Chicago White Sox: Castro comments still haunt former manager, Ozzie Guillen
The once talented manager of the Chicago White Sox, Ozzie Guillen yearns to get back into the dugout and manage, but he can’t even scrape up an interview.
If Ozzie Guillen could jump in a time machine and travel back to any time in history, which year do you think he would choose to go? Maybe Ozzie would select 2005 for his destination. In just his second year as manager of the Chicago White Sox Guillen guided the club to 99 regular-season wins en route to winning the American League Central Division.
The Sox tore through the postseason tallying eleven wins against one loss and sweeping the Houston Astros out of the World Series. Along with his World Series ring, Guillen was voted American League Manager of the Year. Guillen’s baseball life couldn’t have been better.
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Maybe Ozzie would select 2012 for his destination. After eight years at the helm of Chicago, Guillen switched leagues and took over as manager of the Miami Marlins.
The Marlins finished last in the National League East that year with a record of 69-93. Less than a month into that season is when Guillen made a misstep, by putting his foot in his mouth.
In an interview with Time magazine, Guillen professed his love for Cuban leader Fidel Castro, also saying he respected the leader for staying in power so long. These comments earned Guillen a five-game suspension and even though he had three more years on his contract to manage the Marlins, at the end of the year Guillen was shown the door.
As far as managing goes, Guillen has been in the unemployment line ever since, without even garnering as much as an interview. His name gets tossed around some, though without serious consideration.
Has Guillen managed his last game in the majors? Unless Doc Brown and Marty McFly get the flux capacitor working again, the answer is a resounding yes.
Politically speaking, his comments about Castro are too much to come back from. Expressing love and admiration for a man who imprisoned, executed, and violated the human rights of his citizens is never a good look.
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Analytically speaking, the data-driven baseball being played in 2020 is not the style of baseball that the former Chicago White Sox manager knows how to manage. Whether he is blackballed from the league or not qualified to manage in the league, we have seen the last of Ozzie Guillen as a manager in the majors.