Never mind that he threw his former boss, Ken Williams, under the bus several times when all Chicago White Sox GM ever did was defend for Guillen and gave him the chance to save his job. And never mind that he called former Chicago Sun-Times columnist, Jay Mariotti, a homophobic slur for criticizing him in a column. By now, everyone knows Ozzie polluted the Southside of Chicago, and U.S. Cellular Field quickly became exposed to trash in the side of town where it had an awful smell as the cantankerous skipper was stinking up the joint. It’s a new town, Miami, Florida, and Guillen is still a deplorable, trashy, pitiful and worthless idiot blabbering at the mouth — not thinking before reacting.
If he was someone else, he probably wouldn’t have been punished and his stupidity wouldn’t have drawn as much publicity in the early beginning of the regular season for the new-look Miami Marlins, caught in a mess now for Guillen’s comments, giving the ballclub a bad image. The pandemonium crept in when he made controversial comments about Cuban leader Fidel Castro in a Time magazine interview. It’s always been about Ozzie, dating back to the tumultuous stint as White Sox manager, a miserable jerk with no sound judgment and no smarts. It was Ozzie’s biggest mistake to express his “love” and “respect” for Castro, a man loathed in Miami where Guillen manages the Marlins.
He is baseball’s problem child, an egotist and grandstander, an ignorant and soulless thug who is seriously unaware of the damaged it caused to someone’s sentiment in a community of predominately Cuban descent. He is on the cover of this month’s ESPN the Magazine seen kissing a bulldog, while some believe he should be seen on a magazine receiving his last paycheck as the Marlins newly minted manager. I’m one of those believers.
It’s not even halfway into the season, and Ozzie is already jawing off at the mouth, but he went over the line this time and really lost his damn mind with his recent remarks. The worst that could happen, while Guillen’s actions are so familiar from his time spent in Chicago, is that the market for the Marlins devalues. And since there is a large Cuban population in South Florida, where Guillen, 48, is managing a ballclub in the community, his rash remarks can decimate a baseball franchise, seeking to produce revenue and entice fans to come to the opening of the new Marlins Park, the Taj Mahal of baseball.
Even with apologies and contrition, he’s now causing a fracas, as fear of a financial deficit is possible, and demonstrators and Cuban American groups have gathered outside of the stadium to boycott until Guillen is fired. But the Miami Marlins suspended Guillen for five games Tuesday for the Castro comments.
“I was very stupid,” he said, “very naïve.”
Um, yes, you were and are very stupid and unschooled.
So how can baseball lords forgive him? There is no forgiving him, when he has no dignity and lost credibility a long time ago. He tried to repair relations with Cuban Americans and apologized early Tuesday afternoon to find solace and reconcile with an angry community, releasing their vexation after hearing the tasteless remarks.
“I am here on my knees,” Ozzie Guillen said, in Spanish. “I am here to say I am sorry with my heart in my hands…”
The announcement came at a moment when Guillen had empathy and seemed genuinely remorseful, but he hasn’t learned. It’s too often, especially with his mood swings on a regular basis, that he says something that he regrets later. It’s too often that he is thrust in a position, forced to apologize and have contrition.
And so a year doesn’t pass, no matter what city or club, without Ozzie’s ticking time bomb exploding. At anytime, he can lose his mind. At anytime, he can lose his cool and behave worse than a 5-year-old by throwing hissy fits, whether he has an outburst during postgame interviews or argues with umpires on the field to put on a show for entertained fans.
The trouble of Guillen exploding in one of his outrageous, impromptu rants again is that he may voice an opinion and perhaps shout out drivel to make plenty of enemies. Now, more than ever, he’s scrutinized and belittled after his remarks outraged a vast majority. If he slips at the tongue again, he may destroy the reputation of business and even potentially his owns. It’s not the kind of comment people took too well and, yes, maybe they’ll forgive but they certainly won’t forget. The moment when, finally, the team has rebuilt an all-star club and a new state-of-the-art stadium grabbing the attention of a disengaged fan base after two World Series titles, he acts like buffoon.
“The Marlins acknowledge the seriousness of the comments attributed to Guillen,” the team said in a prepared statement announcing the decision. “The pain and suffering caused by Fidel Castro cannot be minimized especially in a community filled with victims of the dictatorship.”
The suspension may not be good enough to uplift those with hurt feelings, when the widespread of Cuban American groups and protesters won’t back down until Guillen is terminated in Miami. If this continues, he won’t survive as Marlins manager and may step down. Needless to say, he has opened himself to criticism and possibly jeopardized his career.
This happens in a year when the Marlins are expected to make the playoffs with an all-star lineup. This happens in a year when the public is calling for Guillen’s job in the aftermath of his comments. No team wants to be embarrassed. And a few days after the remarks, Loria was humiliated and so was Guillen for revisiting controversy worse than his destructive comments and tweets. It was unacceptable and despicable of him to speak with much ignorance and idiocy, which is offensive to some sports fans and people, in general, all while Guillen is bothered by the backlash of criticism.
And no matter what he says, Ozzie still doesn’t get it. He’ll never learn.
