Firing of Ozzie Guillen Makes Miami Marlins Laughingstock of Baseball

You remember that one kid in high school? He would be that person that would do absolutely ridiculous things to catch everyone's attention. At first, everyone would want to be friends with that kid, as he would seem to be somewhat cool. He becomes one of those people who believes their stupid behavior draws laughs and makes him popular. In reality, people are no longer laughing with him but rather laughing at him. By the middle of the year, he is no longer even funny, and the other kids and teachers are no longer mesmerized by him and instead hate him.

This is what the Miami Marlins franchise is quickly turning into. Only, they are not just upsetting their peers, but they are starting to get on the nerves of the only people that actually like them: their fans.

Marlins fans have to be given a ton of credit. They have stuck around through a lot of dark times. Yes, the team has won two championships in their brief history, but the team has gone through a lot more darkness than it has prospered in the past few seasons.

In the history of the National League East, the Marlins are the only team of the five yet to capture the division crown. Adding to that, the Marlins playoff drought is now at nine seasons. Only the Kansas City Royals (27), Pittsburgh Pirates (20), Toronto Blue Jays (19), and Seattle Mariners (11) remain ahead of the Fish. This is not the company with whom the Marlins want to be associated.

Like that kid in high school, the Marlins have had their moments, but for the most part, the teams successes have been overshadowed by their shortcomings.

Tuesday was no different for the Marlins, as the team officially announced what had been speculated for the entirety of the Marlins offseason, the Marlins firing of Ozzie Guillen. The team also fired Joey Cora and let coaches Eduardo Perez and Randy St. Claire go.

The move came as a surprise to many, as the team decided to fire Guillen after three weeks of speculation. Many felt that with the recent trade of the loathed Heath Bell, Guillen's job was safe. Apparently all of them were wrong. Juan Rodriguez, of the Sun-Sentinel, and a great friend of Fish Stripes, was extremely shell shocked about the news of the firing:

Sept. 25:That was the day I thought Ozzie Guillen would survive, albeit with a short leash in 2013, but he would get there. Turned out not even his players’ support in the aftermath of that regrettable Heath Bell radio interview could save him.

In the article, Rodriguez states that Guillen had a sit-down meeting with Loria two days before the end of the season about the Marlins' future. That seemed to be an indicator that Guillen would be brought back in 2013, but on a short leash.

As the news of Ozzie Guillen spread like wild fire on the wonderful world of Twitter, Ozzie Guillen and the Miami Marlins began to trend around the world. As per the case as it is when the Marlins usually trend, other baseball folk, including fans and baseball experts were very critical of the team.

Perhaps the most surprising and most critical tweet came from a Marlins player, Ricky Nolasco:

Ricky quickly deleted this tweet, but the damage was already done. Nolasco's twitter followers quickly retweeted his tweet on their timelines for the entire world to see. You better bet that the Marlins management has probably already gotten their eyes on this tweet and had a chat with Nolasco.

Normally, I would scold a player for not thinking before making a tweet such as this, bashing their own ball club, but Nolasco and all the other Marlins players have a right to be pissed about this decision. They respected Guillen and saw him as a good enough manager under whom to win. Unfortunately, the Marlins front office did not see things the same way.