Ozzie Guillen apologizes to Marlins, exits

PHILADELPHIA -- The man who has been called the "R-rated Yogi," combining his native tongue (Spanish) with his second language (English) and his favored vernacular (cursing) to produce some of baseball's most rambunctious declarations, Wednesday briefly addressed his Miami Marlins team in an ongoing attempt to tamp down the firestorm he created with published remarks about former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

"At least he's owning up to it; he's not trying to hide from it or shy away from it," Miami closer Heath Bell said of manager Ozzie Guillen, suspended for five games after his expression of admiration for Castro angered the very Cuban-American community his organization is attempting to romance. "He can only be a better person for that.

"Like he said, if he's doesn't learn from this, he's stupid. That's what he said, or something like that."

On the heels of his public apology in Miami on Tuesday, Guillen -- a naturalized American from Venezuela -- appeared in the Miami clubhouse three hours before last night's game here against the Phillies and spoke about 10 minutes to the players before disappearing -- as per the team's wishes -- until Tuesday's home game against the Chicago Cubs.

"It's been tough," said Joey Cora, the 48-year-old baseball lifer who will manage the team in Guillen's absence. "To watch [the apology] on TV, everybody felt like he needed a hug. But he's getting through it. He knows definitely that he made a mistake. He's going to do anything -- anything, I'm telling you guys -- anything in his power to make this right."

Some Cuban-American leaders in Miami are calling for Guillen, 48 and only a week into the job as Marlins manager, to be fired. He was quoted in Time magazine as saying he "loved" Castro and praised Castro's enduring position of power, rather than sticking to baseball (which Guillen might have done by noting that the pre-revolution Castro once was offered $4,000 to sign with the New York Giants as a crafty righthanded pitcher).

Cora, Guillen's right-hand man for nine seasons, noted that he has filled in for the often controversial Guillen in the past -- once when Guillen was suspended for tweeting, once when Guillen's pitcher threw at an opposing batter after a warning, once when Guillen attended his son's graduation and also when Guillen attended his father-in-law's funeral.

"This is definitely a different circumstance," Cora said, noting the horde of microphones, cameras and notepads in the Miami dugout before the game, but assured that it would not detract from the players' duties.

"I don't really see this as an adverse time for us," leftfielder Logan Morrison said. "It's really tough for [Guillen]. But he shouldn't feel embarrassed around us and have to apologize to us. It was a mistake and he said so. We appreciate what he did. We stand behind him. But the only adversity we face [last night] is Roy Halladay."

Pitcher Mike Dunn said the fallout from Guillen's remarks "didn't affect anybody here. Our job is to play baseball."

A good way to "turn the page," Morrison said, "is by winning games. If we do well and get to the playoffs and World Series, this will be a side note."

So it won't be over until it's over.