While the Miami Heat paraded down Biscayne Boulevard on Monday, hoisting their trophy from the top of double-decker buses, all Marlins Manager Ozzie Guillen could do was watch. He'd been there before. Once as a member of the coaching staff of the 2003 Marlins, and again as the manager of the Chicago White Sox in 2005. But with his team slumping badly, it doesn't seem he'll be back there this year. All he could do earlier this week was wish he was Erik Spoelstra and hope the Heat's success rubs off on his own team.
"Having the Miami Heat win, for me, was inspiration," Ozzie before yesterday's game according to the Sun-Sentinel. "I hope for the [Marlins] players it was, too. I saw those guys in the parade talking, I got jealous. I got pride. I wanted to be there. I wish I was the coach."
"That's my inspiration for the rest of career here in Miami. Hopefully I feel the same way they feel, having the parade with everybody around. Hopefully that's inspiration for the players."
The Marlins pulled out a win on Wednesday against the St. Louis Cardinals, only their sixth win in the painful month of June. They're now five games below .500, and 8-and-a-half games out of first place in the NL East. There's still plenty of time left this season.
Ozzie also seems aware that until football season begins, his Marlins are the only sports ticket in town.
"I love to see people in Miami happy," he said. "That means people in Miami have some nice things to read. Now they're over. Hopefully we take over and people start reading good things about us. That's my goal."
Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes.
