After another exasperating, flat loss Wednesday night in Kansas City (amid a season full of them), we all marvel at Ozzie Guillen’s expletive-filled post-game tirade. He gets bleeped a lot, he shows a lot of anger and emotion, and he verbally throws the onus on his players to perform better. It’s the cathartic out-pour that we all crave from a team that looks lethargic.
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It makes the local headlines. Radio hosts have their discussion topic for the day. It even makes SportsCenter, because those guys in Bristol love a good Ozzie outburst. That is basically the only attention the Sox get from ESPN anyway.

And yet little changes in the Groundhog Day life of the frustratingly futile Chicago White Sox.

Just the fact that Ozzie has to give the exact same “lack of effort” tirade so frequently should in itself be an indictment of himself as a manager, as well as obviously the players. Why do these guys, time after time, year after year, have to be reprimanded and angrily cussed out over listless underperformance?

Well, for one thing, as much as Ozzie barks, his players lack the bite. Jake Peavy is good for an ass-kissing, inspirational quote every so often, otherwise Sox players tend to follow the lead of the “boilerplate” veterans.

Consider the reaction to Wednesday’s maddening defeat and perceived lack of energy by of the team’s two elder-statesmen.

AJ Pierzynski:

“I thought we played well, we just didn’t get any hits. Chen pitched pretty well, and their bullpen has been strong for them all year. We didn’t have a whole lot of chances, hit into some double plays and scored one run. When you get five hits in 11 innings, it’s going to look that way.”

And Paul Konerko:

“No team is going to have energy every single day. You need to figure out how to get wins on those days. It’s tough. That’s the way it is. It’s not Opening Day every day, and you have to figure out on those days where you’re dragging how to get through.’’

Words are only words, but at times it feels like Ozzie has too many of them and his players have too few. Pierzynski is no stranger to showing emotion, and Konerko, despite a recent slump, is having a monster season at the plate, so it would be inappropriate to blame the World Series leaders for what’s ailing the Sox.

But when you have a team that has trouble translating its strengths on paper to the the field, and appear to lack intensity, it is fair to look for a little more zeal.

Ozzie is mercurial, and at times undiplomatic and unfocused. It creates a roller coaster ride of a season, so in some ways it is good to have stoic guys like Konerko on the ride. But there are times when the Sox need Ozzie’s fire and brimstone to kick them in the ass, and the old guard’s complacency feels undermining.

With the Sox, you have a team with a fiery manager and nonchalant players. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like with the exact reverse of that.