It’s been an eventful 24 hours in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League.
Former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén was reportedly fired as the skipper of the Tiburones de la Guaira following the team’s 12-4 loss last night. Team owner Wilmer Ruperti quickly issued a video on social media after growing discontent to reverse the decision, saying Guillén was still the team’s manager and that he hoped to see him at their Thursday game.
Before this video surfaced, Guillén apparently addressed the team and released several posts on social media to bid his farewell.
The translated caption reads as follows:
Thanks to all my players, all my coaches, my spoiled clubbies, security, medical team of the organization, I wish you all the best. Hurt but no hard feelings, in life everything happens. I wish the best to the team, hopefully you achieve what you are trying to achieve for the happiness and well-being of the fans. With my heart in my hand my sincere thanks and no more suffering in my family from every day that this job entails. Good luck my people. I hope one day to be a manager in the LVBP, I still have something left…
via Ozzie Guillén/Instagram
Fast-forward a few hours and around 11:00 a.m. CT, Ruperti posted a photo with Guillén on his Instagram where the two are seen smiling side-by-side. Ozzie shared the same image on his X account with a simple message: “See you at the Forum.”
Guillén, 60, led the franchise to its first Venezuelan Professional Baseball League championship in 38 years last season, and as a result, represented the country in the 2024 Caribbean Series. The Tiburones currently sit in sixth place out of eight teams with a 24-25 record, leading to the controversial decision by general manager Alberto Diaz to fire Guillén. Díaz is now without a job while Guillén has seemingly returned for the rest of the season with his long-term future uncertain.
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Featured Photo: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
