Aware of White Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen’s habit of occasionally answering email from the great unwashed, the Chicago Tribune’s Rick Morrissey conducted a little experiment ; how many annoying messages would it require to get Ozzie’s goat?

“Ozzie:

I just saw your car dealership ad with Piniella. You should stick to managing. 77-year-old Jack McKeon can rap better than you.

Rick”

Then I forgot about it. Four hours later, I checked my mail, and there it was. From: [email protected]. I opened it.

“You have to be stupid. Get a life, loser. I hope you have no kids. They have to be like you.”

OK, I guess I asked for that. I e-mailed him back.

“My kids are just like me. And they can rap too. We’re going to start a new group. The Von Rapp Family.”

A half-hour later, Ozzie replied.

“I feel sorry for them. Poor family.”

I’ll admit it. I was feeling a bit sheepish about e-mailing him semi-anonymously. Each time he e-mailed me, I felt as if I were doing something illegal. On the other hand, what the hell.

I responded.

“I’m going to raise one of them to be a baseball manager. It looks like easy money. What’s Kenny Williams’ e-mail address?”

At 4:30 p.m., about 90 minutes before Saturday’s Sox-A’s game, Guillen replied.

“Good, and he’ll have to deal with stupid people like you. Jajajajaja.”

Had Ozzie been provoked by say, a blogger, we might well read one of Morrisey’s colleagues asking exactly what purpose is served by trying to goad Guillen into flipping out. If a radio station engaged in such a prank, the White Sox might well pull their advertising. How many messages from the general public does Rick Morrisey receive each day, and how many of his replies are made public?