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8.02.2010

ozzie guillen says asian baseball players are treated better than latino players

White sox Manager Ozzie Guillen says that Asian baseball players are given privileges in the United States that Latino players are not afforded, like language interpreters: Guillen Vents About Treatment of Latino Players.
Guillen said it was unfair that Japanese players are assigned interpreters when they come to the United States to play professionally; Latinos do not receive the same service, he said.

"Very bad," Guillen said Sunday before the host White Sox beat the Athletics, 4-1, for their sixth win in seven games. "I say, why do we have Japanese interpreters and we don't have a Spanish one? I always say that. Why do they have that privilege and we don't?"

He added: "Don't take this wrong, but they take advantage of us. We bring a Japanese player and they are very good and they bring all these privileges to them. We bring a Dominican kid - Go to the minor leagues, good luck. Good luck. And it's always going to be like that. It's never going to change. But that's the way it is."
I don't know much about the behind-the-scenes inner workings of professional baseball, but considering how many players the Major League imports from South America, you'd think there would indeed be more interpreters -- and certainly as many as there are for Asian players.

As for Guillen wanting props for being the "only one" in baseball teaching young Latin American players to stay away from performance-enhancing drugs, hooray for him. But really, is Major League Baseball supposed to pat him on the back for something he's supposed to be doing?