Mr. Loria, the new Fidel Castro?

I can’t believe I’m actually about to write this – might there be someone more hated than Fidel Castro in South Florida? A recent article released by The Miami Herald has Mr. Loria with a 6% favorable rating compared to Fidel’s 1%. Fidel wins the unpopularity contest, but not by much. Wow, I did just write that. The article only mentions Fidel once and then goes into how the fans who they polled feel about what Mr. Loria has done to their team. It is a very interesting article (once you get over the Fidel thing) which you can read here. As a Cuban-American and a baseball fan, I found this article painful and funny at the same time.

Feb 2, 2012; Jupiter, FL, USA; Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen (right) talks with Marlins owner Jeffrey H. Loria (left) during spring training at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

As a Cuban-American I find it funny that The Herald would try to compare Mr. Loria to Fidel Castro. For the past 27 years I’ve listened to my family and friends who were born in Cuba and heard about their plight ever since Fidel took power. For the past 53 years Cuban-Americans have been talking about Castro jailing people for talking about what they believe in, murder, kicking people out of their homes, taking their land and so on. To compare Mr. Loria and Fidel is laughable at best. What is painful about this article is the rest of the facts that The Herald shows us.

The rest of the article is about how the fans feel about Loria and about the breakdown of the Marlins’ fire sale. What’s painful about this article is that this is another article about the trade, past fire sales, and the tax payers paying for the stadium. With that said, this shows us that baseball is still a big part of the Miami scene. We care so much about our team that we compare one of the worst men in history to a guy who runs a baseball team so he can make money to buy more of his bad art.

Mr. Loria is a terrible man for baseball, there is no hiding that. What he did to the Expos and what he is doing to the fans is downright evil. Would the Marlins be better off if Mr. Loria sold the team? I think so, but in all honesty no one can really see in to the future and tell us that answer. Would Cuba be better if Fidel never gained power? I can bring you 1,241,685 Cuban-Americans who say yes. However, is Mr. Loria as bad as Fidel Castro? Not even close.