team owner Jeffrey Loria says fans ready to accept him
Guillen has served his fivegame suspension and will return to the Miami Marlins dugout for Tuesday game against the Chicago Cubs. And the Marlins would have you believe the maelstrom itself is about to fade away.
In his first extensive public remarks since Guillen suspension, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria pointed to the attendance for last weekend series against the Houston Astros (96,060 for three games) as evidence that the worst is over. like their baseball. There no one person bigger than the game. That what people have to understand. They love their baseball here. It time to move forward ティファニー. added: have to tell you. Journalists would like to see dissension and problems. It ain happening. Period. It makes good stories. The bottom line is, we a really good bunch of kids here, and Ozzie is a good person microsoft office 2010 product key. was in a cheerful mood as he paused while strolling through the nattily appointed home clubhouse after Sunday win. The hydropsychedelic home run sculpture sprang to life twice that day, looking like a carnival ride designed by Willy Wonka. Superstar Hanley Ramirez was the walkoff hero. And there were no signs of organized protest, in or around Marlins Park.
The debate surrounding Guillen comments to Time magazine about Castro is now more than one week old. Guillen said he loved and admired the Cuban dictator because Castro has remained in power despite attempts to kill him. The Marlins suspended Guillen amid calls from some CubanAmericans that Guillen be fired.
Clearly, Loria believes the media has exaggerated the negative reaction to Guillen remarks even though the response in some segments of the CubanAmerican community remains very raw and very real. In refusing to dismiss Guillen, the Marlins have wagered that the crowd of paying customers inside the ballpark will outnumber any protesters outside.
So far, that has been the case toms shoes.
The Marlins have an obligation to respect Miami large CubanAmerican community, particularly because their new ballpark resides in Little Havana the first home for many Cubans who flee Castro regime in search of freedom. But the decision to retain Guillen reinforced that the Marlins are a business, not a public trust. Apparently, it will take an even more extreme circumstance or extreme losing to fire Guillen and swallow the remainder of his fouryear, $10 million contract.
CubanAmerican business owners could pressure the Marlins by threatening to pull sponsorships or group tickets. But Loria said he doesn believe that has happened.
Asked if he still believes strongly that Guillen is the right person to lead the Marlins, Loria said, very good for here lululemon sale. Excellent. Not only for here, for any team. I didn hire him because he be good for here. I hired him because he a good manager. He an enthusiastic guy lululemon, with a tremendous amount of energy. He knows the game, knows the strategies. He doesn take any guff from anybody. He good. will Guillen remain with the team for all four years of his contract?
don know if I going to be here for four years, Loria said. never know what life turns. I like what he been doing with this team. unsaid, though, is what Guillen has been doing for the past week lululemon.
The Marlins didn respond to a question about whether Guillen has reached out to CubanAmerican organizations or individuals since his suspension began vivienne westwood. MiamiDade County mayor Carlos A. Gimenez has challenged the Marlins to decisive steps to bring this community back together. I said before, the Marlins organization has been the source of a number of controversies, including statements by their administration that have been disrespectful to many segments of our Miami community.
an organization, the Marlins need to earn back the respect of our residents. I know that our community is a forgiving one, and only time will tell whether the organization actions will be enough lululemon. a typical mayoral proclamation about a baseball franchise particularly one with a fourgameold ballpark in an area of the city ripe for development. But such is the nature of frosty relations between the team and city. Public funding was used for roughly 73 percent of the stadium $615 million cost, so city and county officials must feel all the more justified in their outrage over Guillen remarks. An ongoing investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into the stadium financing is yet another subtext.
The greatest tragedy here is in the lost opportunity for the franchise and Little Havana to wrap each other in a warm embrace at the beginning of their relationship. Marlins Park will have but one grand opening, and Guillen remarks halted the honeymoon before it began. Guillen, a Venezuelan microsoft office 2010 product key, was supposed to be one face of the franchise outreach to its LatinAmerican fans. Instead, he insulted many of those around him just after moving into the neighborhood.
was offended, said Jorge Perez, a CubanAmerican and the head baseball coach at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens. made a big mistake. You can say that in this community. There a lot of pain here. Did he mean what he said? I don know. Love and hate are pretty strong words. You don need a translator for that.
put a lot of pressure on himself that didn need to exist. I tell you this: He better win. now shares a difficult choice with the thousands of CubanAmericans who love baseball: boycott the games until the Marlins hire a new manager or watch the best players in the world at an architectural marvel in the middle of a proud ethnic neighborhood.
have plans to go to the park, because I a baseball fan, Perez said. can disregard the manager and focus on the game. CubanAmericans already made the same decision. Tony Villamil, dean of the business school at St. Thomas, attended Sunday game and heard scattered boos from fans when an image of Guillen appeared on the centerfield scoreboard during pregame introductions. Bush, said he expects more boos on Tuesday and perhaps some protests. But he senses that the CubanAmerican community is less united in its anger now than it was during the Eli Gonz custody affair more than a decade ago. As such, Villamil doesn expect Guillen comments to have a major impact on the franchise business operations.
don think this will consume the community for an extended period of time lululemon, Villamil said. Eli Gonz that was serious business. Everybody was mad. This is different lululemon.
doesn help that the Marlins stadium is in the most CubanAmerican neighborhood in Miami. To say what he said was ridiculous. But now he has made his retraction. Let go on and play ball. Villamil added a moment later: still offended. I can understand why he said that. So many Cuban exiles have suffered under Castro tiffany uk. How can you say you have respect for someone who killed so many people? the strictest sense of the term, boycotts of Marlins games already have begun. While standing beside Ventanita the little window at the renowned Versailles Restaurant in Little Havana on Monday afternoon, 77yearold Luis Alfonso de la Paz said in Spanish that he won go to a Marlins game as long as Guillen is the manager.
Miguel Saavedra, president of the human rights organization Vigilia Mambisa, then joined the conversation and informed me that his group has planned a protest for Thursday series finale against the Cubs. is a test of fire from the Spanish community in South Florida, Saavedra said. Spanish people here got power. We will go there and tell them, more tickets (from us). Still, Saavedra acknowledged that some CubanAmericans will continue attending Marlins games. like baseball too much, he said.
The conflicting emotions are common within Miami CubanAmerican community now. Robert Lang, who attended Saturday game with his sister Arlene, said he heard commentators on a CubanAmerican radio station talking excitedly about Friday win because Gaby Sanchez, the lone CubanAmerican on the team, delivered the decisive hit in extra innings.
The key word in that sentence: win.
The Guillen controversy stripped away one layer of armor from the manager and victoria secret swimwear, by extension, the organization itself. The novelty of the stadium, with its artistic touches and leftfield nightclub, will draw fans for now. But Miami sports fans aren known for their altruism or loyalty. The first Saturday date at Marlins Park drew only the 11thlargest crowd among the 15 games in the majors that day.
For the Marlins to sustain their bigspending ways, they must regularly draw crowds of 30,000. And for the Marlins to regularly draw crowds of 30,000, they must contend in September. That remains an attainable goal. Still, many who fill those seats will look at the manager and think not of whether he will send Jose Reyes on a 11 count, but rather the awful thing he said.
at everybody here, said Mirta Valdes Ricci, a CubanAmerican, as she surveyed the Saturday night crowd. it affect attendance? I don think so. But we don know. I still going to come. Ricci shares a story with so many in South Florida: born in Cuba, fled the country with her mother and sister, grew up poor, lived in Little Havana. At times, her eyes moistened as she told of the hardships imposed by Castro regime. and thousands and thousands of people have died because of that man, she told me. So, you ask, how long might it take some CubanAmericans to forgive Guillen chan luu? The answer victoria secret swim, in some cases, is they never will. They may buy a ticket and a hot dog and a parking spot, but they will withhold something more sacred.Related：