Miami Marlins’ manager Ozzie Guillen was recently handed a five-game suspension for comments he made about Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
That may not seem like a big deal to many, but the Marlins spent millions on a rebranding campaign aimed, in part, to attract Cuban-Americans. Guillen’s comments rubbed the Cuban population the wrong way and now he and the Marlin’s organization are in a tight spot, but no one should be shocked.
Guillen has a history of this sort of thing and the Marlin’s had to expect he’d do something like this eventually.
This year the Marlins opened with new uniforms, a new ballpark, new players and a new manager. It seemed too good to be true — it was. During a recent interview with Time Magazine Guillen said he loved Castro because he’s survived all these years with many trying to kill him. Castro is not a popular figure with Miami’s Cuban population and many called for Guillen’s release.
While firing Guillen is a bit extreme, his suspension is best for the club. The organization must take a stand on this, if nothing else to appease the fans. Eventually the anger will subside, especially if the Marlins win. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports said a suspension is the right thing to do.
“Well, good people make mistakes, and Guillen just made the biggest of his career,” Rosenthal said. “Chances are the matter will blow over — everything seems to blow over in this society of limited attention spans. But the Marlins shouldn’t allow it to blow over. No, the Marlins should take a stand. Suspend Guillen.”
Guillen’s comments were ill-advised, but it’s a matter of Ozzie being Ozzie. Guillen is notorious for speaking his mind, so this isn’t surprising. Guillen comes with a calculated risk, which the Marlin’s no doubt took into account and it turned out to bite them early.
It’s ironic that the man they hired to be the face of the ball club’s connection with the Cuban population alienated them early, but that’s what the Marlins get for hiring him. Don’t get me wrong, Guillen is a great manager. He connects with players well, he knows the game and adds personality to any coaching staff, but he comes with a risk. As Stan McNeal of Sportingnews.com said, this is part of having Guillen on a staff.
“He would not be Ozzie Guillen if he didn’t make ridiculous comments,” McNeal said. “I don’t believe he meant any harm with this one. He was just trying a little harder than usual to say something outrageous. Heck, you even could say he was just doing his job. The Marlins wanted him to generate headlines. Well, that’s what he’s done, just more stupidly than usual.”
While Guillen has the right to his opinions, he’s also the face of a ball club located in a dense Cuban population. He needs to be sensitive and not alienate fans, but he also shouldn’t be boring because that’s not what he was hired to do. A suspension is the right thing. When his five games are up, he should go back to doing what he does best, coaching baseball in an unconventional way.
Kevin Bingaman can be reached at [email protected]