Drifting Along

    So there was Joe Boyd, "one of the grimly devoted followers" of the Washington Senators, sitting on his front porch on hot summer nights in 1958 listening to radio broadcasts. One night, "when the Senators failed to score in the seventh, Joe muttered, 'What's wrong with you guys anyway?' "
    Well, I've been thinking of myself as Joe Boyd. From 1955 through '59, the Senators finished seventh or eighth in the American League before going off to Minnesota. The Marlins don't have nearly as long a stretch of frustration as those Senators or the Pirates, and I guess I'm no Joe Boyd. On Wednesday, I was puttering around with this and that and completely forgot that the Marlins had an afternoon game. By the time I tuned in, it was another loss -- the typical scenario of good starting pitching, bad relief and one run from the batters.
    This morning's Herald is filled with hope. "Marlins going back to roots in approach," says the headline, meaning the team will again be counting on its skills in the draft, which many of us find kind of laughable.
    The Marlins have the sixth overall pick and are looking at third basemen. Not a word in the article about Matt Dominguez, drafted 12th overall in the 2007 draft. Marlins billed him as the super-star third baseman of the future before they dumped off to the Astros last year, another draft failure. How many third basemen and catchers have the Marlins drafted or traded for or gotten through agency? And none of them  have worked out.
    Marlins are now 16-44 -- same record the 1962 Mets had at this point. But sports writers point out that help is on the way -- LoMo and Eovaldi are close to returning. Can't wait.