No more Mr. Nice Guy

CLEVELAND -- Different city, same old Ozzie.

And let's put an emphasis on the old.

After waging verbal warfare on the lifeless White Sox the previous two days in Texas, manager Ozzie Guillen said he's going back to his roots upon arriving at Jacobs Fields.

"I think I was a little soft for three months," Guillen said before the Sox blew a 5-0 lead and lost to the first-place Indians 8-5 on Friday night. "I was a little soft. Ozzie has to be Ozzie, because I'm going to do it my (bleeping) way to get fired.

"Ozzie has to be Ozzie and if people like it, they like it. If they don't, the only two people I worry about are (chairman) Jerry Reinsdorf and (general manager) Kenny Williams."

Even though the White Sox are heading for a last-place finish -- which would be their first since 1989 when they went 69-92 in the old American League West -- Guillen is not in danger of being fired.

Williams said as much Thursday. And Reinsdorf gave Guillen an "A" grade last week.

While plenty of changes are coming in the off-season, Guillen said he's in need of an immediate personality change. The fiery manager was asked why he's been so "soft" since June.

"That's a good question," Guillen said. "Because I wanted to be positive, I wanted to think in a positive way, 'We have a good team, and we're just not playing that way.' I gave a lot of people opportunities to have success. I look back now and it's not me.

"I'm going to have success because of who I am, not because of who people want me to be. If you're a nice guy and you don't win, you're going to get criticized. If you're a piece of (bleep), you're going to be criticized. I don't have nothing to lose. I have to be Ozzie."

Since landing in the Sox' dugout in 2004, Guillen has been a classic player's manager. He still is, and that's the main reason starting pitcher Mark Buehrle and right fielder Jermaine Dye recently agreed to contract extensions for below market value.

But as he likes to say, Guillen used to throw his players "under the bus" when he felt it would improve their performance.

Apparently, he is going to get back to that style.

"My players, I don't have any problem with them," Guillen said. "If some of my players think I was wrong, shoot, I hope that doesn't happen because then we're lying to ourselves about how bad we're playing. I never said they quit on me, they're not playing hard, I never said that.

"It's just like, (bleep), it's not easy to sit down and take a beating every (bleeping) day for five months. And hope, hope, hope, hope and be nice, nice, nice.

"My goal is to win games. If you hate me, after we win the game you have to hug me and give me a high-five. But if you love me and after the game I'm sitting in my office and throwing (stuff), that's not my type of manager. It's funny the way people are killing me, about I'm done, I should be going home. Well I have good news for those guys. If I don't (manage) here, I'm going to do it somewhere else because I'm not afraid for this job. You think what you say is going to ruin your career. Sorry, but that's they way I am."

Indians 8, White Sox 5

On the mound: Reliever Mike MacDougal took the loss after allowing all five hitters he faced in the eighth inning to reach base. The big blow was Casey Blake's 3-run double. Starter Mark Buehrle pitched 7 innings and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits.

At the plate: Josh Fields was 1-for-4 with 2 RBI. He hit 9 HRs and drove in 24 runs in August. Jim Thome was 1-for-3 with an RBI and 2 walks.

-- Scot Gregor