Claiming that “every time the Blizzard of Oz speaks publicly, global camaraderie is capable of taking two steps backward,”, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Jay Mariotti (above) resumes his repartee with sparing partner Ozzie Guillen.
”They’re mad. They can’t admit that a Latino kicked their ass,” Guillen said over the weekend of those who have accused the Sox of sign-stealing. ”That’s why I don’t get along with too many managers. Because they hate my [expletive] ass, because I don’t kiss their ass and I didn’t kiss anyone’s ass to get this job. Then they have a Mexican win the World Series in two years. And they’re saying he doesn’t have experience, he never managed in baseball. Well, too [expletive] bad.”
Never mind that he is Venezuelan and not Mexican. What Guillen is doing — again — is causing trouble when there shouldn’t be any and crossing the professional line of verbal retaliation. The Sox don’t need this stuff now, not as they fall 61/2 games behind the Detroit Tigers after a 7-1 shutdown Monday evening at the hands of Justin Verlander, who no longer tips his pitches as previously charged. Starting pitching continues to be a crapshoot, with one-time ace Jose Contreras looking like a man with a dead arm after another silly-putty outing. The Sox have issues, including a sluggish offense, and now more than ever, the situation requires level-headed leadership.
The manager needs to stand up to others with one part fire, one part professional dignity. Yes, Ozzie had every right to rip back at the three men who have wondered to varying degrees this season about the Sox and sign-stealing: Boston Red Sox owner John Henry, St. Louis Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan and Tigers manager Jim Leyland. But Guillen had no right to play the race card and should be reprimanded by Selig and Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who, I remind you again, is co-chairman of Major League Baseball’s Equal Opportunity Committee and cannot keep ignoring the insensitive ramblings of his prominent franchise face.
If you missed it, Ozzie’s remarks from last Saturday included the following gems :
Guillen said Cardinals left-hander Mark Mulder “wouldn’t even make our team. He couldn’t start for us, and he’s not better than [Neal] Cotts or [Matt] Thornton in our bullpen.
“If we’re cheating, how come we don’t help Brian Anderson or [Juan] Uribe? If we’re going to cheat, we’re not just going to cheat for a few guys. We’re cheating on the mound? Our pitching staff gets beat up once in a while.”
As for Henry, who wondered in the Boston Globe whether the Sox were stealing signs in a game against the Yankees, “he doesn’t even know what a field looks like,” Guillen said.
That’s really a low blow, and one I sincerely hope the Commissioner’s office deals with severely. John Henry most certainly does know what a field looks like, O.G.
He can’t remember what a left-handed reliever looks like, however, but neither can anyone else in his organization.
verlander doesn’t tip his pitches because he doesn’t really pitch, he just throws. it was my first time getting to see him all season, and he’s probably my new favorite pitcher. works quick, looks annoyed, and he looks even more annoyed when he’s not throwing strikes.
i can’t name a single person i know who likes mariotti here in chicago. not that i purport to know every single chicagoan, but the past season and this current one have obviously brought fans and rubberneckers alike closer together, and i have not run into the Token Mariotti Apologist just yet, nor do i expect to.
Guillen’s got a lot of nerve. He called out Nomar Garciaparra earlier in the year saying that he’s an American kid who doesn’t speak Spanish and is not Mexican because he wasn’t born in Mexico. How the hell is Guillen more Mexican when he was born in Venezuela?!? He’s a race baiter and I feel sorry for white journalist who feel they have to toe a line with him. It’s too bad, too, because I tend to like batshit crazy managers like him and Bobby Valentine (mostly for the residual comedic effect).
Ozzie Guillen did offer a perspective that other natives of Latin-American nations may share. Ozzie could use tact, but his statements prior to the WBC made the point that there are US-born Latinos that don’t really share the same culture as their parents’ or grandparents’ country, and some don’t even speak their native language. I wouldn’t call that race-baiting, and it was a good point to make about baseball players willing to wrap themselves in the flags of countries that they have few ties to.
I’ll agree that Mike Piazza playing for Italy was a stretch, but unless you know that Nomar didn’t grown up with first- and second-generation cousins, aunts, uncles and friends from the neighborhood, I find your comment pretty ignorant of Latino-American culture. And, anyway, it’s not like redneck white people can understand dual cultural identity so why bother trying to explain it to them? I’m sure plenty of ignorant anglos in SoCal only see the name on Garciaparra’s jersey and consider him to not be ‘American’ enough, so why should he be slighted by both ‘Americans’ as well as chauvanistic native Venezuelans who can’t seem to keep their goddamned mouths shut on the issue of race (baiting).
Ozzie wasn’t right about bashing Nomar, and regardless of the details of how in or out of tune to Latino culture some American born Latinos are, there is nothing wrong with a native Venezuelan being cynical of Americans on Latino national baseball teams. If these teams exist and compete for national pride, there is a rational argument that members of the team should actually be natives, not just part of a cultural heritage.
For all we know Mike Piazza speaks only Italian at home and runs numbers (hardy har har). There isn’t a definitive point where one could say he or she has assimilated into another culture or society and isn’t fit to be on a different national sports team. I agree with Ozzie’s point, not his insulting statements.