José Manuel Guillén (born May 17, 1976 in San
Cristóbal, Dominican Republic) is a Major League
Baseball outfielder who plays for Kansas City
Royals.
In 2004, Guillén hit .294 with 27 home runs and 104
RBI for the Anaheim Angels, but he was suspended the
last two weeks of the regular season and during the
postseason for "inappropriate conduct" in publicly
expressing his displeasure with Angels manager Mike
Scioscia following Scioscia's removal of Guillén in
favor of a pinch runner during a crucial game
against the Oakland Athletics.
On November 19, 2004 he was traded to the Washington
Nationals for shortstop Maicer Izturis and
outfielder Juan Rivera. The move sent Guillén to his
sixth team in just five seasons.
In 2005, Guillén began his season strongly. In
April, he batted .303 with 6 home runs and 14 RBIs.
The Nationals were impressed and on April 29, they
exercised his option for 2006.
On June 14, 2005, the Nationals began a three-game
series against the Angels, who were still helmed by
Mike Scioscia. This marked Guillén's first return to
Anaheim since being traded. Going into the series,
both Guillén and Scioscia kept a civil tone
publicly, each indicating that the past was behind
them and claiming that they held no hard feelings
toward one another. However, the tensions below the
surface were exposed when, during the second game of
the series, Angels pitcher Brendan Donnelly was
found with illegal substances on his glove.
