One day after making a scene over the amount of pine tar on Harper's bat, Guillen was back at it on Monday, talking about the incident.
Guillen believed Harper had too much pine tar on his bat in the first inning of Sunday's game between the Nationals and Marlins, and that led Harper to come to the plate with a new bat in the fourth inning. Harper also appeared to point the new bat at Guillen on his way to the plate in a move that enraged Guillen, leading him to curse at Harper from the dugout.
The Marlins manager made a call to Nationals manager Davey Johnson after the game, and the two skippers revealed the nature of that conversation on Monday.
While Johnson didn't divulge much information about the call, Guillen was more than happy to share the details with reporters.
"He told me 'Get the [expletive] away from me,'" Guillen said, according to The Washington Post. "I don't think Davey understand why I call him. Because I was just calling to say, 'I don't want to make a big deal about this. I don't want to make a big scene. I think the kid 100 percent did something he shouldn't.'"
Guillen also said that he thought he was doing the "gentlemen" thing by bringing up the pine tar. And while Guillen admitted that he likes Harper, the Marlins skipper had some strongly worded warnings for the 19-year-old phenom.
"Like I say, I like this kid," Guillen added, according to the Post. "I think this kid is good for baseball. He's going to be better. But if this kid continues to do that [expletive], he might not make it. Because they're going to fool around with the wrong guy, and that wrong guy will kick his [expletive].
"He might not make it. And I love this kid. I think this kid is great for the game, plays the game right, plays the game hard. He's got a chance to be one of the greatest players in the game. But he's only 19 years old, too. When you're 19, you do things you shouldn't do, right or wrong thing. I take that, too. He's a baby, and that's why I respect him. But what he did, if he would do that to Tony La Russa or somebody else like that? He's gonna be in trouble. To me, I just laugh. I called him a couple names, that's it."
The two clubs split a four-game series after the Marlins won 5-3 on Monday.
