Garland, Guillen talk about their different styles

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- He was wearing a different uniform Monday night, but it was the same old Jon Garland.

Rarely showing his emotions during eight seasons with the White Sox, Garland is now pitching for the Angels after being traded for shortstop Orlando Cabrera on Nov. 19.

"I don't think Jon Garland's going to change for anybody," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "He's got his own style, he's got his own way. He's had a lot of success with that way, and you've got to respect that."

Garland said he respected Guillen's style during the four seasons he played under the fiery manager. But the 28-year-old starting pitcher also admitted he learned how to "tune" Guillen out at times.

"In that clubhouse, as a player, you almost had to," said Garland, who will oppose Javier Vazquez and the White Sox on Thursday night. "Let's face it, he's going to be in that clubhouse screaming and yelling every day. Some guys like it, some guys don't.

"If you're trying to prepare for a game and that's what's going on, that's him. He can be that way. That's just the way I went about it. Other guys might not care. It didn't bother me at all. You really never saw me on the days I started.

"It didn't bother me. If it did, I'd step away. If I didn't want to hear it or if I was having a bad day or something else was going on, I'd go somewhere quiet."

When told about Garland's comments, Guillen didn't have much of a reaction.

"The only thing I can say about Jon is he got me a ring," Guillen said of the Sox' 2005 World Series championship. "And he made me smart every five days when he'd go out to the mound. That's the way I am. He's got his style, and I have my style."

Garland said his style won't change when he faces his former teammates.

"It's a game," said Garland, who is 4-3 with a 4.30 in 8 starts. "If I'm not throwing strikes, getting ahead, I'll be in trouble. Same as any other team."

Garland is having trouble finding the strike zone. In 52½ innings, the right-hander has 16 walks and 12 strikeouts.

"Early on, I think I was pressing," Garland said. "I was trying to be here for my teammates and trying to show what I was capable of doing. I think I got caught up in trying to do too much. I made a few mechanical changes."

Like Cabrera, Garland is eligible for free agency at the end of the season. And like everything else, he's not worried about the future.

"I don't think it's up to me right now," Garland said. "I've always said I'd play where someone wants me."

What if it's back with the White Sox?

"My feeling is if they wanted to keep me, they would have kept me," he said.