06.24.06
White Sox manager apologizes
Outspoken Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen apologized Wednesday for using a derogatory term in referring to Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti, then kept up his criticism of the writer.
Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, right, argued with home plate umpire Mike Everitt after Brian Anderson and Pablo Ozuna were hit by pitches during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Chicago, June 20, 2006. Guillen went into a profanity-laced tirade against Mariotti before Tuesday night’s game against St. Louis and called him a number of names, including a “fag.”
Before Wednesday night’s game, Guillen acknowledged that his use of the word might have offended some.
“I shouldn’t have mentioned the name that was mentioned, but I’m not going to back off of Jay,” Guillen said, using another profanity to describe Mariotti.
“The word I used, I should have used something different. A lot of people’s feelings were hurt and I didn’t mean it that way.”
“Jay, I think I made this guy a lot of money and he’s famous. If not for Ozzie Guillen, no one would have heard of him,” Guillen said. “If I hurt anybody with what I called him, I apologize.”
Mariotti, who appears on the ESPN show “Around the Horn,” said his Thursday column will call for Guillen to be suspended.
“I’m a big guy. I have to accept the criticism,” Mariotti said in a phone interview Wednesday night. “I’m appalled that he can use these ugly slurs and think it’s an acceptable form of retaliation in American life. It’s not.”
Guillen was asked Wednesday if he would be open to taking some sensitivity training considering his recent comments.
“I’ve been here for 20 years, but people have to know that I grew up in a different country. That’s not an excuse. I called the guy that name, but, no, that’s the way I grew up, that’s the way I’ve learned that language,” he said.
“I don’t have an excuse to say that, I have been here enough to know you can use so many words in the States. That’s not an excuse, but I wasn’t calling people that. I was calling him that.”
Guillen, who led the White Sox to their first World Series title in 88 years last season, has gotten into trouble several times with his comments.