• Live Blogging Opening Day 2008

  • We’re going to try to live blog opening day. It’s our first real try at it so lets see what happens.

    4:00 PM — We’ ready to go!

    4:05 PM — FSN just showed some clips including Jeff Conine. Nice to have the team recognize him today.

    4:15 PM — Player intro. Luis Gonzalez making his 18th straight opening day start.

    4:19 PM — Quickly switched over to see that Miguel Cabrera hit a solo home run for the Tigers. He also just struck out with the chance to win the game. Anyway, back to the Fish.

    4:27 PM — And the Marlins take the field on this windy day at Dolphin Stadium. Mark Hendrickson is a veteran but this is his first opening day day. I’m sure it feels a bit different from your average start. He still is a serviceable number 3 or 4 starter.

    4:29 PM — First pitch strike down the middle… three pitches… three strikes… one out

    4:30 PM — First walk of the year. Luis Castillo on first (it’s amazing to think that Luis was a member of the Marlins for 10 seasons)

    4:33 PM — We said Gonzalez is making 18th straight opening day start. We didn’t know that he has never played in Right Field. Wow.

    4:35 PM — Cody Ross made a great dive but then dropped the ball. Thankfully Castillo didn’t make it beyond third.

    4:40 PM — Hanley Ramirez leading off with a huge swing off Johan Santana. Rich reminds us that Santana was a Marlins Rule 5 pick (then traded).

    4:41 PM — Nasty stuff from Santana strikes out Hanley.

    4:43 PM — Three up, three down. That’s the first inning.

    4:45 PM — FSN just did us all a huge favor by showing some video from the 1993 opening day. I really miss the teal caps and pinstripes (not really, just nostalgic).

    5:01 PM — Luis Castillo is a trouble maker, we know that well. He just dropped a perfect bunt single.

    5:02 PM — … and he stole second…

    5:03 PM — … but another pop fly to center ends the inning. Still scoreless.

    5:10 PM — Santana just plowed through our entire lineup. Hopefully we’ll do better second time around.

    5:17 PM — Runners on first and second with no outs and Hendrickson seems like he may be in trouble. He dropped a nice curveball that for some reason was called a ball.

    5:18 PM — Crap, ball goes down the third base line and the Mets are up 1-0 and still have runners on second and third with no outs.

    5:19 PM — Fredi just had some words for the home plate umpire. Maybe he’s asking about those curveballs that the ump keeps missing.

    5:21 PM — Another run. Time to warm up the bullpen? Wiley out for a chat.

    5:22 PM — Great diving stab by Jacobs. He was so close to tagging church for the DP.

    5:29 PM — This inning will never end. Hendrickson seems to be hitting the Marlins 5-inning wall here in the 4th.

    5:30 PM — First shot of the fat guys who dance. Like us, they’re waiting for this inning to end.

    5:31 PM — Ricky Nolasco warming up… fast…

    5:32 PM — Hendrickson has thrown 30 pitches this inning (total of 71) and he’s not hitting he plate right now. It’s disturbing to watch pitchers just fall apart like that. Bases load so he better get some strikes.

    5:34 PM — you can hear all those Mets fans in the crowd root as 3 more runs come in. It’s 6-0 Mets.

    5:35 PM — Top of the inning finally over. So painful.

    5:40 PM — First base runner for the Fish as Hanley manages a walk. Still looking for a a hit.

    5:45 PM — GONE!!! Willingham with a 2-run home run for the first hit, home-run, RBIs, and runs of the season. And this against a Cy Young award winning lefty!

    5:46 PM — Now Cantu thinks he can swing for the fences. We’ll see.

    5:53 PM — Hendrickson gets a much needed 1-2-3 top of the 5th. Marlins coming up and Jeff Conine will be in the broadcast booth.

    5:57 PM — Niner says that Dave Samson suggested the sign and retire to him about a month ago. He said they’re also going to talk about a job (I assume after he completes his Ironman competition).

    5:58 PM — Meanwhile, Luis Gonzalez gets a hit.

    6:00 PM — Jason Wood on deck. Hendrickson is done after 5 innings and 6 runs allowed.

    6:07 PM — Hanley looks lost out there facing Santana. Marlins strand 2 base runners.

    6:10 PM — Ricky Nolasco is now pitching for the Marlins. It’s easy to forget that he was one of the five young starting pitchers who won more than 10 games for us in 2006 (along with Willis, Johnson, Olsen, and Sanchez).

    6:16 PM — Treanor guns down Reyes trying to steal second. Nice way to end the top of the inning.

    6:29 PM — Treanor guns down Wright trying to steal third. (Wright was safe, he just sneaked behind Cantu’s glove).

    6:51 PM — At least Santana is out of the game. Alfredo leads off with a pinch hit.

    6:54 PM — Not a fun day for Hanley (0-4). At least this time he managed to actually put the ball in play.

    7:10 PM — Treanor throws one away and a run comes in. The Marlins are down 5 in the ninth. Doesn’t look promising.

    7:16 PM — Nice place by Uggla. Showed both range and speed. We’re going to the bottom of the ninth.

    7:22 PM — It’s over. The Marlins lose to the Mets 7-2. 1 down 161 to go.

  • News

  • Dontrelle: “I Was a Throw-in on that Deal”

  • Funny quote from Dontrelle Willis in the above video from ESPN calling himself a throw-in in the trade. ESPN has finally decided to shower Miguel Cabrera with love now that he’s not with the Marlins. For all the accolades about him accomplishing new things in Detroit, I will remind them that in this team sport, he has already achieved the top goal — a championship — with the Fish.

  • News

  • A-Rod To Buy the Marlins? Really?

  • Alex Rodriguez Florida Marlins Jersey

    For some reason it’s become very exciting for sports writers to figure out why they think Alex Rodriguez will go the the Marlins. It’s a fun game, I guess. The latest work of genius comes from San Diego and it’s quite innovative:

    The mid-revenue Padres strongly expect the Marlins to shop and trade third baseman Miguel Cabrera within five weeks. Confident in Kevin Kouzmanoff and prospect Chase Headley – a Double-A star who will play third and left field in spring training – the Padres will sit out the Cabrera auction. The Padres also will sit out bidding for third baseman Alex Rodriguez. The Padres won’t be surprised if Rodriguez, a Miami native, signs with the Marlins in return for an ownership stake linked to keeping the franchise in South Florida.

    I like the idea and it’s certainly a new one, but I wonder whether that’s even possible considering the labor situation in MLB. That would make A-Rod essentially part of both the Players Union and MLB Ownership. There are ways to make it work (via a trust, for example) but I’m wasting time thinking about it.

    Bottom-line: A-Rod is likely to get $150 million dollars over the next 5 years from someone else (the Angels?) and will probably end up earning nearly half-a-billion dollars over his career (with endorsements) so he can easily buy the Marlins or some other team when he retires.

  • News

  • We’ve Made the Imaginary A-Rod Top-10 List

  • I know this will never happen, but it’s cool to read this kind of stuff:

    Florida has been trying to get a new ballpark for years, and A-Rod – a Miami boy – would be the biggest chip yet. Imagine a lineup topped by these four: Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, Miguel Cabrera, A-Rod. Wow.

    Why not? The Marlins are worth $244 million. And even if owner Jeffrey Loria profited $43.3 million last season, according to Forbes – 58 percent more than the next-best team – he has never shown any desire to spend it. Loria makes Scrooge look like a reckless spender.

    Can you imagine if Forbes is actually right about the $43.3 Million? A few years like that and the Fish could easily pay their share of the stadium funds which, according to Miami-Dade officials, is one of the few remaining hurdles.

  • News

  • The Marlins are Everywhere

  • The baseball season just ended and already the Marlins are making news across the league:

    • Congratulations to Mike Lowell, Josh Beckett, Julian Tavarez, Dave Magadan, and Gary Tuck for winning the World Series with the Boston Red Sox. Extra credit to Mike for being named the World Series MVP (although we all know that had Boston lost that game, Josh would have won the next one and ended up with another MVP). Asked about his two rings, Mike said:

      “I think with the Marlins no one expected us to do this and I think with the Red Sox people expect you to win and I think both are very satisfying.”

    • Welcome back Joe Girardi. You have just been named the manager of the New York Yankees. Lets hope you know how to behave with your new owner because the younger Steinbrenners seem as feisty as their father.
    • Speaking of the Yankees, greetings to A-Rod, who is now a free agent and some are reporting that the Marlins may make a run at him (unlikely since he’ll get a long-term deal somewhere else) and that the Yankees may try to replace him with Miguel Cabrera (maybe, but hopefully no).
    • See you later to Armando Benitez who filed for free agency and will now have to beg someone else to pitch for them.
    • Hello to Yorvit Torrealba who joins the growing list of catchers who are rumored to be talking to the Marlins He handled the Rockies pitching staff very well.
    • Farewell to Edgar Renteria who heads over to the the American League, joining Dave Dombrowski‘s project to rebuild the 1997 Florida Marlins (plus Pudge). No word on yet on whether they can convince Ed Vosberg to come out of retirement.

  • News
  • Photo by Flickr user gadjoboy

  • How Not to Cover the Marlins

  • The Marlins three ownership groups deserve the marjority of the blame for the problems with the franchise. Despite two World Series, the team has seen two major fire sales and for a few years fielded terrible teams. But nothing irks me more than reading the hatchet-jobs coming out of the local South Florida media. Today’s useless drivel comes from Dave Hyde of the Sun-Sentinel.

    Entitled “Brace for departure of Marlins’ star duo”, this meaningless entry leads off with:

    Miguel Cabrera or Dontrelle Willis? Who goes this winter? Who stays? Can we start a pool on whether both will be traded?

    Yes, it looks serious this time. And before you raise a voice in protest, understand you don’t have a voice. Nor do I.

    It then goes into a stupid anecdote about Bill Murray getting free seats from scalpers. Well, Mr. Hyde, thank you for finally discovering what we’ve known for years — our attendance sucks. As you point out, we’ve drawn more fans this season than we did in the 2003 World Series season. I’m not sure what you are trying to tell us. No one expects the Marlins to average 25,000 fans per game right now with this stadium. That is one of the many reasons (and you may have read about this in your own paper) that the team is trying to get a new ballpark.

    Next, Mr. Hyde goes on to suggest that since ticket sales don’t matter, the Marlins don’t care what the fans think and will get rid of players no matter how damaging it is. To be fair, this ownership has invested quite a bit of money in PR, marketing, and community relations. No matter what happens, I do think they care. You are just regurgitating anti-Loria baggage that unfairly stuck to him with the dying franchise in Montreal (note to Expos fans: the franchise died long before Loria, get over it).

    But that’s not what gets to me.

    What bothers me is that Mr. Hyde is essentially making all this up. He may be 100% right or 100% wrong and it doesn’t matter because he actually doesn’t know. His commentary is speculation at best. In fact, he uses question marks twelve times in this article. This kind of useless writing simply tarnishes people’s reputation and creates a negative aura around the team even though they just completed an enjoyable 3-game sweep of the Cubs who are in the midst of a pennant race. Unlike you or me (I don’t really have that many readers), Mr. Hyde’s voice matters. He has hundreds of thousands of readers who rely on him for news, even if he thinks all he’s giving is opinion. It is his responsibility, just like those covering politics or the war, to actually write responsibly. If you have definite information from reliable sources in the Marlins organization — please tell us. We expect that from you and will praise you for it. But this stuff comes across as facts when it’s not.

    I don’t know what will happen to Dontrelle, Miguel, or the Marlins. But neither does Mr. Hyde.

  • Opinion
    • Brody
    • RETWEETED
      17 years ago

    • totally agree, the baseball writers for the local papers have been horrible. Ever since Kevin Martin (I think that was his name) left the Herald for bigger things, the writing has gone down the drain. The writers have given up on the franchise just as much as they have nationally. I think the journalists in Miami want to be part of their national fraternity so they are joining in the “group think” that the Marlins are a dead franchise that doesn’t matter.

  • Mr. Marlin Plays His Final Game at “Home”

  • Today will mark the end of an era for the Florida Marlins.

    At some point today, Jeff Conine’s name will be announced for the last time as a player in Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphin Stadium. If you haven’t heard already, Niner announced that he will retire at the end of this season.

    He is the only player to have played for the inaugural team and the two World Series Championship teams. In his seven years (1993-97 and 2003-05) Conine hit .290 with 120 home runs and 553 RBIs. Statistically, his name appears in the top-10 of many career lists including batting average (5th), games (2nd), at bats (3rd), runs (3rd), Hits (2nd), total bases (2nd), doubles (4th), triples (7th), home runs (5th), RBI (2nd), and singles (2nd). He was even named the MVP of the 1995 All-Star game, wearing that great teal hat (photo on right).

    When he comes to bat today (and hopefully, he will) Marlins fans should stand up and give the loudest and longest ovation ever seen at a home game. With all do respect to other Marlins “legends” (Miguel Cabrera, Luis Castillo, and Mike Lowell) no player meant more to this franchise. He helped build this franchise we all love so much and was there to guide it through the early years and through its two championships.

    There will always be only one Mr. Marlin. Now batting, Jeff Conine.

  • News

  • Where Are They Now: Encarnacion’s Career May Be Over

  • Juan EncarnacionIt is often easy to overlook the role Juan Encarnacion played for the 2003 Marlins. Always a quiet presence, Encarnacion batted .270 with 19 home runs and an important 94 RBI. He also committed 0 errors in 653 putout attempts. He struggled in the playoffs, making way for the veteran Jeff Conine and the emerging superstar Miguel Cabrera. After being traded away and coming back, Juan once again took over right field as the starter for the 2005 team. He is currently a member of the St. Louis Cardinals (where he won another World Series in 2006).

    We write about Encarnacion because, the other day, he was hit in the eye by a foul ball. His career is likely over.

    Dr. George Paletta was not optimistic Sunday that the outfielder will regain full vision after his frightening injury and resume his career.

    “It’s the worst trauma I’ve seen. Absolutely,” Paletta said, adding that the future holds no guarantees. “You hope the best for Juan, but he suffered a severe injury with a very guarded prognosis.

    What happened?

    Paletta said the eye socket was essentially crushed on impact, comparing the injured area to the disintegration of an egg shell or ice cream cone, and that the optic nerve had sustained severe trauma. Reconstructive surgery may not take place for several days while doctors wait for swelling to subside.

    I’m sure all Marlins fan with Juan the best. His a good guy and good ball player and will always be remembered positivly as part of that 2003 gang.

  • News