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Ozzie Guillen: Steroids and RacismWhite Sox Manager Claims Steroid Investigation Is RacistSince the Chicago White Sox won the World Series in 2005, Manager Ozzie Guillen has been treated with kid gloves by the media. It may be time that he gets called to task.
For the past three and a half years, there has been a wind blowing on the south side of Chicago that has been more chaotic and unpredictable than usual. It's not a tornado, nor is it a hurricane. It's Ozzie Guillen whom, some say, is full of hot air. Since taking over the White Sox in 2004, Ozzie Guillen has led the ChiSox to their first World Series championship in 2005, managed an All-Star team, and guided his club to a .550 winning percentage. His record, his fire and his charm have led the media to place him on a pedestal that is usually reserved for skippers who have been around much longer and who have won a lot more. Guillen Criticizes the Recent Steroid Investigation As Being RacistFor the past five years, baseball has been living with an ongoing steroid problem that just won't go away. Eighteen months ago, Commissioner Bud Selig appointed former U.S. Senator George Mitchell to investigate steroid use in baseball from the early 1990s until the MLB began testing in 2004. In the year and a half since the investigation began, ballplayers and the Players Association have been less than cooperative with the inquiry. On June 6, 2007, Ozzie Guillen threw a whole new wrench into the baseball steroid scandal by suggesting that the investigation was racist when he told reporters that he was upset because he felt investigators were asking him too many questions designed to implicate Latino players. Specifically, Ozzie said: "the only thing that made me upset was they tried to mention too many Latino players. I think they try to put the Latinos to be the bad cloud in this thing." Guillen went on to say that he: "was 100% against steroid use" but further stated that "it's not my business if others take them." Finally, he said: "I really don't worry about it," he said. "I have three kids and those are the only three people I care about. Everybody else, you do what you want to do." Why Ozzie Guillen is Out of LineGuillen is a Major League manager and nowadays that means he has a duty to know what his players are putting into their bodies. To say that everyone else besides his children should do what they want to do (including, given the context, take steroids) is an irresponsible comment that only confirms the worst fears of baseball fans. Namely, that steroid use was rampant for years and everyone in baseball ownership and management, like Guillen, turned a blind eye to let it happen. Secondly, Guillen's claim that the investigation was somehow racist and directed against Latino players seems both baseless and bordering on the inflammatory. The facts are the facts: (1) more than half the players who have been suspended for taking performance-enhancing drugs are Latinos; (2) steroids and Human Growth Hormone are legal in many Latin America countries and therefore, (3) given the number of Latino ballplayers who have been found guilty, it is central to the investigation to determine if Latino players are getting drugs from their home countries and, perhaps, bringing them into the U.S. But Ozzie chose to focus on race rather than address the realities of the steroid problem. Was he playing the race card in the midst of an investigation that will have long-lasting implications for the game and the country? Is he just another example of a high-profile minority using his ethnicity as a shield against potential wrongdoing, and a sword to attack those who accuse him? Or is he just trying to do what he thinks a good managr should do? Ozzie Guillen's Earlier TransgressionsGuillen should know better, but apparently he doesn't. This isn't the first controversial thing he has said since he took over the White Sox. Here is a short list of some other outrageous, deceptive, and bullying behavior that Guillen has engaged in. The Sean Tracey Affair Guillen has a reputation for being a player's manager. A guy who can connect with, and develop, young players, especially pitchers. But that reputation may not be very well earned. For example, in June of 2006, Guillen ordered rookie relief pitcher Sean Tracey to bean Texas Ranger Hank Blalock in retaliation for the Rangers twice hitting White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski. Tracey didn't peg Blalock, as his manager ordered. So Guillen immediately pulled Tracey from the game and berated the 23-year old in front of the television cameras, his teammates and millions of viewers at home. Guillen went on for so long that Tracey eventually dropped his head into his hands, apparently crying. Despite the fact that Tracey had an ERA of 3.38 and had surrendered just four hits in eight innings pitched, Guillen sent Tracey to the minors the next day, and the young man hasn't returned to the big club since. The Jay Mariotti Homophobic Incident Jay Mariotti, a newspaper columnist in Chicago, criticized Guillen, calling his actions toward Tracey, "senseless and immature." The next day, Guillen responded to Mariotti by saying: "what a ****ing piece of shit he is. What a fag." Guillen was fined by the MLB and ordered to undergo sensitivity training, which he initially resisted, but ultimately accepted. So, in the World According to Ozzie, it appears that calling someone a "fag" is just fine, but having to answer very real questions about very real players who broke the very real rules of the sport, is off-limits because that's "racist." More Beanball Orders In addition to ordering Tracey to hit Blalock, Guillen has expressly admitted that he's ordered pitchers to hit batters in other games. These included hitting St. Louis Cardinals Chris Duncan in a game the White Sox were winning 20-6, and ordering pitcher Freddy Garcia to plunk Delmon Young in his first Major League at-bat. ConclusionGuillen is one of the five or six best managers in baseball. He was instrumental in leading the White Sox to their historic 2005 World Series title. He is often a much needed breath of fresh air for the game, and he brings more excitement to the field than any manager since Billy Martin. But don't kid yourself. The guy is no angel. He might be something much worse. _________________________ Baseball's Ongoing Steroid Problem
The copyright of the article Ozzie Guillen: Steroids and Racism in Baseball is owned by James Lincoln Ray. Permission to republish Ozzie Guillen: Steroids and Racism in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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