Tagged: Christmas

Happy holidays to everyone!

Hey everyone, I know it’s been a little while since I have written, but I have been just relaxing a little bit trying to stay out of the limelight. I spent a lot of time back in Chicago where I will be living for the most part. Yes, it’s freezing, but I had plenty to do to keep me occupied. I have been going to bunch of basketball games, mostly DePaul University. There is something about watching the young kids play that is fun for me.

While doing all of that, I did have the TV on in the background, so I have seen some of the big moves that were made. I talked to a couple of the guys, like Mark Buehrle, and wished them the best of luck. We had a lot to talk about.

For now, I’m back in Venezuela for Christmas and New Year’s. Most of all I’m here because no matter what happens to me, the Ozzie Guillen Foundation always has a lot of work to do. We have done a couple of great events, and there never seems like there is enough time to help out the children that are less fortunate. That’s what we do. We also had our annual Team Pepsi Home Run Derby and as always it was a huge success. Every year stars from the Winter Ball teams and Major League Baseball participate, and it keeps getting better and better.

I will be back in the states in January, but don’t worry, I have a feeling you might be seeing me on TV somewhere in the future. This season will mark the first time since 1982 that I haven’t been associated with a team. It’s going to be a little weird, but everything happens for a reason and I’m ready to tackle the next challenge.

My New Year’s resolution is to lose 15 pounds and I have already started. Better to start early than to start late. Anybody else have a good one for 2013?

Time to start the real vacation

What’s up everyone? Hope you all are having good holidays and you got all your Christmas shopping done. I know I had to buy a lot of stuff, but I love my family and I know they will enjoy it all. Not only my immediate family, but I’m also close to my wife’s family as well, and they spend the holidays with us down here.

It’s the beach time for us now, time to get away and start the real vacation. Hopefully I get a little tan and it will be a good time; I love being around the water. When it comes to the ocean, I’m a very big fan of getting on the boat and fishing and drinking (haha). This is vacation after all!  I will take the water and a boat any day.  I’m not big on mountains or snow; in fact, I have never been skiing in my life. Have you ever heard of a Latino or Mexican skiing?? I know I haven’t (haha).

I have been watching some preseason basketball — thank God it’s back! I also saw the Bears game on Sunday and, man, was that hard to watch. All you can do is keep playing and hope for the best. I try to keep up with what’s been going on in baseball but I’m not always on the computer, so I rely on Venezuelan newspapers. I end up getting all the news, but most of the time it’s a day or two late.

Sometimes I get bored and I read the questions and comments you guys have sent in. I know I haven’t done it in a while but I think it’s about time to answer some more of the questions. I will get working on that.

I am also trying to get some things up to give away some free stuff (not sure what yet) to some of my followers and fans of my blog and Facebook/Twitter. Hopefully we get those details done soon and I can share them. Make sure you look out for that!

I will leave you with a pic of me and the guys, enjoying our time to say the least.

Playing Santa in Caracas

What a crazy couple of days, but we are finally here in Caracas.  First, Team Pepsi and Polar did an amazing job for the Home Run Derby event here last weekend. It turned out great!  We had a bunch of local stars come out for the event, and even one international star, none other than Andruw Jones.  Omar Vizquel and Andres Galarraga were some of the many stars on hand to support the cause.  We were able to raise a bunch of money for charity and it really couldn’t have turned out any better.  My wife Ibis, Dimitry and the whole staff deserve a lot of credit .  We took a ton of pictures and I will be posting them soon.

The winner of the derby ended up being a guy named Luis Jimenez, a big lefty that hit three balls out of the stadium.  It was impressive.  My favorite, though, had to be Big Z (Carlos Zambrano). He hit two balls out right-handed, and boy does he have some pop.

OK, now onto the important stuff.  On Wednesday, we went over to the hospital and donated toys to all the cancer patients and their families for Christmas.  The Ozzie Guillen Foundation has helped do this since 1998 and we will not stop.  I will continue this tradition for as long as I can and help out as much as possible because it’s truly a joy to see how much these families appreciate what we do.  It’s almost like they think I’m their Santa Claus!  The smile on these kids’ faces is special and so is being able to watch them grow up and survive.

During this time of year, I check out what’s going on in Major League Baseball once in a while, but not that often really.  I see that the Bears lost last week, let’s hope they can get back on track!

I will be back in Chicago before I know it to check out some Bulls games.  I know they just added Richard Hamilton, or as I know him, the guy that wears the mask.  I think he should make them better, what do you guys think?  I also saw the NBA Commissioner blocking trades, WOW, that is some serious stuff!  I hope it all works out in the end.

A very busy time

Wow, are the Holidays crazy! The Panama trip was insane, what a special place. I think just about all of you heard that the Winter Meetings went pretty well for the Fish. I’m very happy the Marlins showed the world just how serious they are about winning.

I hope the city of Miami will react nicely to the new Miami Marlins. Of course, one way to take care of that is to win consistently. Heath Bell, Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle will be great additions to our team. Apart from being great baseball players, they are extremely good people and very fun to be around. They also have a lot of stones, so it will be a lot of fun to see.

I can’t remember the last time I was this excited for Spring Training to start. Usually I do it to get away from my wife for a little while, but man, this is going to be completely different. It’s very special. It’s going to be fun, and as I have been saying, everyone on the team just needs to have some fun and win games. That’s what it’s all about.

Today is a big day for Team Pepsi in Caracas, Venezuela. We are having our annual home run derby with the Venezuelan stars. Andruw Jones is also coming in to town because that’s what friends do, they help each other out! Last year it rained, so this year it had better not. I’m hoping and praying for a good day.

I will keep you guys posted with pictures of the event later this week. Very excited to see D-Rose (Derrick Rose) play on Christmas Day!