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Part III – My Name is Oney: Making My Name in the Guillen World

(Welcome to part III of a III part profile and interview series with Oney Guillen)

In part III of my interview series with Oney Guillen, I explore the future of Oney. From his current career plans, to future opportunities, to even the possibility of rejoining the White Sox organization, Oney shared many insights to his fascinating life. I also learned about Oney’s brothers, Ozzie Jr. and Ozney and discussed their careers as well. Without further adieu, I present to you the final section, Part III, as I give you: Oney Guillen.

MLB reports: After having worked in the White Sox front office previously, would you take a job with a major league team if the opportunity presented itself?

Oney: Absolutely I would definitely join another major league team.

MLB reports: Could you envision yourself working for an organization other than the White Sox?

Oney: I could only see myself working for another team.

MLB reports: Why not the White Sox?

Oney: After everything that has happened between myself and the Sox and considering the hard feeling, I definitely don’t think that the Sox and I will ever be the same. It saddens me because my father is the manager of the team and I still cheer for the team. But this is how things have worked out and that is ok.

MLB reports: What role(s) could you see yourself taking on for a major league team?

Oney: I know that I would be a great coach or manager one day. Perhaps I could take a job in scouting, even scouting oversees. I would also consider just being in the front office, which in the right situation would be great because I would actually have a say in the operations of the team. There are so many things that you can do in baseball which makes the game so great.

MLB reports: Describe briefly your relationship with your other brothers, Ozzie Jr. and Ozney. Do you spend much time with each of them?

Oney: Well, my dad told us that we should always be best friends. My dad also made sure that his boys were very close and always took care of one another. All my brothers were very close growing up and still remain close today. I actually live with Ozzie Jr., so we see each other and spend time together all the time.

MLB reports: What do the Guillen boys do for fun?

Oney: We like to go out and just do normal guys things. We play video games, sports…you name it. All three of us have a great dynamic together. For example, we can get into heated arguments but it doesn’t reach a level where we insult one another personally. As our father taught us, we hold each other accountable for our actions.

MLB reports: Do you spend more time with one particular brother?

Oney: I spend more time with Ozzie Jr. because we live together and Ozney is in Miami. I have a great relationship with Ozney though and talk to him on the phone all the time and see him as often as I can. I have always talked to Ozney like he was a man, even when he was little…maybe that’s why I felt like he was already man a couple of years ago. Plus Ozney is as tall as sh*t… he is huge!

MLB reports: Getting to another subject, you have become well known for your voice on the internet, including Twitter. After your Bobby Jenks tweets in December, did you feel that you needed to change your approach or what you could say on Twitter?

Oney: As far as I know, the reason for Twitter is for people to be able to give their opinions. If the truth be known, I would have never said anything on Twitter if Jenks had not spoken out about the White Sox organization or my father. But Jenks did speak out and I felt the need to respond, to defend both my dad and the Sox.

MLB reports: Any regrets?

Oney: I was heated when I wrote those tweets and maybe shouldn’t have said a couple of the things I said, sure. But I can’t take them back now. I don’t live in the past; I learn from my experiences and just look to the future.

MLB reports: Have you spoken with Jenks since the tweets?

Oney: We have spoken and everything is ok. Let’s just say that everyone has moved on.

MLB reports: Were you approached by anyone, including the White Sox organization or your dad with regards to your tweets, including limiting or changing them?

Oney: No. I was not approached by anyone.

MLB reports: Following your career in baseball, you have taken on several new roles, from Triple Crown Productions to hosting/producing on 670 The Score. Please describe for our readers what is Triple Crown Productions and please provide background on your current projects.

Oney: Well, Triple Crown Productions is a marketing and branding company that my brother Ozzie Jr., friend Eddie and I started about a year ago. We started it because we know so many people in the game and we really wanted to maximize our skills the most productive way. So far, I can report that things have been really great with our company.

MLB reports: What are some current projects of Triple Crown? What is http://www.ozzieguillen.com?

Oney: We handle all of the marketing for Ozzie Guillen and look after all his activities off the field, as well as for Joey Cora and a couple of other players so far. We put together recently the “Ozzie Roast” which was a very successful event and other projects as well, including the official website for Ozzie Guillen, which we work with Major League Baseball on. The site is great and we will continue to grow it. We truly feel that http://www.ozzieguillen.com will be the best athlete website ever when it is completed.

MLB reports: Why the delays on the website?

Oney: We have been working on the website for over two years because the process was delayed in approvals from MLB. I am just glad that it is finally up and running. As far I see it, better to be late than never.

MLB reports: I understand that Ozzie Jr. is currently broadcasting White Sox games on the radio and Oney is playing baseball for the University of South Florida. Any updates on your brothers and how they are doing?

Oney: Oz Jr. is broadcasting both Bulls game and Sox games and he absolutely loves it. Oz Jr. and I have a radio show on the Score 670 that broadcasts once per week. It’s always fun when you get to talk about sports for a couple of hours every week. We are in the process of getting another radio show with another company as well…stay tuned…

MLB reports: What about Ozney? How is your little brother doing?

Oney: Ozney is currently studying and playing baseball at Miami Dade College. He loves living on his own in Miami and absolutely loves living life. If Ozney stays healthy, he should do just fine on the ball field. If you want to know the truth, I have seen many players get a chance at playing in the minors and they were horrible. With his ability, I don’t see why Ozney with his talent should struggle. My brother will be alright.

MLB reports: Where do you see Oney Guillen being in five years from now? What do you see yourself doing and how will you be connected to baseball?

Oney: In five years, I expect Triple Crown Productions to already be established and respected in the marketing and branding arenas. Our client list is definitely growing. I would love to still be doing radio and stay connected to the game of baseball in that way. But really, no one knows what the future will hold. All I know is that I want to be healthy. As long as that happens, I’m going to be just fine. For my family to be healthy and happy as well…all the chips will fall where they have to.

MLB reports: Oney, thank you again for joining MLB reports. It has been a pleasure speaking with you and learning about you. Thank you for giving us the inside scoop and on behalf of baseball fans everywhere, we wish you well on your future endeavors. Please keep us up to-date so that we can give your fans the Oney reports.

Oney: Absolutely. Thank you as well. It was great meeting you and thank you for sharing my story. We will definitely keep in touch. Thank you as well to all my fans and supporters of the Chicago White Sox and Ozzie Guillen. To the greatest baseball fans, I say: Go Sox!

***A special thank you to Oney Guillen for his time and effort as part of being interviewed for this interview series. Oney agreed to share private photos from his family album as part of this series. A thank you as well to Peter Stein, my editor in helping to prepare this piece.***

Please click here to read Part II of Oney Guillen.

Please click here to read Part I of Oney Guillen.

Please e-mail us at: MLBreports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback. You can follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook . To subscribe to our website and have the daily Reports sent directly to your inbox , click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.

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Tags: baseball, guillen, jenks, mlb, oney, ozzie, ozzieguillen, triplecrown, whitesox

My Name is Oney: Making My Mark in the Guillen World

Mar 29

Posted by Jonathan Hacohen

(Welcome to part I of a III part profile and interview series with Oney Guillen)

MLBreports: Here is the scenario: Put 10 baseball fans in a room. The degrees of knowledge and experience in the group vary. It’s irrelevant. State to these fans one singular word: “Guillen”. Ask the focus group to indicate their first reaction and response. The Likely result, 10 out of 10 times will be “Ozzie”. Go ahead and try it. Use any scale of testing group that you like. 100. 1000. It doesn’t matter. Ozzie will win out every time. Now imagine your name is Oney and your father is Ozzie. You have two brothers, Ozzie Jr. and Ozney. Your last name is Guillen. As one of the sons to the great Ozzie Guillen, imagine trying to come out from under that shadow, especially with the two brothers trying to do the same thing as you. I would imagine this is pretty difficult, perhaps impossible. But then again, you don’t know Oney Guillen. Some of you might think that you do, but the truth is that “unless you walk in the shoes of a man” as the old adage goes, you will never truly know him. So, let’s take a walk in the shoes of the aforementioned Oney Guillen. While Ozzie may have left big shoes to fill in baseball, Oney has taken the non-traditional route and chosen a completely different pair to walk his journey in the game of life. The imprints are already there and the roads in his career remain limitless. This is the story of Oney Guillen as he makes his mark in the Guillen world.

I initially corresponded with Oney one evening via twitter. I replied as a follower to a comment that Oney had tweeted and he replied. We conversed on twitter for some time on baseball. A few minutes later Oney followed me. Ozzie Jr. followed a couple of minutes later. Oney and I struck up a friendship that has continued to evolve ever since. I commented on a child in one of Oney’s pictures that I mistook as his daughter and turned out to be his niece. She turned out to be similar in age to my own son. We discussed our mutual love of children, life and most of all, baseball. I was instantly drawn to Oney’s charisma and zest for life. A regular chip off the old block I thought. I admittedly did not know Oney well yet at this point. But as I got to know him and later interview him for this article, I was left in awe of the man that he was and the amount of baseball life that he had already lived at such a tender, young age. As our discussions continued and grew, so did my interest in his story.

I was exposed to Ozzie and Oney at different stages of my life. Ozzie, in fact, I have met in person on a couple of different occasions, both as s a player in the early 1990’s with the Chicago White Sox and later as a manager with the same South Siders in 2006. Our first encounter was at a local hotel lobby when Ozzie was a young player signing autographs. I found him to be young, polite and friendly to the fans. As a manager, Ozzie and I met briefly at an MLB sponsored party after the home run derby in Pittsburgh. Ozzie was the center of attention at his table, hanging out with family and friends including Miguel Cabrera, then of the Florida Marlins. We spoke several words that night, but, again, Ozzie was nothing but polite and courteous. A strong character and often rough image is portrayed to MLB fans by the media when it comes to Ozzie Guillen. But without knowing contexts and scenarios, how many of us really know Ozzie Guillen- the man behind the sound bites we hear on television and read in our local newspapers? Having met him personally on different occasions over the years, I can firmly say that the Ozzie Guillen I have met and know is not the same one that is often characterized by baseball fans. For those fans that think that Ozzie is a loose cannon or angry person, think again. How do you know this person? What basis exists for such conclusions? These were the same questions that I wish I had originally asked myself the night of December 28th last year.

I try to always acquire as much baseball knowledge as I can and stay on top of all baseball news and facts. If you had quizzed me several months ago, I would have told you that Ozzie Guillen has three sons. I would have guessed that two, maybe all were drafted at some point by the Chicago White Sox. Call it one of my crazy baseball quirks, but I love following baseball drafts and prospects and learn the stories behind the players. How Tommy Lasorda had pulled in some favors to have the Dodgers draft Mike Piazza in the late rounds of his draft year. Gregg Zaun’s uncle is Rick Dempsey. Brady Anderson’s father is not Sparky. Mariano and Ruben Rivera are cousins. Jose Canseco has a twin brother who also played professional ball, Ozzie…who allegedly posed this past weekend as Jose in a celebrity boxing fight…well; let’s leave those details for another day.

From there the influx of next generation players is overwhelming- Patrick Leyland, Cale Iorg, Dee Gordon, Delino Deshields Jr., Nick Swisher, Shelley and Chris Duncan, just to name a few. The list literally goes on and on. But to name the Guillen boys, I truthfully would have said at the time Ozzie, Ozzie and Ozzie. Much in the way of George Foreman and his 10 children, with five boys all named George. Ozzie Jr., Oney and Ozney are not far off in essence. Each named as a direct or indirect variation of their father’s name. This is a great honor on one hand, but somewhat of a curse on the other. A curse in the sense that establishing a name for themselves would be that much more difficult. Exposure is one arena, solidification is quite another. The aforementioned night in December last year, I like much of the baseball world, got my first exposure to Oney through twitter. My perceptions from that day have long been altered. By sharing my conversations with Oney in this article, I am betting your opinion will change as well.

The story behind Oney’s tweets are well chronicled and do not require elaboration at this juncture. Needless to say, references were made by Oney with respect to ex-White Sox pitcher Bobby Jenks and the twitter world was abuzz. I will admit on record that the tweets were my first true exposure to Oney. But tweets on a singular evening do not define a man, a body of work in totality does. Over the course of the weeks after my friendship was struck with Oney, I prepared notes and went through an extensive interview with him. I have to admit, I could not put the papers down. Reading them again and again, I was mesmerized by his story. The tale of Oney Guillen begins as many of a baseball story does: getting drafted and playing major league ball.

Thank you for reading Part I of my feature article on Oney Guillen. In part II of this feature, I will present the first portion of my interview with Oney Guillen and share his thoughts, feelings and dreams in his own words. From his experiences growing up to his start in professional baseball as a player and working in the head office of the Chicago White Sox, to an in-depth look into his relationship with his dad and brothers. In part III you will hear from Oney as to his current roles in baseball as well as those of his brothers, and learn about his future goals and dreams. Stay tuned, the story of Oney Guillen in baseball is one not to be missed.