I feel awful for Sean Tracey.

All Sean Tracey did Wednesday night was do the job that a pitcher is normally asked to do.  Summoned from the bullpen by White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen to start the seventh inning against Texas, Tracey managed to get Hank Blalock, one of the most feared sluggers in the game today, to hit into a ground ball out.  Normally, recording the first out of an inning against a great hitter like Blalock would be a very good acomplishment, especially for a rookie pitcher with little major league experience.  But Tracey's reward did not come close to fitting his accomplishment.  Ozzie Guillen walked out to the pitcher's mound and angrily removed his young pitcher from the game.

Why would a manager be angry with a pitcher that just recorded an out?  Because, in Ozzie's mind, Tracey had not done his job.  It seems that prior to facing Blalock, Guillen had instructed his pitcher to hit the Texas third baseman with a pitch to retalliate for two earlier beaings of White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski.  Tracey's first pitch was inside, but it failed to strike Blalock.  Guillen, enraged that his pitcher had not followed up his order to strike an opposing team's batter, pulled the pitcher from the game and threatened to demote him to AAA.  On Thursday, upon acquiring relief pitcher David Riske from the Red Sox, Sean Tracey was indeed demoted to the minors.  Granted, a roster move was needed to make room for for Riske, but it doesn't seem like a coincidence that Tracey was chosen to be sent to the farm club.

Did Sean Tracey fail to accomplish his assigned task of hitting a batter?  Most certainly.  Should Guillen have reacted in the way he did?  Absolutely not.  Guillen's reaction to the situation was completely out of line.  It's fine to be disappointed at a player for not performing as expected.  Heck, it would even be acceptable to berate the player behind closed doors after the game.  Instead of keeping his anger in-house, Guillen chose to vent in the dugout, in plain view of thousands of fans and media personnel.  Tracey appeared to nearly be in tears after the verbal beat-down at the hands of his own manager.  What lesson was Tracey supposed to learn on Wednesday?  I guess Guillen was trying to send a message that even the slightest amount of non-compliance is unnacceptable, especially if it goes against the manager's wishes to cause physical harm to an opposing player.

The reaction of Ozzie Guillen to the situation involving Sean Tracey was completely unacceptable.  Just because a player failed to injure a fellow player on another team is no excuse to punish him.  The only person that deserves to be punished for his actions is Ozzie Guillen.  I hope Bud Selig grows some balls and does something about a controversial situation (for once) and at least fines, or perhaps suspends, the White Sox manager.  A suspension would fit Guillen's crime.  A plane ticket to play AAA ball in Charlotte doesn't fit Tracey's crime.