Stupid Quote

Recently, Chicago White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen voiced complaints about steroids investigations underway, claiming the process unfairly targeted Latinos in MLB. Quotes from the story:

"I meet with, like, five people. The only thing that made me upset was they tried to mention too many Latino players. I think they try to put the Latinos to be the bad cloud in this thing. This thing was bugging me because everything they asked me (was), 'Do you ever see this in Venezuela?'"

"They were like, 'You never see any of the players bring this thing to the States? I said, 'Wait a second, BALCO is not (in) Venezuela, is not (in) Puerto Rico, is not Dominican, is not (in) Mexico. BALCO is in California. Then why do you keep blaming players from Latin America for the problem that we have in the States?"

One reason this is a stupid quote is that in 2005 it was widely reported that Latino players accounted for half the positive tests for steroids in MLB.

Another reason is that in 2005, Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz blamed language barriers for Latinos failing drug tests:

Think about a guy who can't really talk or read? I'm not making excuses for those guys. But I think they would prefer if someone talked to them [in Spanish] ...the system is all [expletive]. You might think everyone's got the message, but they don't."

In 2005, a nonprofit group Hispanics Across America pressured MLB to implement more steroids testing in Latin American baseball programs. Newsweek reported in 2006 that HAA President Fernando Mateo identifies Latinos at greater risk for steroids:

“These kids see the examples of [retired superstars] Jose Canseco and Sammy Sosa and all these players who were linked to steroids and how they performed, and they say this is the way to go. They can get away with it in Latin American countries where [star athletes] are looked upon as gods and the attitude is ‘let them do whatever they want'.”

Of the 6 players appearing at Congressional Hearings on steroids in 2005, three of the four accused abusers were Latinos (Jose Canseco, Sammy Sosa, & Rafael Palmeiro.

In 2006, after being busted in a sting and agreeing to comply with investigations, Jason Grimsley fingered Latinos as a major source of substance abuse in MLB:

According to the affidavit: "Grimsley identified, in his words, 'Latin players' as a major source of the amphetamines within baseball. He stated that it was common knowledge that you could get amphetamines from 'Latin players.' He stated that he got amphetamines from 'Latin players' whenever he needed them. He stated that 'Latin players' had boxes of them."

Ozzie Guillen claimed if other player took steroids it is "not my business" and "Everybody else, you do what you want to do." Such brazen disregard for the topic and the gall to claim racism in an attempt to discourage it entirely are deplorable. The only reason he provided interviews on the topic was to try and portray it as a bad thing. Sorry White Sox fans, but that is wrong.