Guillen got the first part right and the second is irrelevant, unless you are talking to American Spirit.
According to reports, Guillen said — in reference to Mariotti — "What a piece of (expletive) he is, (expletive) fag.
Mariotti is a gifted writer, but he tends to make his columns a bit too personal. That is not an excuse for Ozzie, just an observation.
Guillen apologizes--but not to columnist
By Dave van Dyck
Tribune staff reporter
June 22, 2006
Ozzie Guillen has done a lot of talking--no, we mean much, much more than normal--the last two days explaining and apologizing for all the recent brushfires he has started around baseball, one that is likely to net him at least a one-game suspension.
Here's a log of the White Sox manager's recent conversations:
- Sit down with Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and talk on phone with general manager Ken Williams about how to handle the slur Guillen used in a rant about Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti.
He apologized for the word he used but didn't back down on his attack of Mariotti, whom he described Wednesday as a "piece of [excrement]" and "garbage."
"Jerry doesn't like Jay either," Guillen said. "Nobody likes that man here. I don't care what he thinks about me. Jerry talked to me and said I should [think] about the word I used. [But Mariotti] is a piece of garbage, he always has been garbage and always will be garbage."
- Chat with Cardinals manager Tony La Russa Wednesday about the beanball battle the night before in which the White Sox got the last plunk and two resulting ejections.
"Tony understands," Guillen said. "That thing is over with."
It really isn't because Guillen and pitcher David Riske will serve suspensions soon, most likely one and three games respectively.
- Chat with Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan, whose son Chris was the one Riske hit in the rear end.
"I didn't even know that kid was Duncan's kid until after we did it. I swear to God," Guillen said. "I've seen this kid growing up. After we hit him, all my kids said you know that's Dave Duncan's kid. I said, `Ooohh.' Then I called Duncan and I apologized."
- Field a telephone call from Houston manager Phil Garner to explain disparaging printed remarks on the eve of a World Series rematch this weekend at U. S. Cellular Field.
"Everything's fine between us," Guillen said.
Maybe it is and maybe not.
Guillen has been a busy man to the point of deflecting questions from the media about whether he should receive sensitivity training ("About what?" he asked.) to Garner's statement that "maybe he can get some help."
The Garner-Guillen exchange came after published remarks attributed to Guillen claiming Garner treated him "like some crazy Venezuelan" and refused to shake his hand during last year's World Series.
Although not saying he was misquoted, Guillen said Wednesday that he was joking about the "crazy Venezuelan" remark, although Garner apparently didn't think it was funny.
"I take exception to be put into that category," Garner told the Houston Chronicle Wednesday, after he had talked with Guillen. "That's why I called him. It sounds to me like he has some issues. Maybe he can get some help about that."
Told of Garner's comments, Guillen didn't respond directly, but said: "I don't have anything against him.
"The roof [controversy in Houston], I was there by myself and they got all the people there and I asked the question about the roof and they got upset."
And the non-shaking of hands?
"I went to shake his hand [before a game] and he turned around," Guillen said. "As soon as I went to shake his hand, he turned around to talk to somebody in the stands. I don't think he saw me when I went to shake his hand."
Now the upshot is that Guillen may not be able to manage against Garner for all three weekend games. He fully expects MLB to suspend him for Tuesday's hit-batter incident after umpires had warned both benches to cease.
"I should," he said. "I think everybody does. I'm waiting for the call."
Historically, managers have been suspended for one game, pitchers for three to five. In fact, Riske served a four-game suspension last season for a beanball fight while pitching for Cleveland.
"I'm sure if there's a warning, that's the down part of it," Riske said, refusing any further comment.
Meanwhile, more suspension talk came during Guillen's daily pregame briefing with the media, only this one about his use of a derogatory term for a homosexual in describing Mariotti.
"I should be suspended because I called one guy that?" Guillen asked. "I should have used another word. [MLB] can do whatever they want, but I'm not going to back up. I will apologize to the people I offended because I should have used another word."
And so it has been another couple of hectic days--busier than normal--for Guillen. As his team runs around the bases against the Cardinals, he runs off at the mouth.
"There are things you can't say, but good luck trying [to convince] Ozzie," team captain Paul Konerko said.
"He's going to say whatever he wants. I'm certainly not going to say anything that's going to make him change the way he is and I highly doubt anybody is. That's it. That's the way it is."
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dvandyck@tribune.com
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