Should Marlins’ Guillen Be Fired? The Windup
Prior to discussing whether or not Marlins’ Guillen should be fired, I’m going to take a short walk through events leading up to this point in time.
In a March interview, the brand new Miami Marlins baseball manager revealed to a Times reporter, “I love Fidel Castro” while describing his admiration for the permanence of the Cuban dictator, who ruled for more than Half a century. According to Time, Marlins’ Guillen made this remark in a kind of stream of consciousness oratory while also extolling the great benefits of brutal honesty.
“A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that mother– is still here.”
Guillen’s remarks were published this week to the surprise and outrage of many in Miami’s Cuban American community where the Marlins organization recently opened their new ball park in the center of Little Havana. The irony of the situation can evade few acquainted with Florida politics, and also the desire of the Marlins management to strengthen relations with the ex-patriot Cuban community which numbers near a million citizens in Miami.
A Spanish speaking Argentine-born American, Guillen was given the manager’s post late last year partly to increase the size of the Marlins’ fan base and loyalty.
As part of his comments during the press conference, Guillen did not disown his printed statements. In fact, it appears that he made similar comments before he was recruited by the Marlins.
In a 2008 Men’s Journal write-up when asked who he admired most, Guillen said, “Fidel Castro. He’s a bulls- dictator and everybody’s against him, and he still survives, has power. Still has a country behind him. Everywhere he goes they roll out the red carpet. I don’t admire his philosophy. I admire him.”
Since his Time magazine opinions were made public, two Miami city managers have called on the Marlins’ front office to replace him.
Hoping to defuse the situation and mute calls for an organized boycott of the team, it appears that the Marlins’ management team may have swung and missed. As protesters gathered outside the ballpark before the press conference, the team’s ownership revealed that Guillen will be suspended immediately without compensation for the next Five games.
And so the question still remains. Should Marlins’ Guillen be fired?
Should – Marlins’ Guillen – Be Fired? The Pitch
Before I get in to the question of whether Marlins’ Guillen should be fired, I need to let you know that although I am a life long MLB fan, I’m not a Cuban American. I did not grow up in Miami, but come from the midwest. I have enjoyed the calm of middle class American life.
But 3 of my own children weren’t so lucky. They were some of the very first to emigrate from Romania in the summer of 1990 following the fall of communist dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu. Ceausescu’s reign in Romania strangely paralleled that of Castro’s in Cuba, both men ascending their own political party system and seizing power in the 1960s. Both grew wealthy on the backs of the people they terrorized, the property they stole together with the crime they funded.
Relinquished at birth, my three young children lived through in the unbelievable conditions of the Romanian orphanage gulag. Neglected, close to starvation, unable to express themselves or walk, they reached public notice when western film crews entered Romania right after Ceausescu had been assassinated by pro-democracy patriots in 1990. Going down the long rows of thousands of cribs, video cameras recorded their tiny emaciated faces with eyes that either overreacted to light or did not react at all.
These orphanages had been part of Ceausescu’s enforced population plan which denied birth control to parents. Countless poor parents, who previously had more children than they could possibly nourish, were forced to place their newborn babies in state supported orphanages and not take them home.
Thanks to the work of men and women like ABC’s 20/20 producer Janice Tomlin, the story broke. Countless cities and towns throughout Romania all held a minimum of one overcrowded. understaffed orphanage. The film footage shocked American audiences.
Academics and political figures who for many years had formed careers extolling the advantages of a “make nice” foreign policy with dictators were abruptly silent. Evidence of Communist subsidized cruelty was plain to see on my small children’s faces and that of numerous others.
Within the ensuing years, they have bravely conquered much of the psychological injury and physical illnesses inflicted on them in infancy. But a number of long term effects remain and can never be wiped away.
Their own trauma is now my trauma. And it has forever affected my own life as a result; my entire life as a mother and a human being.
While writing this article, “Should Marlins’ Guillen Be Fired?” I realize how angry I am even after 20 years. My fingertips pound the keys while I type. The passage of time has changed little in how I react to the name of the man who brought on the suffering of thousands of blameless children, many of whom died.
Personally, the terms “communism” and “dictator” will not be relegated to some history book. They stir up a deep emotional and intellectual reaction.
I can only believe that those words have the very same effect on Cuban Americans and all Americans that have found freedom and new life far away from the stranglehold of the most terrible terrorists the world has ever seen.
Osama bin Laden? He is only a cheap, crude counterfeit of the real thing.
Should – Marlins’ Guillen – Be Fired? Strike Three
As of this point, it’s uncertain whether or not Guillen will keep hold of his job as Marlins’ manager.
Just as unclear is the willingness of Marlins’ ownership to put up with themounting bonfire of detrimental publicity. My guess is the furor which Guillen’s remarks have ignited won’t die down anytime soon.
Many fans will certainly contend that sports figures, such as MLB managers like Ozzie Guillen, have got a right to express their political opinions. I got no problem with that. Fortunately for them, residing in this country founded on the ideal of free speech, even absurdity is protected under the law.
Even when they praise the very dictators who would deny such political protection to their citizens, whether they are sports figures or not.
Guillen may want to compartmentalize the person from the philosophy. Individuals who suffer tyranny haven’t any such luxury.
What is clear is the fact that Guillen was chosen for very special PR and marketing reasons, above his on-field function as manager. If enough Cuban Americans and other Miami Marlins’ fans challenge his capacity to perform that job, my prediction is he’ll no longer be Miami Marlins’ manager after his 5 week suspension is up. Stupidity has never been safeguarded in any professional contract.
Meanwhile, “Should Marlins’ Guillen be fired?” could be the question the club’s front office has already decided.
Author Sharon Ross is network marketing strategist who writes about the challenges of home based businesses. To learn more about these issues, please visit my personal blog at the following link: Should Marlins’ Guillen Be Fired