The manager of the Chicago White Sox, Ozzie Guillen, has never been shy about vocalizing his thoughts and emotions. Not surprisingly, his sometimes off-color quotes have thrown him into the center of a sports media maelstrom.
But some think that Guillen crossed the line last week after he read an article written by Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti that criticized the way Guillen handled the demotion of relief pitcher Sean Tracy. Guillen was quoted as describing Mariotti with a gay slur.
Justifiably, the gay community of Chicago was upset about Guillen's use of the slur. Guillen apologized later.
"I shouldn't have mentioned the name that was mentioned, but I'm not going to back off Jay," Guillen said, adding, "I don't have anything against those people. In my country, you call someone something like that and it is not the same as it is in this country." He claimed that in his native Venezuela, the word is used as reference to a person's courage.
Perhaps the most comical part of the apology was when Guillen said that he has many gay friends, goes to WNBA games, went to the Madonna concert and plans to go to the Gay Games. A half-hearted apology which does nothing more than list more gay stereotypes, in my mind at least, paints Guillen as an even greater homophobe. It is one thing not to think before you talk, but not to think before you apologize -- that's just inexcusable.
Guillen must realize that he is representing an organization constantly in the public eye. It is not alright to sling hurtful names around, doing nothing but perpetuating the use of derogatory names -- something already pervasive in our culture.
Guillen says he keeps it real because he is "from the streets." Commenting on his upbringing, he once said, "I'm smarter than a lot of guys who go to Harvard. When you come to this country and you can't speak any English at 16 years old, and you have to survive, you have to have something smart in your body. If you take one of those Harvard guys and drop them in the middle of Caracas, they won't survive. But if you drop me in the middle of Harvard, I'll survive."
While Guillen probably is much smarter than many individuals at Harvard, most coaches of major league baseball teams have enough common sense to know not to refer to someone using an offensive slur in front of a newspaper reporter.
Even though the use of derogatory names may be endemic to our society, some feel that the constant controversy surrounding Guillen may be a ploy to keep the pressure off of his team. Remember, this is the man who called A-Rod and Nomar hypocrites for taking so long to choose which country to play for in the World Baseball Classic, got suspended for publicly telling a pitcher to a bean a player in retaliation, jokingly called his friend a child molester in front of reporters, threatened to retire if the Sox won the World Series, and decided to go on vacation instead of meeting the president at the White House shortly after becoming an official U.S. citizen.
If this is a distraction ploy, it seems to be working. In fact, people are talking less about the team leading the majors in home runs and RBIs and their second-best record in the majors, and more about what its manager is saying.
Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig fined Guillen an undisclosed amount of money and ordered him to undergo sensitivity training (which he doubts he will attend). Many believe that Guillen should have been suspended for his comments, and rightly so. Baseball already has an image problem with the steroids scandal; Guillen's comments cannot be helping the game.
In fact, baseball seems to have someone spouting derogatory names every few years or so. Recall pitcher John Rocker lambasting gays and former Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott, a racist who admired Hitler and said that he "just took it a little too far." Major league baseball needs to make sure that all its clubs have the same air of professionalism about them as teams like the New York Yankees. Comments like Guillen's cannot attract more fans or future players to the game. This is one piece of the whole image problem that baseball has been facing for many years.
Sadly, it seems that while baseball is "America's Pastime," it will never overtake football to become "America's Favorite Sport" once again. Guillen, I have no problem with your being the quote machine that you are (after all, I need to be amused), but try to think before you speak and make sure what you say won't offend any more groups of people.
