Giant miscommunication reaches fitting conclusion

Shortly after Ozzie Guillen finished addressing the media Tuesday afternoon, GM Kenny Williams was set to take his turn.

He left one meeting and, on his way to another, he stopped in the White Sox' clubhouse.

Upon seeing no reporters, who were waiting for Williams in the dugout, Williams turned around and left.

A fitting conclusion to what amounts to a giant miscommunication.

As expected, the latest South Side controversy wrapped up Tuesday with no changes of any kind.

Guillen was as he always is, unapologetic, and Williams was as he always is, aggravated at having to deal with questions caused by Guillen's answers.

What is different this time is Williams' frustration level with spending hours a week responding.

Asked by e-mail Tuesday night if he indicated to Guillen in their meeting Tuesday that he didn't have space in his day anymore, Williams replied, "I still don't have time for this.''

That's the e-mail equivalent of hanging up the phone, and his point is well taken.

Clearly, Williams' is more irritated than usual, part of that probably his heavy involvement in the draft, the lack of production from past drafts and the extra work he has taken on of late.

"Kenny's got a lot of stuff to be worried about right now without worrying about what's going on in the clubhouse,'' Guillen said. "That's my job. I get paid to take care of this job.''

There's also the pain Williams feels at having recently fired close friend and adviser Dave Wilder, and the agony over seeing his team fail to capitalize on two months of excellent pitching.

"We're in first place, but look at how many games up we would be if we hit a little bit more,'' Guillen said. "We haven't taken advantage of the (teams) in our division not playing well.''

Guillen probably would have been better served to say it that way in Tampa on Sunday.

But if Williams overreacted to what he thought Guillen said, or what he thought Guillen meant, Guillen believes he was misrepresented, or at the very least misunderstood.

Guillen owes so much to Williams, and thinks so highly of him, the only logical conclusion is that the words weren't delivered to Williams in the same way Guillen said them.

"Maybe Kenny didn't understand my message the right way. Maybe I said it the wrong way or didn't use the right words,'' Guillen said. "I wasn't trying to tell him what to do with his ballclub.''

Asked if the Tuesday meeting cleared the air, Guillen said, "As clear as it can be.

"Kenny said what he wanted to say, I said what I wanted to say. We're still friends. But I explained my side, what I meant to say. I'm not throwing anybody under the bus.

"I never demand my kids do anything. You think I'm going to demand my boss do something?

"He's my friend. We've been working together for a long time. This is like a marriage. We're on the same page 100 percent of the time.

"It caught me by surprise, the way he felt. But I was worried about our relationship as friends, not because he's my boss.

"One thing about me, I'm not gonna lie. If I (criticized him), I'd say, 'Listen, I apologize.' But I didn't say it that way. I truly believe he believed me.''

What was measurably different about Guillen on Tuesday was how exhausted he looked and sounded after having an off-day spoiled by the distraction of the headlines he created around the country.

"It's not healthy for me (to go on a rant),'' Guillen said. "Believe me, it's not healthy.''

Still, Guillen did not pretend for a second that he would change his ways.

"I gotta come here and (listen to people) say, 'Oh, they make him change his (story) because he might lose his job?' No, I was honest with Jerry (Reinsdorf) and I was honest with Kenny,'' Guillen said. "I don't think anything's gonna change.

"Sometimes I create my own problems. I'm not going to make any excuses. That's the way I am. That's me. I'm going to say what I have to say.''

What he said before Tuesday's game was that he didn't know when his team would start to hit, but he hoped it would be soon.

And on cue, the Sox blasted the Royals for 11 hits in a 9-5 victory.

"I'm the biggest fan they have,'' Guillen said of his hitters. "I'm just trying to get the most out of them.''

At least for one day, he did, so there was peace, and -- by the way -- a first-place team on the South Side of Chicago, in case that little fact got lost in the shuffle.

Or in translation.

brozner@dailyherald.com