Fredi González was a pretty successful manager during his time with the Marlins. During his four seasons with the fish he compiled a .497 winning percentage and had two winning seasons, in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
González in total has managed for 10 years in the major leagues, also managing the Atlanta Braves and sports a .506 winning percentage over that span. With the Braves he made two playoff appearances, even winning a division title in 2013.
The Cuban-born González immigrated to the United States in 1966 and has called Miami home since. Although he was born in Holguín, Cuba he is considered by many to be Miami’s own due to his strong ties to the exile community in South Florida.
Fredi you were a very successful manager with the Marlins and a native of Miami. How does it feel to come home?
It’s always great I’ve come home a couple of different times with a couple of different organizations, with the Braves when I managed there and now with the Orioles. It is always great, it is always great to see your parents number one, your brothers and sisters and their families. But it is also good to see a lot of the people that I worked with all those years I was here are still here and it is always great to see that.
You have two Cuban players on this team Cionel Pérez and Yennier Cano. Have you given them any advisement, encouragement or words of wisdom?
No, no words of wisdom. I love them both. I ask them a lot questions about Cuba, because I left in 1966 and I haven’t been back and they left a few years ago so I ask them a lot of baseball questions, I ask them a lot of lifestyle questions about the island. Both of those young men, well men, because they have families are great men and also very good people.
You have a very young team, yet you made the playoffs last year. Is there anything this team learned from last year in the playoffs that could help them out this year?
You know what I couldn’t pinpoint you a certain thing but you have to, just the experience alone of going through the postseason and going against a team, at the time we lost three-in-a-row to the world champions, the Rangers ran the table. But just going through that experience and traveling, playing in packed stadiums where team’s are playing playoff type caliber baseball will make you get better at it.
Ok Freddy, if the planets were to align and Cuba becomes a free country and word here is “free country “, would you be interested in managing the Cuban team in a World Baseball Classic?
If it were country and there was no politics involved, of course.