Sox’ Guillen credits others for his longevity

Across the diamond Thursday, the Oakland Athletics were firing manager Bob Geren while Ozzie Guillen was preparing for his 1,200th game in the White Sox’ dugout.

And they said it wouldn’t last.

Guillen has had some rocky moments during his seven-plus seasons as the Sox’ manager, mostly caused from outside (see middle son Oney) sources.

All in all, he has established himself as one of the game’s top managers while going 631-569.

Refusing to take any credit, much like he did in 2005 when the White Sox won the World Series, Guillen tipped his cap to chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, general manager Kenny Williams and assistant GM Rick Hahn.

“The only reason I’m still here is because Kenny gave me good players in the past, he gave me good players in the present,” said Guillen, who played shortstop for the Sox for 13 seasons before returning as manager in 2004. “If they give you bad players, you’ll get fired.

“I think Kenny and Jerry and Rick put a good ballclub together, made me compete, that’s the only reason you survive. There’s no manager with a losing career; they don’t last too long.”

Paul Konerko has been a key player for the White Sox since Guillen arrived, and he always has enjoyed playing for the fiery 47-year-old manager.

“It’s never boring, that’s for sure,” Konerko said. “Everybody knew that the day he got the job. As far as a player, Ozzie is easy to play for. Show up on time and run the bases hard. I’ve never seen him get on a player for not hitting or not pitching well. If he knows you’re busting it out there he’s easy to play for.

“He’s not an older manager, he’s close to us (in age), he knows the schedule is tough, and he’s always looking to give a guy a break or take care of you when you need it. That’s what we see. We don’t even care about the other stuff.”

Creeping up:

With Thursday’s win over the reeling Athletics, the White Sox gained a half-game on the idle first-place Cleveland Indians. The Sox are 5½ games off the pace, the closest they have been to the top since April 26.

General manager Kenny Williams is pleased with the way the White Sox have recovered from a miserable start.

“We think we’re in it,” Williams said. “The reason why is because we’ve got pitching. When you have pitching in the American League you can compete on a day-to-day basis. We’re just fortunate it wasn’t a 60-game season and it’s 162 games.

“Ultimately, the pitching bears the fruit. It would help the pitching a little bit if a couple of the (hitters) lightened up a little bit on themselves and started performing at their career levels.

“We don’t need anybody on this team to perform above where their normal water level is.”