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ENLARGE
Ian Cropp
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ENLARGE
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Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen holds up the World Series trophy after defeating the Houston Astros Wednesday
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It's an indisputable fact that some of the best baseball players are Hispanic, and I don't say this just as a die-hard Red Sox fan. But, there has been question as to whether Hispanic managers are effective in the majors.
This question was put to rest Wednesday night with the Chicago White Sox's World Series victory. Behind the team's first championship in 88 years is manager Ozzie Guillen. With the win, I think we will start to see a long overdue trend - the rise of Hispanic managers.
Right now there are two Hispanic managers in Major League Baseball, with the other being 70-year-old Felipe Alou, who right now has about as much backing as Harriet Miers. The number is down from four in 2004, when Carlos Tosca was at the helm for the Toronto Blue Jays, and Tony Pena for the Kansas City Royals.
According to MLB figures, 24 percent of the 829 players on rosters this season were born in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela or Cuba. And the numbers rise when you look to the minor leagues. I think this merits a closer look at increasing the number of Hispanic managers.
Archetype
There are a number of other, more substantive reasons why there should be more Hispanic managers in MLB, and Guillen embodies most of those reasons.
Archetype
There are a number of other, more substantive reasons why there should be more Hispanic managers in MLB, and Guillen embodies most of those reasons.
Guillen is the protégé of what could be a new type of manager - one who can relate to all of his players on a personal level, one who can joke around while maintaining order in the clubhouse, and one who wins.
His team praises his managing technique, and not just the Hispanic players. That the nearly incorrigible A. J. Pierzynski lauded his manager, Guillen, is an inconceivable notion.
As other players on his team have professed, it helps to have a manager who can bridge the language gap. Sometimes it's little things, but they add up to where a player like Luis Vizcaino can call the clubhouse mi casa (my home). While in Milwaukee, Vizcaino had trouble understanding his manager, and often felt left out of the loop.
In addition to Guillen, the other bilingual managers in baseball are Alou, Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels, Tony LaRussa of the St. Louis Cardinals and Dusty Baker of the Chicago Cubs. There clearly need to be more, but forging relationships with players goes beyond just language.
His team praises his managing technique, and not just the Hispanic players. That the nearly incorrigible A. J. Pierzynski lauded his manager, Guillen, is an inconceivable notion.
As other players on his team have professed, it helps to have a manager who can bridge the language gap. Sometimes it's little things, but they add up to where a player like Luis Vizcaino can call the clubhouse mi casa (my home). While in Milwaukee, Vizcaino had trouble understanding his manager, and often felt left out of the loop.
In addition to Guillen, the other bilingual managers in baseball are Alou, Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels, Tony LaRussa of the St. Louis Cardinals and Dusty Baker of the Chicago Cubs. There clearly need to be more, but forging relationships with players goes beyond just language.
Communities
Having a Hispanic manager or management can help attract Hispanic players to a team that they may not have wanted to play on otherwise. Omar Minaya, the general manager of the Mets, has shown this to be true, while Guillen seems to get extra mileage out of Hispanic players on his team who weren't playing as well before they landed on the ChiSox.
Guillen is an active member of the Hispanic community in Chicago, which not only garners more support for his team from the fans, but helps increase MLB's marketability to a wider audience. And his native country of Venezuela followed his every move during the World Series.
Guillen recognizes the substance of having Hispanic managers. But, as he said himself, there shouldn't be more Hispanic managers just for the sake of having them; there should be more because they are effective. Between Guillen's success, Pena and Alou winning Manager-of-the-Year awards (Alou won in 1994 and Pena won in 2003), it's evident that Hispanic managers are successful.
Having a Hispanic manager or management can help attract Hispanic players to a team that they may not have wanted to play on otherwise. Omar Minaya, the general manager of the Mets, has shown this to be true, while Guillen seems to get extra mileage out of Hispanic players on his team who weren't playing as well before they landed on the ChiSox.
Guillen is an active member of the Hispanic community in Chicago, which not only garners more support for his team from the fans, but helps increase MLB's marketability to a wider audience. And his native country of Venezuela followed his every move during the World Series.
Guillen recognizes the substance of having Hispanic managers. But, as he said himself, there shouldn't be more Hispanic managers just for the sake of having them; there should be more because they are effective. Between Guillen's success, Pena and Alou winning Manager-of-the-Year awards (Alou won in 1994 and Pena won in 2003), it's evident that Hispanic managers are successful.
So teams shopping for a new managers in the offseason shouldn't just consider a candidate's previous coaching record, but how they will best serve their team. With this broader, more effective criteria, I believe more Hispanic mangers may be on the way. And when they come, they can all thank Ozzie for making it a bit easier for them.
Sports Writer Ian Cropp can be reached at 949-0555, ext. 608, or icropp@vaildaily.com.
Vail, Colorado
Sports Writer Ian Cropp can be reached at 949-0555, ext. 608, or icropp@vaildaily.com.
Vail, Colorado
