only grabbed him because of injuries but he'll be staying now. Usually I jinx Royals, Alex Gordon last year, Billy Butler this year. But Guillen and Greinke are changing that.

Now if only he played first base. I have three on the DL and one sent to the minors.