Red Sox @ Marlins Preview

Beckett will be getting his first start against this former team, but I really don't give a shit abotu that. What I do care about is the Red Sox are sliding again, and are 2 games under .500. Beckett, 2-2 with a 2.21 ERA in his last five starts, will next get to face a Miami team that's been outscored 43-10 during an 0-6 start to its homestand.

Going against Beckett is Josh Johnson. Johnson had a tough start to the year, but is 3-1 with a 2.95 ERA over his last six start. What is really going to be interesting is to see what kind of lineup the Red Sox throw out there. Youk hasn't been playing well, so I think I would site him play Middlebooks at 3rd, put Ortiz at 1st and A-Gon in the RF. They need a good lineup out there, because they haven't been hitting real well.

I don't have a good feeling about this game. The Sox are playing like shit, and I just don't trust Beckett.

Marlins win 7-3
Player of the Game: Johnson
Game starts at 7:10pm

2012 Top 25 Under 25: #15 Mike Stanton

Born: November 8, 1989 (age 22)
Team: Miami Marlins
Position: OF

His real name is Giancarlo Cruz Michael Stanton, we know him as Mike Stanton, no not that RP that used to pitch for the Yankees.

On June 6, 2010 at age 20 year (212 days) Stanton became the second youngest player, behind only Miguel Cabrera to break into the big leagues with the Marlins, and has never once looked like he didn't belong. In his first season (100 games) Stanton put up 22 HRs, 59 RBIs and hit .259. He followed that by last year hitting .262 with 34 HRs and 87 RBIs. He is still just 22 years old and could be a guy who hits 40 HRs every year. Most guys at 22 are still in AA, and this kid is raking HRs. His RBIs totals will only rise as this team starts to put better players on the field around him.

We could very easily be looking at the next Pujols type player here.

Captain's Thoughts: Ozzie Guillen and Castro

Ozzie Guillen is being punished for expressing an opinion. Which sounds like something that would happen in Castro's Cuba, and not the Free World. Obviously as a private entity, the Marlins have the right to suspend Guillen. Guillen's remarks have incited a PR nightmare of Biblical proportions. Expressing admiration for Castro in Miami is like going to Tel Aviv and praising Hitler's public works projects. It's a really stupid thing to do.

But what did Guillen actually say? I'm having extreme difficulty finding the full quote. All I can find is that he said "I love Castro." But I doubt he said that without being asked a question, and I doubt he said that without adding more. Guillen is not a three-word-answer type of guy. He speaks in tangents.

So where's the rest of the tangent?

Time Magazine has the full story available online, but only to subscribers. And I don't subscribe to Time. Why would I?

And every other paper, blog, cable news site, pundit pool and sports radio station only features the "I love Castro," part of the quote. Then the writer takes over with their opinions about Guillen, Castro, Cuban-Americans, the Marlins, and so on.

I finally found the real quote. Thank you, Broward Palm Beach New Times:

"I love Fidel Castro... You know why? Many people have tried to kill Fidel Castro in the last 60 years, yet that [SOB] is still there."

It doesn't seem so horrific now, does it. It's just a stupid thing to say.

And did he say it in English or Spanish? Why is nobody asking these questions before they spit out their opinions one way or another? Are we so addicted to outrage in this country that we don't ask questions, we just get pissed?

The Marlins have been inundated with complaints, protests, and boycotts from the Cuban community in Miami. Understandably so. These are people who were forced out of their homeland by Castro. And people who still have relatives living under Castro's regime.

Will a 5 game suspension ease their anger? Maybe for a day. But their real anger is at Castro, not Guillen. And at the end of the 5 game suspension, Castro's still alive, and Guillen's job is still to manage a baseball team. Which is more important?

Ken Rosenthal wants a month long suspension. Wow. Because that's what we do in America? Lobby for people to be punished as harshly as possible for saying something stupid? This is the same guy who in 2008 insinuated that the Red Sox were a racist club because they had so many white players. He then back-tracked and tried to explain his remarks. I wonder if Mr. Rosenthal was clamoring for his own suspension back then for saying stupid stuff.

I really think after this media firestorm that Guillen will not talk about Castro ever again. He's not an idiot. A 5 game or a month long suspension isn't necessary to shut him up. His own common sense and desire to manage a ballclub will give him some self-censorship.

Getting Ozzie Guillen to sincerely apologize about anything is enough for me. He's not the apologizing type. If a 5 game suspension will quiet the enraged masses, then that makes sense for the Marlins. But this whole story is why I hate the media. Three words, no context, and suddenly Guillen is a pro-communist villain.

It's disgusting. And if we read about something like this happening in Cuba we'd all say "Thank God we don't live there. We live in a free country."

-The Captain

So Now We Are Taking Ozzie Guillen Seriously (UPDATED)

"I love Fidel Castro." Later in the story he added, "I respect Fidel Castro. You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that (expletive) is still here."

So Ozzie Guillen said that in an interview.

I'm Cuban and my grandmother is from Cuba and yes Fidel Castro is a complete dick and somehow is still alive. However, I'm not nearly offended by what Ozzie Guillen as others. Probably because I understand that Ozzie Guillen is fucking crazy and says crazy things all the time. It's better that you pay attention to him when he's on the field rather than off the field.

Ozzie Guillen is still my favorite coach in baseball and has been very apologetic towards these remarks he made.

But people really need to stop taking what he says seriously, just how I do with Bobby V.


***UPDATE***

Ozzie Guillen has been suspended by the Marlins for 5 games, and they have left the door open to suspended him longer depending on how his press conference goes today.