Ozzie Guillen has been known in the past to be very outspoken. Jeffrey Loria should have known that and that should have given him cause for concern. I am not saying that the hiring was wrong but Loria should have alerted him that the second he expresses himself unbecoming to the Marlins and (or) to Major League Baseball he’s fired. Here are some past controversies that Ozzie was in the middle of. When Guillen managed the White Sox, he won the World Series in 2005. That year, he decided not to go with his team to the White House but he decided to visit Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez instead. The next season he caused more distraction by picking a fight with a Chicago sports writer. In 2010, he spoke out against the immigration law in Arizona. This August, he said Asian players were better treated than Latino players. Regardless, of him being right or wrong he is the Manager of a baseball team not a pundit for CNN or Fox News. If you are a manager of a baseball team you should stick to taking about your baseball team and stay away from politics especially if you don’t know what you are talking about.
Guillen seemed remorseful and upset maybe this time he fully understood his actions. When he was in Chicago he could do no wrong, Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf was a big fan of Ozzie Guillen, White Sox GM Ken Williams was indifferent. I am sure that Ken Williams is glad Guillen is gone and with his former manager in the news for saying something critical, he can now breathe a sigh of relief that he is someone else’s problem now. If Ozzie Guillen wants to continue managing the Marlins he needs to talk about baseball and only baseball.
I believe that the Marlins made the wrong move, he should have been fired. Ozzie Guillen lives in the Miami area and has spent his past 10 winters in Miami. Of all people he SHOULD HAVE KNOWN what you cannot say and what you can say. The Marlins just opened up a new 515 million dollar stadium; 355 million of it came out of the taxpayers’ pocket. The people of Little Havana and the rest of Miami are the people they are going to keep the Marlins thriving and in Miami. Guillen and the Marlins are biting the hand that feeds them by not firing Ozzie Guiilen. If people do not show up; this will cost the people of Miami a baseball team because the team will leave, while the taxpayers are on the hook for the stadium. Firing Guillen would cost the Marlins a great but controversial manager and they would be on the hook for his 10 million dollar contract. If they don’t fire him it could cost the city of Miami and Jeffrey Loria not millions but billions. Thinking about it, people are calling for the boycott of the stadium which means lower attendance. Lower attendance means less people spending money on ticket sales. If they are not going to the games then they are not buying food, beer, and Marlins fan gear at the game. If no one is going to the games the bars and restaurants around the stadium will also suffer.
By looking at the surface at the comment, the Miami Marlins fans probably will forgive Guillen, if they win because winning solves everything but I am looking at it this way: Guillen will continue to speak out and further piss off people. Even if he has learned his lesson the media will follow him expecting the next outlandish comment. This summer, the Marlins will be featured in a reality show where the camera crew will follow him and the media will be ready to criticize him. If he doesn’t say anything and completely changes his persona, he will not be the manager he used to be and his effect on the players could backfire. This could lead to the Marlins losing and no one wants to watch a crappy team.
I am disappointed that people have yet to talk about the implications of Ozzie Guillen on a reality show this summer. If I were the Marlins I would look to cancel them and at any cost. They do not want to offend anymore people then they already have. This show is successful on controversy and will create controversy. After three games into the season, the Marlins have had enough of it, which is why I think they should cancel their appearance on Showtime’s the Franchise.
trueblue3189 