White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf:
“He’s a delight to be around. Always upbeat. He’s a very good player, the ultimate team player. I’d like to have him play out his career in Chicago. That doesn’t mean he will. I don’t make personnel decisions, so it’s not something I can control.
“Every time I talk to him, I come away feeling good. His personality is infectious. He’s a great kidder. I like people who kid around.
“A couple of years ago he was after me to buy him a Rolex watch. I told him I would do it if he got 50 walks. He said, `OK, I’ll walk 50 times, but I’ll only hit .190.’ “
Try as he did, shortstop Ozzie Guillen couldn’t resist pulling the trigger. This was in 1990, when he drew a career high of 26 walks. In his two full seasons since, ’91 and ’93, he walked a total of 21 times.
“I’m aggressive when I go to the plate,” Guillen said Friday night. “I like to swing the bat. I like to be there, in the clutch, when the game is on the line.”
He has an identical approach in the field, particularly during the late-inning pressure.
“I say to myself, `I hope it’s a ground ball, a line drive-around me.’ I’m not afraid to fail,” he said.
Unlike many players, Guillen is not afraid to speak his mind, to remind a teammate he should bear down.
“Some guys like that, and some guys don’t,” revealed veteran outfielder Tim Raines. “But you need to have that.”
Does Raines have moments when he and Guillen are not in sync?
“Never,” Raines replied. “I’m doing my job.”
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Raines laughed.
“Some players complain he’s too talkative,” he said. “Not me. Half the time we don’t know what he’s saying.”
Ozzie Guillen, 10-year major-league veteran, always knows what he’s saying. He also is aware some of his teammates don’t take kindly to his criticism.
“I don’t care what the people or the players think,” Guillen said. “When I say something to a player, I’m not trying to embarrass him. I’m trying to make him better.”
Guillen paused.
“Players don’t want to hear it,” he said. “When I make a mistake, I’m told about it. I expect it. I don’t say things right away. I wait for the right time. And when I say something I know I have to be 100 percent right.”
It has been my observation that Guillen, over the years, has been 99.4 percent correct. Few players know how to play the game better.
Most of his teammates are delighted with his presence.
“He makes all the plays for us,” said catcher Mike LaValliere. “And he give us a No. 9 hitter who can do something offensively. He helps in a lot of ways. He’s out there having fun. Even when he’s struggling, he’s still having fun. And that’s a good thing for all of us to see.”
First base coach Doug Mansolino:
“It’s hard to explain. It’s an intensity-looseness. He has a knack for turning up his intensity level and at the same time keeping everyone loose. He’s a non-stop talker. Talks to everyone. Fans, umpires.
“What I like most about him is he doesn’t change. He’s always trying to help people. In ’92, when he went down (with a severe knee injury), Craig Grebeck stepped in and did a good job. But the club went down with Ozzie. He came back last year and we won the division. That should tell you everything.”
Many players have a hostile relationship with their owner. Guillen is among the exceptions.
“Jerry Reinsdorf has been very fair to me,” Guillen insisted. “Some people say I’m worth more; some people say I’m worth less. In my mind my contract is fair.”
Guillen never has opted for free agency. Nor has he taken the club to salary arbitration.
“Loyalty and happiness are important to me,” he said. “If I have to take less money to stay with the White Sox in the future, I will. I want to play my whole career (here).”
In September of ’89, Guillen agreed to a five-year extension.
“There wasn’t time to have the contract drawn before he was to go home for the winter,” Reinsdorf recalled. “Ozzie said, `Show me the signature page. I’ll sign it, and you can fill in all the rest of it after I go home.’ “
Let’s hope Ozzie Guillen never is traded. He’s one of a kind.