Ozzie Guillen, Known for His Fire, Displays Contrition This is not the first time Joey Cora has filled in as manager for Ozzie Guillen, Cora explained Wednesday, in the Miami Marlins" dugout at Citizens Bank Park. There was the time Guillen was suspended for posting a Twitter message during a game. And the time he was suspended when one of his pitchers threw at a batter. Cora also guessed that he had taken Guillen's place in 2006, when Guillen used a slur in reference to a Chicago columnist. Actually, that offense resulted only in a fine and sensitivity training. In any case, Cora said, the controversy of the moment is the costliest and most explosive of Guillen's colorful career. "First of all, it's five games," Cora said. And second, it's definitely different from the other situations. Guillen is so central to the Marlins" brand that the team sells T-shirts with his name and jersey number at their gift shop. Yet when the Marlins return home Friday, Guillen will not be managing. He is suspended through the weekend for telling Time magazine he admired and respected the longtime Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Guillen apologized for the comments Tuesday in a news conference at Marlins Ballpark. He was back here by Tuesday night, cracking jokes and laughing at the team hotel, Cora said. But Cora, a former Chicago White Sox teammate who has coached for Guillen for nine years, said Guillen understood the magnitude of his offense. This was not the first time Guillen had publicly expressed admiration for Castro, but now that he works in Miami, everything is different. "This one was big, and he felt it from the beginning," Cora said. He knew it was going to get this big, and I think that's why he got shaken. He got hit pretty hard. He felt, after he analyzed whatever happened, in retrospect he wouldn't say what he said. He apologized, he was sincere, it came from the heart. Hopefully he makes amends with the community. He will. Guillen addressed the team in its clubhouse before batting practice Wednesday, in a meeting that lasted no more than 10 minutes. Many players had watched his news conference Tuesday, and closer Heath Bell said Guillen told them to focus on their jobs. "He was really upset," Bell said. It's going to be a real hard time for him and his family. We feel bad for him. You have to understand that occasionally guys make mistakes. At least he's owning up to it, and he's not trying to hide from it or shy away from it. He's trying to make up for his mistakes. He's going to probably try all year and years to come, and he can only be a better person out of it. Like he said, if he doesn't learn from this, he's stupid. That's what he said. Bell also said that, by apologizing, Guillen had embodied an instruction he gave the team in spring training: if you make a mistake, admit what happened and do not lie. In the meeting, Bell said, he could tell that Guillen felt ashamed. Logan Morrison, the Marlins" left fielder, said he never wondered if Guillen would lose his job and was surprised when he learned of the suspension. He said the team could take attention off Guillen by winning. "I don't really see this as an adverse time for us," Morrison said. It's absolutely tough for him, and we feel for him. We stand behind him. But other than that, the only adversity we face is facing Roy Halladay tonight. That's good enough for me. The Marlins had fun with their interim manager, gathering along the dugout railing when Cora took his spot on the bench to meet the news media. Cora playfully cursed at the players, then laughed when he spotted Hanley Ramirez, the third baseman, holding a boom microphone. "I never had this many people trying to get me to talk," Cora said. I don't talk. I barely say hi to people. This is different. Guillen's daily briefings have been can't-miss events since he first became a manager with the White Sox in 2004. His blunt, unscripted manner has made him one of baseball's lively characters, in a job held more and more by leaders with bland personalities. At 48 years old, with a style validated by a World Series championship in 2005, Guillen is highly unlikely to change. But Cora said he would be more careful when sharing his opinions. "Not on baseball stuff - he'll keep talking about baseball stuff whenever he feels like talking about baseball stuff," Cora said. Like, if somebody tries to hit our guys, he'll say it like it is. But the part that's going to change is when a subject like that comes up, he's not going to touch it. We're baseball people. We're not politicians, nothing like that. We're baseball people and we ought to stick to what we know best. I think that's what he's going to do from now on.