The topic of Miguel Cabrera's weight has been a recurring one in South Florida, and now even the visiting teams have felt the need to comment. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, a fellow Venezuelan who is a friend and mentor to Cabrera, recently spoke to Miami's local media about the slugger's increasing waistline:"I'm a little upset with him," said Guillen, the former Marlins third-base coach now in his fourth season managing the White Sox. "I said, 'You're still young. You're going to keep getting bigger.' He knows he's got a problem. We talked about it." ...Some friend, eh? I'm sure Guillen has Cabrera's best interests in mind, but hearing a buddy call you fat in the newspaper isn't too cool.
"When you're young and you're good, you can get away with a lot of stuff," Guillen said. "When you're getting older and you go down, they say you're fat. Right now it's, 'Oh, he's a little chubby. He likes to eat.' When you're not hitting .340 with 40 home runs, they're going to call you a fat boy from Venezuela. You'd better lose some weight."
Consider this: Cabrera is hitting .335 with 16 home runs and 52 RBI ... and we're talking about his calorie intake? The kid can flat-out rake, and people are concerned about how tight his jersey fits him? Yes, it's important for him to stay in shape, but don't forget that we're talking about a guy who's missed a total of 10 games over the previous three seasons combined. Just like when people were talking about this last month, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt: he can play at whatever weight he wants until he shows me otherwise.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-19-2007 @ 6:28PM
Dane said...
I think what is lost in your post is taking account of the cultural idiosyncrasies of Venezuela. They are very open, and somewhat shallow when in comes to commenting on appearance, and it is normal for another male to comment if a friend has gained weight. I think Ozzie message is being interpreted as a far greater slant thatn intended, and I imagine Cabrera cares far less than most media pundits.
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6-22-2007 @ 11:43AM
Rich said...
Nice try taking Ozzie's comments of out context and attempting to blow them up into a bigger story than it is. I've read the full quotes here:
http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=59464
NO one is buying it. Get a life.
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7-06-2007 @ 9:41PM
chifan said...
Who really cares what Ozzie thinks ?? He should be worried about trying to pick up the pieces of the White Sox,not talking about other teams players. That is his problem though, he can't keep his mouth shut. That is why his team has quit on him { all lip, no substance ]. His ego has ruined the Sox, and now he is trying to spread the desease on to other ball teams.
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