• Joe Robbie, Pro Player, Dolphin, now LandShark?

  • It’s only been one month since April Fools Day but Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is on the verge of making what would have been a bad joke into reality.

    Sometime next week, it’s expected that Dolphin Stadium, home of our Florida Marlins, will be renamed LandShark Stadium after LandShark Lager. This one-year experiment will ensure that Joe Robbie Stadium will, once again, have no established name or identity. To make things worse, Ross’s motivation is that he wants to give the Stadium a Margaritaville feel, since, as we all know, South Floridians are all parrots, coconuts and Jimmy Buffet.

    Is there any way we can accelerate the construction of the new ballpark? This is seriously embarrassing.

  • Opinion
    • tim benedict
    • RETWEETED
      15 years ago

    • steve ross can stick the new name up where the sun don’t shine. it will allways be joe robbie stadium

  • Fredi Gets an Extension

  • Just before the first team workout, the Marlins have announced that they’ve extended Fredi Gonzalez’s deal through the 2011 seasons. The next 3 seasons, hopefully leading to the first season in the new ballpark, will require stability and growth as payroll will probably remain low. Despite some criticism, Fredi has done a good job with a young team and, most importantly, does not yell at the owner in the middle of games.

  • Opinion

  • Insight Into the Olsen/Hammer Deal

  • Mike Berardino of the Sun-Sentinel provides some thoughts and insights on the Olsen/Hammer deal:

    About that payroll dump so far:

    the Fish have removed roughly $7 million from their books for 2009.

    On what we got in return:

    In return, they have brought in a cheap young setup man (Leo Nunez), a light-hitting second baseman with Gold Glove potential (Emilio Bonifacio) and a couple of decent low-level prospects who just finished their first full pro seasons (RHP P.J. Dean and IF Jake Smolinski).

    More

  • Opinion

  • Marlins Wrap Up 3rd Best Season in Franchise History

  • For all the ups and downs of the 2008 season, the Florida Marlins posted a record of 84-77, the third best record in franchise history. The team posted incredible offensive numbers lead by the historic home run power from all four of the starting infielders. As we start looking forward to a busy off-season and hopefully a successful 2009, here are some thoughts, observations, and links: More

  • Opinion

  • Looking Back: Predictions from the Geniuses at ESPN

  • I’ve always thought ESPN was full of itself and overly obsessed with their own importance and insight, so I was very excited to look back at their predictions for the 2008 Florida Marlins. Now, I know that the Marlins performed better than we expected (81 wins with 6 games to go) but ESPN’s predictions were so dire that I want us all to read and laugh.

    First, here is the view from Bob Klapisch:

    The bigger problem is the bottom half of the batting order, which is filled with question marks and experiments. It’s no stretch projecting the Marlins in the last third of the NL in runs scored. (Bob Klapisch)

    Next, let’s see the actual win/loss projections:

    • Jayson Stark: 70-92, 5th in NL East
    • Tim Kurkjian: 64-98, 5th in NL East
    • Buster Olney: 68-94, 5th in NL East
    • Keith Law: 68-94, 5th in NL East
    • Steve Phillips: 66-96, 5th in NL East

    You have to give Jayson Stark some credit. He’s only off by 11+ wins.

    More

  • Opinion

  • Did It Really Happen?

  • I admit that I stopped following last night’s game somewhere in the 6th inning (sorry, had to drive home and was following the Democratic convention) and I lost complete track until the final score email arrived in my inbox. I was stunned. I think my reaction has to do with me finally coming to grips with where the season is going (and for that matter, not going).

  • Opinion

  • Judge Loses Control of Braman Trial

  • The circus surrounding the Norm Braman trial continued today when Judge Jeri Beth Cohen postponed a decision on one of the two remaining issues for at least 5 weeks. The issue in question is whether money can be reallocated for a different purpose without a referendum. The Judge wants to wait for a Florida Supreme Court reconsideration of case concerning reallocation of bond funds.

    Frankly, this seems like the only real legal issue left in this case so everything else that happened is irrelevant (hence the term “circus” in this post). The issue of whether the stadium is a good public use of money is not an issue for a court to decide, that’s why we have elected officials. Now, if Braman wanted to challenge the elected official’s authority to make such decisions, that’s a legal challenge. But in this case, debating whether the Marlins will leave town without a stadium or whether they cannot afford to pay more is not an issue for the court to decide.

    Anyway, Judge Cohen is scared to make a decision because she doesn’t want her ruling overturned but the end result of her decision is to give the Braman a big victory.

  • Opinion

  • Will an Appeal by Braman Delay the Ballpark?

  • It looks like Braman’s lawsuit is going down in flames (as expected) but a big concern may be his decision to continue wasting his money by appealing the decision.

    We are not happy with the prospect, but we are not concerned. One thing to keep in mind is that Braman did not obtain an injunction (and no court has issued an injunction) against the projects. Absent that, the county, the city, and the Marlins are going ahead full steam. Even if Braman ultimately prevails in some sort of appeal (keep in mind that appeals can’t just be a disagreement with the ruling, there has to be an obvious error), the city/county will have to find a way to pay for the ballpark or else they would have to pay the Marlins for all costs incurred as well as damages.

  • Opinion

  • All-Star Voting Sucks

  • Since no one shows up to games at Joe Robbie Stadium, Hanley Ramirez lost his status as leading vote-getter among NL shortstops. 72-year old shortstop Miguel Tejada of the Astros is now up by almost 120K votes. Clearly, Astros fans are doing their job because all of the Astros infielders are getting quite a few votes.

    Tejada is having a good year (.300 BA, 7 HR, 39 RBI, .335 OBP, .466 SLG, 46 R, 5 SB) but Hanley is having a better year (.299 BA, 14 HR, 31 RBI, .389 OBP, .525 SLG, 53 R, 15 SB). Yes, I realize that Tejada has 8 more RBIs, but he bats 3rd in the lineup while Hanley has spent most of the season at leadoff.

    All I can say is keep voting Marlins fans.

  • Opinion

  • The More the Ballpark Seems Certain, the Less it is

  • We’ve previously discussed the concern that the Ballpark may be facing obstacles at the County level. Now comes word from Bob DuPuy that this is potentially a real problem:

    DuPuy said “the coalition at county commission level is tenuous” for the Florida Marlins’ proposed new ballpark.

    The City and County did a great job trying to ram the ballpark through as quickly as possible but it’s clear that some politicians are ready to sink this ship. I don’t know if they are sincere in their concerns or merely grandstanding for cheap political tricks but it’s time to pick sides.

    Consider me worried.

  • Opinion