Ozzie and Miami

When he was manager of the Chicago White Sox, Ozzie Guillen was known for putting his foot in his mouth. He would say the most absurd things! This was a part of the reason the Miami Marlins were so happy to land him, and why it was so easy for the Sox to let him go.

The Miami Marlins, formerly the Florida Marlins, have two World Series Championships and no fan base. It's almost impossible to get a house for a game in Miami! Between the weather (rain at 5PM anybody?) and, well, it's Miami people, the Marlins never drew much of a crowd.

This year was the first big step in changing that. There's a new baseball stadium on the site of the old Orange Bowl. There's a retractable roof so there's no more problems with the rain. There's a change from a generic "Florida" name to a new "Miami" vibe. The last piece of the puzzle was Ozzie. Venezuelan by birth, it was hoped Ozzie could speak to the Latin population of the city in ways others could not.

Whoops.

ESPN reports Guillen told Time magazine for an article published last week that he loves Castro and respects him for staying in power for so long. If you want to alienate Miami's Cuban population, with a stadium in the heart of Little Havana, that's the best way to do it.

I think this analysis says more about what Ozzie meant to say than the quotes. Ozzie has always seen himself as a rebel. He's willing to do or say what ever it takes to win games and championships, his way of staying in power. He said he deplores Castro's politics, but loves his chutzpah. He loves the fact that a man so despised by the world can be a "success." He is still President-for-Life after all. Maybe that's the title Ozzie wants, President-for-Life. Forget these silly front office people. Forget the press. Forget the crowds. All that matters is the number of wins. Fidel is a winner and Ozzie backs the winner... even though he hates his politics.

I know little of Florida or Miami politics, but this much I have learned: There is no way of extolling love for Castro in South Florida that even comes close to being appropriate. Ozzie committed the first sin of trying to get Miami's Latin and specifically Cuban population to follow. That's all.

Ozzie has apologized. Whether it's because he "betrayed his Latin community" or for causing such a storm that he might lose his job we'll see. In my opinion he'd be a fool not to be sorry for both of these things. In both of these things he seems sincere.

In the meantime, he begins a five game suspension. Will he be fired? I suspect it depends on whether or not the storm subsides and people go to the stadium or not. We'll see next week.