Miami Marlins Suspend Manager Ozzie Guillen for Praising Fidel Castro
- Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:39am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
- Print »
- Email »
MIAMI (AP) — Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen was suspended for five games Tuesday because of his comments about Fidel Castro.
The suspension by the team takes effect immediately. It was announced shortly before Guillen was to hold a news conference to explain his remarks, which caused a public backlash.
Guillen told Time magazine he loves Castro and respects the retired Cuban leader for staying in power so long. At least two local officials said Guillen should lose his job.
Ozzie Guillen holds a press conference about his suspension in Miami on Apr 10, 2012. (Photo: AP)
“The Marlins acknowledge the seriousness of the comments attributed to Guillen,” read a statement from the team. “The pain and suffering caused by Fidel Castro cannot be minimized, especially in a community filled with victims of the dictatorship.”
Only five games into his tenure with the Marlins, Guillen left his team in Philadelphia and flew to Miami to apologize at the Marlins’ new ballpark. The Marlins and Phillies had the day off and resume their series in Philadelphia on Wednesday.
Outside the entrance to the ballpark, demonstrators shouted as the news conference began. Guillen began by speaking in Spanish.
The gathering at the ballpark drew a large turnout, including two dozen TV cameras lined up along the back. Among those in attendance were Marlins President David Samson and president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest.
The political firestorm came shortly after the Marlins opened their ballpark last week in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami. The team is trying to rebuild its fan base with the help of South Florida’s large Cuban American population.
Guillen apologized over the weekend after the story broke, but some Cuban-Americans remained upset. One group planned a demonstration Tuesday before Guillen said he would fly to Miami.
Francis Suarez, chairman of the Miami city commission, said Guillen should be fired. Joe Martinez, chairman of the Miami-Dade County board of commissioners, said Guillen should resign.
Polarizing comments are nothing new for Guillen, who once used a gay slur referring to a reporter, defended illegal immigrants and just last week he said he drinks to excess after road games and has done so for years.
Popular Stories
Does Misstated Marathon Claim Prove Paul Ryan Is Dishonest? (POLL) 706 Comments
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 553 Comments
‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 369 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 362 Comments
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 362 Comments
Faith
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 362 Comments
Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 369 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
- President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 286 Comments
- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 149 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 302 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 362 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Comments (71)
Derfel Cadarn
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 3:13pmProblem here is the First Amendment, the coach has the right to praise Castro if he wishs. You don;t have to like it ,but TUFF $H!T ! When you force to stop people saying something you open yourself to the same treatment. If praising communist dictators were reason for sanction the pResident would be in trouble. Think about this right now several hundred thousand Americans,at least own a Che tee shirt.
Report Post »Ari Ben TZion
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 3:56pm@Derfel Cadarn
You’re absolutely correct …
The ignorant Indian Oswaldo José “Ozzie” Guillén Barrios has the right to be a moron.
Report Post »Marine25
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 6:27pmThe First Amendment does not prohibit the Marlins from disciplining Guillen, it prohibits any American government from doing so. You are exempt from government punishment if you sing the praises of Castro, Pol Pot, Hitler or the Confederacy, but private citizens can choose to disassociate from you for being an imbecile.
Report Post »heroc
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 8:16pmI 100% agree…. even if Ozzie is an idiot
Report Post »wordweaver
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 3:06pmEvery so often you find someone who truly is as dumb as they look and sound.
Report Post »khayesmom2
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 2:08pmIf you like him soooooo much, than go back HOME!
Report Post »dmerwin
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:17pmIf the Marlins think that this man’s public statements will hurt their business they have the right to discharge him. Ozzie should realize that this will hurt his business.
Report Post »rawmilker
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 3:01pmEspecially in Miami. Those Cubans hate Castro, the ones that were lucky enough to escape here with the clothes on their back are now seeing the same thing happen here with obama.
In the begining most cubans thought Castro was a good guy, he told them he would change things for the good, the revolution was over, turn in your guns you wont need them & they complied, but when he sent his govt goons to begin siezing business, food supplies, medicine, heathcare and private homes, sending its people into poverty, they knew they were in for it.
Hope & Change…sound familiar?
Report Post »hauschild
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:07pmLoser.
There used to be a time in this country when immigrants had class.
Report Post »tiredofprogressives
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:40pmFinally a business which has some guts. Thank You Marlin Organization for suspending this moron. Better yet, take it one step further…send his ass out of your organization and hire another manager. Send him to Cuba with Michael Moore the other loon.
Report Post »lessoneleg
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:01pmOzzie has made a history of himself with both feet in his mouth at the same time. This is another example of Ozzie Mentality. Can you image, living in Florida with its high concentration of ex-Anti Castro Cubans. And Ozzie opening his big mouth saying good stuff about a guy who imprisoned, tortured, murdered so many Anti Castro Cubans from the island. And Ozzie doesn’t get it, living in Florida. What a moron. Maybe the best thing to do is tell Ozzie. you like Castro, well go live with Castro.
Report Post »lvl12
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:37amI’d argue people suffered more under batista. I‘ve been to Cuba as well as Dominican and I’ve got to say, people are happier in cuba. Perhaps a small country with minimal resources is better off communist. If they enter the free market they get crushed by heavily subsidized American farmers who somehow still call themselves capitalist.
Report Post »Al J Zira
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:15pmI’d have to disagree with that statement. Cuba’s largest industry is the tourist industry. Always has been and between that and tobacco imports I think they would do just fine.
Report Post »lvl12
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:19pmWhile that is indeed feasible, people were starving before the revolution. As I’ve said the people of the Dominican Republic have the same resources and tourism industry and are much worse off.Granted, I’m not an expert and just spent a few days wandering around a small part of each country. I’m sure there are unhappy people in Cuba with menial jobs, but what country can’t say that?
Report Post »Mister July
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 3:21pmThat must be the most ignorant thing anyone could possibly say about Cuba (and even the Dominican Republic). Cuba, historically, (pre-Castro) enjoyed an extremely close trade relationship with the United States. At one point, the pre-1959 Cuban peso was valued on par with the U.S. Dollar. Havana was the most technologically advanced city in Latin America; and Miami, by comparison, looked like Monkey’s Eyebrow, Kentucky. Cuba was part of the first world. People owned businesses and were free to prosper according to their own industry. Of course, as in every nation on the planet, there were some extremely poor people. That is an inescapable fact of the human condition. Today, EVERYONE in Cuba is extremely poor, save for the privileged elites of the Communist party. Thankfully there are signs of some reform which might allow some portion of the population to eke out a meager existence. It’s the height of arrogance to think that Cubans on the island, and even Dominicans would be “better off” under a communist system. Your argument contains a central fallacy that the D.R. has permitted its citizens true economic freedom as Cuba had before 1959. History has proven that economic freedom and capitalism inevitably brings prosperity, while communism has only brought about misery, starvation, and scarcity.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:18amGOOD!
COURAGE, AMERICANS!
Stand up!
Report Post »encinom
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:45amThe Marlins showed no courage, they caved in to the mob. Courage would be issuing a statment that one of the freedoms enjoyed by the citizens of this country is to freely speak one’s mind.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:48amENCINOM(AN), like Juan Williams? I have noticed in my near 60 years on this planet that it is the left that practices that firing for speaking your mind far, far more than the right. Michelle Rhee come to mind?
Report Post »encinom
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:19pm@RJJinGadsden
Still attempting to create the tea-****** victim card to play?
How unfair, conservatives are called out for their racist comments.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:29pmENCINOM(AN), Racist? How in the world do you derive racist from anything that I have said? Seems that you have been reduced to the nothingness that your truly are and can only toss out slanderous accusations in hopes of getting people to defend themselves from such rather than making their point to you. Or, as somebody else mentioned here, you are just here in a vain attempt to stir trouble. That does sound more like it, you are a bomb thrower just hoping that some of your mindless tripe sticks to somebody.
Report Post »Keeper_Of_Odd_Knowledge
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:15amI am curious as to how many of those that are “up in arms” about the comments will turn around and vote for Obama in November….
Report Post »rosegrower
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:56pmNot many – the Cuban population of Miami is ferociously conservative, because they KNOW what Communism is, unlike too many of our homegrown liberal boobs. Little Havana voted overwhelmingly for Bush and also went for McCain, altho like the rest of us, held their collective noses when doing so.
Report Post »rawmilker
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 3:18pmENCINOM, I’m curious. What inspires you to promote liberal communism & how long have you been one?
Report Post »iampraying4u
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:15amWhy does he catch heck when the pope can visit fido
Report Post »whatthecrazy
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 3:18pm@Iampraying The Pope visits many Dictators but he does not lick thier boots like this unamerican fool.
Report Post »texasderek
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:13amGet rid of the bum… We do not need someone from an American Sport like Baseball touting the virtues of Communism.
Report Post »He has a right to his opinion but maybe he should have it in “Coobahhh”
Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:11amToo bad he got the steal signal mixed up with the shut your mouth signal. All can say is “Ha Ha”.
Report Post »Watson
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:10amMr Guillen does have “Free Speech ” by the First Amendment, however it does not say Free Speech WITHOUT conquences… The Marlins are a private business ( unless Obama nationalizes it INTO A GOVERNMENT COMPANY ) and can make a business decision if needed..( This is still America … I THINK? ?)
Report Post »nick7
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 5:22pmI really doubt that “Free Speech” refers to those who call for “conducting riots, mayhem, shootings, burnings, killings, seditious behavior for the purpose of governmental or cultural change, etc”. People who so anxiously yield rights to the dregs of society may well be without their own rights to even exist in the near future.
While a baseball manager doesn’t seem to fall in any [or other] of these categories, he does need to think about his speech beforehand.
Report Post »mike_trivisonno
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:06amGuillen is a raging communist piece of crap.
Being a communist is not ok.
Report Post »encinom
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:47ambeing a communist is no more a crime than being a tea ****** or a republican.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:15pmENCINOM(AN), Can’t you read? He said that being communist is not ok, he didn’t say illegal. It’s an O-P-I-N-I-O-N, get it?
Report Post »Al J Zira
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:22pm@encinom: You say things to either prove you’re an idiot or just to cause a stir. Communism is the furthest from the Tea Party or republican. It’s closer to being a democrat in this day and age, just look at those in the democratic party that admit being a communist or have no problem with it. Tell me, all knowing one; how many people has communism killed compared to almost any other form of government, especially in Cuba?
Report Post »encinom
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:44pmHere is another comment of his.
mike_trivisonno
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:13am
Guillen is not ignorant. Guillen is a communist piece of crap.
Communism is anathema to America. Communism and communists are not expressing freedom of speech. They are expressing their enmity for America. They are the enemy.
Basically, this guy is a typical brain dead Beckerhead with no understanding of the Constitution or the most basic freedoms that are protected.
Report Post »mike_trivisonno
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:41pm“Basically, this guy is a typical brain dead Beckerhead with no understanding of the Constitution or the most basic freedoms that are protected….”
Sorry. The “understanding”communist profess to have about the Constitution is meaningless. Communism is not “free speech” it is sedition and should be outlawed.
Report Post »encinom
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 2:22pmmike_trivisonno
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 1:41pm
“Basically, this guy is a typical brain dead Beckerhead with no understanding of the Constitution or the most basic freedoms that are protected….”
Sorry. The “understanding”communist profess to have about the Constitution is meaningless. Communism is not “free speech” it is sedition and should be outlawed.
Report Post »________________________________
Spoken like a true facist, thought and opinion that is counter to what Beck preaches must be outlawed. Is the concept of Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Association for complex that becerkheads must rejected it outright?
cal_105
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:05amWhat’s the big deal, we have several black congressmen/women swooning over Castro and saying that he has the ideal form government. They have visited him and express their admiration for him , his government. and health care system. They want the USA to be more like him. Now we have a guy who says basically the same thing, and the media is in a huff. What about the Congresspersons. Do we have a double standard here again.?
Report Post »Its Gonna Getcha
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:03amCrack is whack. They pay these guys more than enough to properly destroy themselves. And if anyone hasn’t realized it yet, this administration hasn‘t been able to get into Castro’s pants due to this administration’s strong defiance towards anything “colonialism” which Cuba contains much of.
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:02amIgnorance is bliss! This guy ought to live under the thumb of Cuban authorities long enough to scream “I wanna come home”…
Report Post »mike_trivisonno
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:13amGuillen is not ignorant. Guillen is a communist piece of crap.
Communism is anathema to America. Communism and communists are not expressing freedom of speech. They are expressing their enmity for America. They are the enemy.
Report Post »elosogrande
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:55amMany years ago, when this dope was playing for the White Sox, he told the press that he didn‘t care what fans thought about him because baseball didn’t need fans. Baseball could do fine without them.
He was stupid then, and he’s still stupid.
He’s a boring a–h— as well, unless you enjoy the crap he spews whenever he opens his mouth.
Report Post »Locked
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:54amNot a fan of Castro AT ALL, but it always amused me that the most vocal anti-Castro folks in Miami are those who fervently supported Batista while he was dictator prior to the Cuban Revolution and benefited from his favor and brutality against his opponents (political and economic).
Overturn one dictator, and take up another. Same trash, different day.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:02amI was at the Mariel Boat Lift sent there from Ft Bragg. Many of those refugees that we could communicate with actually wondered out loud that their government had gone from Batista to Castro. More of less out of the frying pan and into the fire. Both were despised. Having lived in southern Florida myself I never met anybody of Cuban heritage that ever spoke well of Batista.
Report Post »Locked
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:08am@RJ
I unfortunately have a cousin who is extremely proud of her Cuban heritage (although, ironically, she never lived in Cuba; her parents left right before the Revolution). While I applaud her anti-communist stance, you’d think Batista was a saint from the way her parents talk her to think. “Everything was better before Castro! My family lost everything in the Revolution! We had to flee for our lives!”
No, everything wasn’t better before Castro. Your family lost everything because they stole it using his influence. And no kidding you had to flee for your lives; you angered the rest of the country by supporting a brutal dictator and profiting from it.
Again, Castro’s worse (arguably due simply to his long years in power effecting a greater net change), but it seems most of the current Cuban generation I’ve met has rose-tinted glasses that “Before Castro, Cuba was wonderful!” I also live in Florida, and it’s the sentiment I hear often.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:58amLOCKED, I have been around long enough to have heard plenty about Batista, yet I was a preschooler when Castro came into power. Batista was a corrupt stooge, but I would imagine that some would see him as a saint when compared to the likes of Castro. Won’t argue your first hand account from family members, and all that I can relate are my first hand accounts which have been plentiful and from the early ’70s forward. I even worked with a guy in Tampa who as a child had come to Florida on a large raft that his father and an uncle constructed. If I recall correctly they all made it to safety here. I have to salute people brave enough to suffer through such a travel to make it to freedom. During my near nine years in Germany and the majority of that was during the Cold War we had many accounts of East Germans especially making it across the border. As for the Mariel Boat Lift, I did feel sorry for so many of the Haitians who Carter returned to their nation.
Report Post »Locked
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 12:10pm@Rj
” I even worked with a guy in Tampa who as a child had come to Florida on a large raft that his father and an uncle constructed. If I recall correctly they all made it to safety here.”
I definitely believe accounts like this. Mostly the people who are pro-Batista (and not just anti-Castro) are those who left immediately, because their possessions were seized and their lives forfeit. Those who came years or decades later did so because the Revolution was just as bad as the Batista regime and they realized the only way to prosper would be to escape Cuba. I have a ton of respect for these people, because unlike the first wave of immigrants, they didn’t leave because their favorite dictator got overthrown and were afraid of their comeuppance. They did it because they realized Cuba’s never held much for the common citizen… but America does.
Report Post »joex51
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:49amthis is BS In the United States of America we can now get Suspended or fired for voicing an Opinion?
Report Post »Whats next we get fired for being left, right or in the middle…. so much for Freedom of Speech, hell this is freedom of thought….
RJJinGadsden
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:55amThis is not a level of government trying to block his right to free speech. It’s a business that sells tickets to the public at large for entertainment, and he has outraged many of those who buy the tickets. They have every right to take care of business. It is America.
Report Post »Unbelievable
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:57amI’m with you. As much as I don’t agree with what he said he has the right to say it. With that, the other side is the Marlins are a private business and I guess they have the right to run it as they seem fit. Kind of a catch 22.
Report Post »mike_trivisonno
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:09amBeing a communist is more than “just an opinion”. Being a communist means that you hold as your highest believe, that America has to be destroyed.
That is not ok. Being a communist, like Guillen, is NOT an expression of American free speach. It is being an enemy of America.
Report Post »kfogs1957
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:49amOzzie is a loose cannon and while his comments were stupid, you do have to consider the source. The guy is a baseball manager, not a man who sets public policy. He should have declined comment, especially managing in Miami but this all seems a little over the top to me. An apology should have been enough except for where he now works.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:07amBet they suspended him .. and have gotten him out of Miami for a bit . .to let it cool down .. do you know how many exiled Cubans there are in Miami (and generations since exile) who dispise Castro? This guy would have been toast at a game in Miami … let it cool down.
Report Post »SquidVetOhio
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:47amThis is silly. Ozzie shouldn’t have said it but, context people! I understand and admire how much the cubans in Miami hate Fidel but, Ozzie’s comments were tongue in cheek.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:52amNot a wise idea on his part if he ****** off the people who buy their game tickets.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:08amYes .. too many Cuban EXILES in Miami to just let this go.
Report Post »cookcountypatriot
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:44amlol…what a jerk off
Report Post »scuba13
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:53amMarlins should have seen this coming. He has been running off at the mouth for as long as any White Sox fan can remember. The Marlins are complete fools for hiring this moron. In a year or so he will say something else that will make him look like the dope that he is.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 11:00amScuba is right.
Report Post »cessna152
Posted on April 10, 2012 at 10:43amPlease people… let these people speak, I want to know who is for us and who’s against us.It makes it easier to avoid and isolate them.
Report Post »