Ozzie Guillen: Leave Politics to the Politicians

   Ozzie Guillen, the outspoken manager of the Miami Marlins, was suspended for five games yesterday for the comments that he made regarding Fidel Castro.  Guillen stated to Time Magazine that he loves and respects Castro for his ability to stay in power for so long.  This understandably upset many people in Miami, and especially in the neighborhood of Little Havana.  When the Miami Marlins hired Guillen last September they thought that he would be a perfect fit and relate to the Spanish population in that area.  They opened a brand new, $515 million stadium this season, and Guillen was their guy to attract people to fill the stands.  This all backfired last week when the Time Magazine article became available, and Guillen's notoriously outspoken personality stirred the community into a frenzy.  Now there are protesters, boycotts planned, and even the Mayor of Miami-Dade, Carlos Gimenez, has told the Marlins "to take decisive steps" to extinguish the fire started when Ozzie Guillen struck the match. 
   Ozzie Guillen, born in Venezuela and now residing in Miami, will have a very difficult time surviving this disaster.  He has upset an entire community whose support is essential to the success of the Miami Marlins Baseball Club.  The front office that hired Guillen has done everything possible to generate passion, and excitement for baseball in South Florida and counted on their manager to put all of the pieces together.  Now, the season is hardly a week old and they are forced to suspend their manager only to buy time and see what the next form of action will be.  If the animosity doesn't settle down around Little Havana, the Marlins will have no choice but to terminate Guillen and hope that it will be enough to satisfy the fans at ticket windows. 
   Guillen has always been a very outspoken, and energetic personality in the game.  He says what he wants, and never seems to mind the consequences.  This all changed recently, and Guillen appeared obviously upset and embarrassed when he addressed the media at Marlins Park yesterday.  His teary-eyed apology seemed sincere, and he stated that he will never talk about politics again.  Why is a lifelong baseball man talking politics to the media in the first place?  In Guillen's case, the combination of such a sensitive subject along with the broken translation from Spanish to English is a sure disaster waiting to happen. When people buy Time Magazine they aren't checking the week in sports, and similarly readers of Baseball Digest aren't looking for world news.  To many fans of the game, Ozzie Guillen's political views are less intriguing than his starting lineup for that nights game. Athletes in general should learn to leave their views on sensitive subjects, such as religion and politics, away from the media because it rarely turns into a good situation for all involved.  Although Ozzie Guillen's comments were out of line and wrong for a high profile celebrity, would they create such a stir if he was managing anywhere other than in Miami, Florida?  A five game suspension is a good start to rebuild the relationship between the community and the Miami Marlins, but once that is over Ozzie Guillen needs to go back to what he has always known.  Time will tell, but if  the community can find a way to forgive Guillen, he can go back to being a fun-loving baseball personality, and the manager experienced enough to lead the Marlins into the playoffs this year.