Ozzie, Really stepped in it this time

He's said stupid things before, but saying anything positive about Fidel Castro when you're the manager of a team spending bazillions of dollars to court a largely Cuban fan base, I guess business trumps shrugging off Ozzie being Ozzie.

I hope he survives this because he is, in spite of himself, good for the game. Baseball has always celebrated quirky personalities, and I hope it doesn't stop now.

i too want him to hang in there he is now my favorite mgr..its tricky down here sort of but like all traditional and conservative things hiscomments amonst the second and third generation cubans have been met with a shrug,i dont knowif it happens under obama but i will be surprised if we arent sending forighn aid to cuba in the near future.

I don't know if Ozzie is or isn't good for the game. I think he might be more "the idiot at the bar who won't shut up" than "quirky personality."

I know that if I were to make a list of things that offend me, the hysterical (not the funny kind of hysterical) responses to any public comment that might be deemed offensive rank higher than all but the most offensive initial statements.

In this case, I would prefer responses ranging from "Ozzie talks too much, and he doesn't know what he's talking about" to "Ozzie talks too much, he doesn't know what he's talking about, and since he brought it up, let's talk about some of those things that Ozzie is clueless about."

All well and good. Pitchforks and torches is ridiculous, though. It does, on the other hand, give a guy who seems to enjoy being the center of attention (for better or worse) the one thing that he thrives on.

I agree with the bold.

And the problem with getting hysterical over Castro is that he kinda isn't in the Al-Qaeda league as a threat to world peace. But that's not the point. The point is that when you have personal experience with a political figure who has done you and/or your family wrong, the emotions are intense. That's what Ozzie didn't get, or didn't think about before opening his mouth, and given that his employer's customers are those with the most personal Castro experience, it was a serious faux pas.

But I vote for tolerance and allowing him a chance to win a few baseball games. That's important too.

It was a stupid thing to say in Florida, but the hysteria is just as stupid.

I don't cut him any slack as far as his Castro comments being dumb comments to make.

They were dumb in the context of being part of a team that is trying to gain relevance in the Miami area. They were dumb outside of the context of Miami. They were dumb comments whether or not they were offensive.

But especially in that context of being in Miami, no matter how much you are used to talking without a filter, you're just clueless if it doesn't dawn on you that "I love Castro" isn't going to play well. And I can't argue with people being mad about it.

Over-the-top hysterics, not so much. That kind of thing should be saved for describing the performance of NBA referees, or expressing one's feelings about New York sports teams. Because then it only seems over the top, but it is actually quite restrained.

Good story on ESPN...and maybe a good reminder that the "over the top hysterics" that I complained about are, more often than not, a media invention.

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/782...ange-play-miami

Fired!

on the otherhand the writers are really critical of loria on this one.see dave hydes piece.this org is as dyfunctional as we were last year.

Bobby V.

The Marlins need to make this happen. It would be perfect.