Guillen shoots from the hip, as usual

When it comes to making outrageous statements, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has few peers, inside or outside major-league baseball.

Earlier in the Sox' four-game series against the Blue Jays, reporters asked Guillen about an incident involving Alex Rios last season.

Before the White Sox claimed him off waivers from Toronto, Rios was 0-for-5 with 5 strikeouts in a June game at Rogers Centre. Afterward, he got into a profanity-laced exchange with some autograph seekers. Guillen saw the clip on YouTube.

"If you put yourself in Alex Rios' shoes, that kid is lucky it wasn't Ozzie," Guillen said. "I would beat the (bleep) out of him and the guys because the way they approached him is not the way to approach a human being. They were making fun of him."

Later, Guillen was asked what he would do if he wasn't managing the Sox.

"There are a lot of horse(bleep) managers out there that are given two and three shots to manage in the big leagues," Guillen said. "I don't see why not me."

Before Thursday night's game, Guillen showed his softer side when asked about Jackie Robinson. Honoring the 63rd anniversary of Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier, every major-league player wore his uniform No. 42 Thursday.

"He was a very good player; that's why he was there," Guillen said of Robinson, who debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. "If Jackie Robinson was an African-American player and a horse(bleep) player, he ain't going to be in the big leagues. It's a special day for everyone in baseball. I think Jackie opened a lot of good things for baseball.

"He's one of the reasons we're making that much money, especially me."

Good cause: White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham is scheduled to announce details of a partnership with the National Parkinson Foundation on Wednesday morning at U.S Cellular Field.

The cause is particularly important to Beckham, whose grandfather suffers from Parkinson's disease.

One-two punch: In Thursday night's game against Gwinnett, Class AAA Charlotte starter Jeff Marquez scattered 5 hits over 5 scoreless innings. Scott Elarton, a 6-foot-8 right-hander who last pitched in the major leagues in 2008 (Indians), followed Marquez with 2 scoreless innings of relief.