I love this image for some reason, because this innocent little strumpet has no idea what she gets to collect as soon as she passes go. And let's be honest, we all used to think we were bending over and taking it when you landed on Park Place. Talk about an eye opener. I wonder if you have to roll a pair to get out of that jail?
Anyway, I was thinking about discussing the trade deadline moves and such, but I I also wanted to make sure that you guys didn't fall asleep on Monday morning, so I'll spare you from that lecture...for now.
Still, on the tip of my tongue is something that has been eating at me a bit since I read about it, although it seemed to roll off of the tip of his tongue pretty easily. Needless to say, I'm referring to Ozzie Guillen, who made a comment this week about how much easier the Asian players have it in Major League Baseball than the Latin players.
It seems that Mr. Mouth of the Southside thought it was prudent to poke the embers of racial bias for no reason whatsoever other than to get the camera pointing at him again. Ozzie referred to the ability of Asian players to come to the United States and get assisted by the team with interpreters and personal masseuses while Latin ballplayers are left to wallow in the minor leagues, scraping by on their own accord and meager salaries. Apparently this was all based on the fact that his son's minor league team acquired a Korean ballplayer who came packaged with an interpreter, while his boy is saddled with the need to interpret for the Spanish speaking players on the team.
Well Mr. Guillen, you have a certain point in regards to equality, but you miss a few key points to the argument.
Firstly, most Asian players who have made their ways West are coming over as established professional players, who despite their inexperience at the Major League level, still possess some level of negotiation skills. On the flip side, most Latin players sign their contracts at extremely young ages, prior to having possessed any level of professional experience, and often have had their contract negotiated for them by a liason in their country who has swindled them out of the majority of their deal.
Secondly, Asian players make up the smallest percentage of foreign players in the Major Leagues and its subordinate minor league systems. They tend to have few teammates that can assist them in acclimating to our societies and therefore require at least someone that can help them to at least understand what Joe Coach is saying to him. Meanwhile,Latin ballplayers make up the largest growing population on Major League Baseball, let alone the United States. That said, it is more that easy to see why teams won't invest in translators for them when they generally already on the team or coaching staff.
So come over here for a second and sit down Ozzie, I have a piece of information that I'd like to pass along to you and your fellow crybabies; "No one in this country gets a free ride or a silver spoon."
Let's face facts, if you are lucky enough to have landed a job where you get to play a game for a living, your life isn't hard. Sure, there is a lot of work involved in keeping your position and earning promotions, but I have news for you, that's why they call it a job and that's why you're paid to do it. If for some reason it is too much work for your son to be a comrade to his teammates from another country and help them to acclimate, then just have him hand them the yellow pages and help them find someone else to teach them the language so that they don't require his services any more. Or at the very least, let him file a grievance with the union
Do you want to impress me Ozzie? Sit down and realize that your team is in first place and that they don't necessarily need you to shine the spotlight on yourself. Let their performance do the talking for you. You're the manager, not the face of the franchise. Your job is to put the line-up card together and flash signs, so if you don't want to speak more than one language to your players, then there is only one thing left for you to do:
Shut up!
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