Comments on: Suspension Bridge

By: Shaun P.

Shaun P. — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:33:00 +0000

I’m late to this, and maybe no one will see it, but I think it’s important point to make.

Craig Calcaterra has it right: Peter Angelos did far worse than this in 1999 when the Orioles played the Cuban national team. What repercussions did he suffer from MLB? None. Of course, the Orioles did nothing to him, because he’s the boss.

How much outrage was there in the baseball media? I don’t remember any, but I might not have been paying attention.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/10/mlb-is-looking-into-ozzies-comments-how-intellectually-inconsistent-of-them/

By: Dimelo

Dimelo — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:59:24 +0000

Ozzie should comeback from his suspension wearing a Che Guevara shirt.

Ozzie could be a character Dave Chappelle’s “When keeping it real goes wrong” skit.

By: Chyll Will

Chyll Will — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:56:53 +0000

[6] Skip Bayless?

By: Alex Belth

Alex Belth — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:17:19 +0000

It reminded me of when Jesse Jackson called New York City “Hymietown.” Not so slick. Then again, nobody has ever accused Ozzie of being shrewd.

By: rbj

rbj — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:03:08 +0000

Ozzie is all over the map, he’s both praised and condemned Hugo Chavez, to the point I don’t have any clear idea what his politics are, whether he’s an individual liberty loving capitalist or a marxist of some stripe (fascist, socialist or communist). Now, you can have an enemy and still respect them. It happens in war all the time. Is Ozzie respecting Castro’s ability to be tenacious and hold on to power, while disagreeing with him? Possibly. I’m not going to read the Time article because, quite frankly, Time is no longer worth my time. Hey, aren’t we all glad that the Yankees were tenacious enough to pull out a win last night? Admiring a good trait in your opponent isn’t wrong.

If Ozzie had been the manager of 29 other teams, this wouldn’t even be an issue. As, as I’ve read, he’s lived in Miami during the off season the last 12 years, Ozzie is guilty of being utterly clueless.

By: William Juliano

William Juliano — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:44:14 +0000

Great summary of the different reactions, but I really think this is issue is so much simpler than all that. The bottom line is the Cuban American community makes up a big portion of the Marlins customer base, so having a key team representative say something that is offensive to them deserves a response. If Guillen said the same thing as manager of the White Sox (and, a few years back, he did), no one would care. The reason it’s a big issue is because the Marlins are fighting to build a fan base in Miami, and events like this distract from that goal.

I also think Goldman is way off base. How is advocating Guillen’s firing “un-American”", regardless of the reason? The beauty of America is Guillen is free to speak his mind and then everyone else is free to react. However, just because that freedom gives us the right to speak without fear of legal ramifications doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences. Guillen shouldn’t be any more free to express his opinion than those who disagree with it. Goldman’s implication that it is un-American to speak out against others who speak out is, well, un-American, at least using his logic.

By: krad

krad — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:39:50 +0000

As usual, Joe Sheehan hit the nail right on the head in his e-mail newsletter: “Let’s be clear about why Guillen is taking a five-game suspension from his employers: because he may have cost them money, and suspending him was the easiest way in which they could minimize the losses. This is an economic decision that has nothing at all to do with Cuba, Fidel Castro or Ozzie Guillen’s long history of being opinionated. This is public relations, not politics. This is the Marlins, at a critical moment in their history and desperately trying to win over a city they’ve bent over for years, making damned sure that they don’t lose any of the momentum gained by their new ballpark or waste the hundreds of millions of dollars they committed in finding players to romp around in it.”

Joe goes on to point out that Josh Leuke and the players who get DUIs or beat their spouses don’t actually affect the bottom line of their team. Guillen’s remarks about Castro when he’s the manager of a team whose shiny new stadium is in a city with a massive Cuban population do. That’s the only reason why he’s being suspended right now because, as he puts it later in the newsletter, the Marlins love money.

By: RIYank

RIYank — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:24:00 +0000

The same people that in the past who have called Guillen “refreshing” for speaking unfiltered and disregarding the art of saying nothing, are now condemning him.

Yeah, that’s one of the really sickening things about the general reaction, I agree.

Also the mlb statement that Guillen’s words were “inappropriate”. They weren’t inappropriate. What kind of an idiotic euphemism is that? What content does it have to say his words were “inappropriate”? Just say the fuck what you mean.

Anyway, those things piss me off more than Ozzie saying he loves Castro.

By: Mr OK Jazz Tokyo

Mr OK Jazz Tokyo — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:14:22 +0000

Well done. This whole issue is troubling for so many reasons. The Banter guideline prevent me from expressing my full opinion here, so I’ll just say that I agree with Zirin. The public funding fiasco is much more important and hopefully will be addressed.

Also wish all the moral outrage by baseball commentators on this matter would be directed to all the drunk driving offenses by ballplayers. Surely this is much more serious than one manager’s random remark about Fidel Castro?