Guillen really does answer his e-mail

Ozzie Guillen talks a lot about the e-mails fans send him. You couldn't get through any of the recent Cubs- White Sox games without hearing him talking about the electronic abuse he receives.

He has made his e-mail address ( OzzieGuillen13@hotmail.com) public. That's pretty cool. There can't be another manager in baseball who does it. You get the feeling the only person Cardinals manager Tony La Russa would give his e-mail address to would be God, and only then for the times God needed advice.

Several readers have told me that Guillen has responded to their e-mails. And being the chatty, opinionated manager he is, the responses often are what might be termed "colorful."

So the challenge was obvious: get him to answer an e-mail.

I would pretend to be a fan sending my thoughts to the Sox manager, and he would, I hoped, respond in some way. I knew I'd have to push the right buttons to get a response. E-mailing him and saying, "Ozzie, your team was spectacular today!" would not cut it. You've got to raise your game with Guillen.

I would use my personal e-mail address, which is a mixture of letters and numbers and looks something like a ham radio operator's call sign. I would identify myself only as "Rick." He wouldn't know I was the e-mailer.

Beginning with the most recent Cubs-Sox series, I tried to flush him out with various strategies, though nothing too personal.

June 27—In a column five days before, I had criticized Guillen for not removing starter Jose Contreras on the way to an eight-run inning against the Cubs. On this day, the Cubs' Ryan Dempster had a seven-run inning against the Sox.

Dear Ozzie:

It must have been your decision to leave Ryan Dempster in that long.

Rick

Nothing. No response from Guillen. OK, I admit it. It wasn't my best stuff. Kind of a backhanded insult. Maybe a little too subtle. I'd have to try harder.

June 28—It was time to get busy.

Ozzie:

Do you drink vodka before the game and whiskey during it, or is it the other way around?

Rick

That's "A" material, my friends. If a manager doesn't respond to an attack on his game-readiness, he's not going to respond at all. I was feeling pretty good about myself.

Nothing again.

Oh, so that was how it was going to be. The silent treatment. Now it was time to play on Guillen's feelings about the Cubs, whom the Sox had just beaten for the second day in a row.

June 29—I alluded to the fact that the Cubs were missing Carlos Zambrano and Alfonso Soriano.