Ozzie Guillen’s comments about Fidel Castro proved watershed for Miami Marlins in the season-Part 2
A manager, whose thinking has been paralysed by trauma and who cannot escape it for a long period of time is usually unable to carry out his job successfully. All the resources available to him will be rendered useless. Subsequently the same skipper not
only becomes the cause of his own downfall but does a great disservice to the players he is managing.
He will be wasting the talent of the players that he has asked to produce the best possible performances from.
Guillen has done something similar in the season. Despite enjoying everything in terms of players and facilities to let them train and nourish their skills, he could not have them unleashing their potential.
He was without any strategy and whatever planning he made in his mind was never sustainable.
It was because of two reasons. One was that the pattern of his thinking was changing after every moment. He seemed like deciding to do a particular thing but ending up doing exactly the opposite. He never had the confidence to rely on a single strategy and
expecting the positive results to come forth. No wonder we saw him never developing the right combination of relievers for completing the innings once the starter left the mound.
Although relief pitcher Heath Bell struggled with his command and control, part of the blame must fall on Guillen’s shoulders.
Scattered in his mind and undecided with regard to using players for various situations in the games, he could not determine the level and the kind of attention certain individuals need.
Bell hardly heard words from his manager which could encourage him and motivate the reliever for returning to the mound with renewed passion. His credentials for carrying out the closing job are well-recognised but the fact he could not show them for the
Marlins demonstrates that something was amiss.
A pat on the back and the words worth inspiring a player can have a magical effect sometimes. Who knows if Guillen had considered the psychological aspect of managing players he will have drawn better results.
Another reason why Guillen’s moves during the matches reflected fragility of his game plan was the way he was taking everything so lightly. It looked like as if he was doing experiments than implementing a well-rehearsed plan.
He appeared to be near to those activities which could easily derail his focus and disallow him from performing the job properly.
Tweets that he posted and the comments that he received on them proved devastating for his temperament. Those who denounced him invited his fury and made Guillen spend time on speaking out against them.
Regardless of the performance of the Marlins in the season, only thing Guillen will be seeking forgiveness for is getting the Marlins’ fans to accept that he never wanted to hurt them.
Frank Thomas, who knows Guillen closely as he worked with him while in the Chicago White Sox, went a long way in proving Guillen innocent in the whole incident.
"After spending years of my life with Ozzie Guillen, I can honestly say he has never been this apologetic," Frank Thomas had said. "I know he is really hurting inside for what he said. If you really know him this was not his intentions at all."
Even as the season end, Guillen will have the same thing residing in his mind as to why he invited the wrath of the Marlins’ fans right in the beginning of the season, because of which he could not do his job appropriately.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Continued in Part 3
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