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| The braintrust in the late innings of another loss. They're still there. |
The 2013 Marlins are arguably the worst-hitting team of the modern era. No wonder they couldn't get a hit to win a game. They finished dead last in the Major Leagues by a large margin in runs scored, batting average, doubles, home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and total bases.
WORST RUN PRODUCTION IN FOUR DECADES
How bad was their batting? They scored 513 runs -- tying the 2010 Seattle Mariners as the worst full-season run production in the past four decades. ESPN.com labeled that Mariners team as "the worst hitting team of all time." That team managed 101 home runs. The Marlins this year had 95.
Marlins ended the season with 100 losses -- that's far better than the 127 that a buddy projected before the season began and better than the record-setting 1962 Mets' 120 -- a record the '13 Marlins seemed for a while in danger of breaking before their young pitching took hold.
Marlins ended the year with a team 3.71 ERA -- 11th best in the Majors -- 7th best in National League. Five of the six teams with better pitching are headed to the playoffs.
On Fox Sports television Sunday, Michael Hill, the new president of baseball operations, said, "the future is bright because of the gains we saw in 2013." Rebuilding after last year's debacle? The Marlins have been getting steadily worse each of the past four years in terms of wins and losses. They dumped Beinfest, the president of their baseball operations, but they promoted the two guys right below him.
Hill's goal: "Win more games." Is that the kind of insight that gets a promotion?
FIRST BOLD MOVE FOR 2014?
In fact, as an anonymous source told The Herald, Loria calls the shots and is the real general manager. Loria (by himself) made the first bold move for 2014, resigning Greg Dobbs for $1.7 million. Loria rushed to sign Dobbs, 35, before another team picked him up. For the year, he hit .228. In the last 30 games, his BA was a stellar .091.
Michael Jong at Fishstripes.com wrote: "On the surface, it is a poor use of the $1.7 million, as Dobbs has been a terrible hitter for three years and has only stood out to the Marlins because of his propensity to make contact with runners on third base. Essentially, the Marlins signed him to make professional, productive outs."
ALVAREZ: WORST DEAL OF THE YEAR?
And speaking of dumb moves: Did this one sneak by you? The Tigers minor league pitcher of the year in 2013: Lefty Jose Alvarez, who had 115 strikeouts in 129 innings in AAA Toledo. Last year, Alvarez was with the Marlins in AA. How good were the trade picks Miami got for giving him up? Zilch. The Marlins granted him "free agency" last fall, and the Tigers, saying thank you again, gobbled him up.
Maybe Loria demanded Jose Alvarez be dumped because he was getting confused by too many pitchers named Alvarez.
This morning, Douglas Hanks had an upbeat (?) story in the Herald sports section: "As a rough season of the Marlins Park comes to a close, the team finds itself drawing about 1,000 fans more a game than it had at Sun Life."
What Hanks doesn't know -- in fact no one does -- is how many of those tickets were sold at a discount or ultra-discount or given away. I attended 11 games -- five of them for free. And I had a free Sir Pizza coupon I could have used the last week and didn't. My record was 3-8 for the year.
In fact, on Sunday I was on I-95 at midday and almost swerved off at the downtown exit on the spur of the moment to watch the final game in person. Alas, I went home to watch it on TV -- missing my third personal no hitter. (I saw Al Leiter and Anibal's in person.) So I missed a hell of a game -- with a wild, odd ending. Another frustration in a season filled with them.
