So my youngest son and I went to the Indy 500 (and heard the Archbishop of Indianapolis pray for a Pacer victory that Sunday night). After the race, we hung around the parking lot for a while waiting for the traffic (300,000 people) to clear, and a guy with a Pacer T-shirt and a Cubs cap spotted my Marlins cap.
"Going to the Heat game tonight?" he asked.
"No," I said, "My team is a Double A baseball team."
"Aw, they're not even that," he said.
"Yes, they are," I said. "They're a pretty decent AA team." I paused, looked at his smug expression, and added: "But you have to feel sorry for us Marlins fans. It's been 10 years since we won a World Series."
That shut him up.
As of Wednesday morning, the Marlins are 13-39. The losing-est team in baseball history, the 1962 New York Mets, who lost 120, at this point were 15-37.
Champions of the world in 1997 and 2003 -- and now?
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
PLAYING CATCH UP
In last year's trades, the Marlins picked up not one but two catchers -- Rob Brantly from Detroit and Jeff Mathis from Toronto. The Marlins also picked up Jake Jefferies in 2011 from Tampa
Brantly, 23, shows some promise, probably would be in minors with most teams. Like most people the Marlins go after, he has a power deficit -- 3 HR in 222 plate appearances in the majors over two seasons, with a batting average of .265.
Mathis, 30, is special. He has spent nine seasons in the majors and is below the Mendoza line for his career at .197.
Michael Yong at fishstripes.com has a devastating analysis of Mathis, calling him "one of the most interestingly bad players in baseball today. ... Mathis is ... one of the worst hitters of this generation."
Jefferies, now 25, he's in AAA batting .222 and on the DL.
Why the fascination with catchers? There's one name you don't hear much. That's Kyle Skipworth, 23, now batting .121 in AAA. Last year he hit .217 in AA.
Skipworth was the sixth overall pick in the 2008 draft, one pick after Buster Posey. While Posey has soared to super-star status among catchers, Skipworth has languished. The Marlins front office still talks about him as "developing" but their trades for catchers show they've pretty much given up on him. Another huge front office disaster.
After Tuesday's loss to the Phillies, wasting another great Fernandez outing, the Marlins are 13-33. The '62 worst-ever Mets were 12-34 at this point.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
WHO WOULD HAVE THUNK IT?
The sad Phillies make the Marlins look great. Their payroll is $170 million according to ESPN, third after Dodgers and Yankees; their average home attendance even in this dismal season is 38,081 -- more than Marlins Park sits. But they're an aging team in decline that the youthful Marlins can knock over.
Going back to the 2012 debacle, check out jigokusabre's lengthy comment at fishstripes.com on what went wrong: He says it wasn't the high-priced players but a supporting cast -- including worst first and third base in ML -- that doomed the team. And then bad management misidentified the problems. (You need to scroll down to see his comment; it's below a Loria defense.)
For the year, the Marlins are now 13-32 -- finally ahead of the worst-ever Mets of 1962, who were 12-33 at this point.
Going back to the 2012 debacle, check out jigokusabre's lengthy comment at fishstripes.com on what went wrong: He says it wasn't the high-priced players but a supporting cast -- including worst first and third base in ML -- that doomed the team. And then bad management misidentified the problems. (You need to scroll down to see his comment; it's below a Loria defense.)
For the year, the Marlins are now 13-32 -- finally ahead of the worst-ever Mets of 1962, who were 12-33 at this point.
Monday, May 20, 2013
THE 2012 FAILURE
My buddy Orlando sent me one of his regular missives on Sunday -- not celebrating a rare Marlins win, but a player progress report: "Miguel went 4-4, hits 3 homers and had 5 rbi."
Here's the thing: I never get updates from embittered friends on JJ, Reyes or Buehrle are doing in Toronto, or how Hanley is doing in LA.
Fans -- including me -- were bitter when the Marlins dumped their high-paid players last year, but the truth is that Loria and Company spent a lot of money putting together a bad team of expensive guys who were bad last year and who this year are mostly mediocre or have produced little.
Last year's team was not a great one. When the Marlins dumped Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante on July 23, the Marlins were 44-51 and in fourth place. Hanley went three days later.
Technically, USA Today lists the Marlins as having a payroll of $118 million at the start of last year, but $19 million of that was for Zambrano, and most of that salary was paid for by the Cubs, who were all too happy to dump him.
But here's a list of dumped players, their salaries last year and what they did last year and are doing this year.
* Hanley Ramirez -- $15 million, 14 HR 48 RBI .246 in 2012 while in 2013 has .455 in a mere four games for Dodgers.
* Josh Johnson -- $13.7 million, 8-14 with 3.81 ERA last year, this year a mere 19 innings with Blue Jays and 0-1, 6.86.
* Jose Reyes -- $10 million, a solid 11-57-.287 with 40 SB in 2012, this year injured appearing only in 10 games with Blue Jays.
* Anibal Sanchez -- an exception. He was 5-7 3.94 last year with Marlins but at a hefty $8 million, this year a solid 4-4 2.77 with Tigers.
* Heath Bell -- $7 million, 4-5 with 5.09 ERA last year, this year 4.50 with eight saves with Diamondbacks.
* Mark Buehrle -- $7 million last year with 13-13 3.74 ERA (not bad), this year struggling at 1-3 6.33 with Blue Jays.
* John Buck -- $6.5 million. He never got above the Mendoza line last year, batting .192. This year he started hot with Mets, but has been cooling off -- 10 HR, .228 BA.
* Emilio Bonifacio -- $2.2 million last year, now batting .196 with Blue Jays.
*Carlos Zambrano -- Marlins paid about $2.5 million of his salary, according to USA Today. He was 7-10 4.49 last year, losing his starting role> This year, last I heard, he was trying to come back in Phillies farm system.
Last year's team also saw considerably playing time by Gabby Sanchez (.202 before being traded), Bryan Petersen (.195), Chris Coghlan (.140) and Scott Cousins (.163).
In other words, the most recent dumping of players was not like what followed 1997 and 2003, those bitter events still throb in fans' memories.
For the year, the 2013 Marlins are now 12-32, the exact record of the hapless 1962 Mets at this point.
Here's the thing: I never get updates from embittered friends on JJ, Reyes or Buehrle are doing in Toronto, or how Hanley is doing in LA.
Fans -- including me -- were bitter when the Marlins dumped their high-paid players last year, but the truth is that Loria and Company spent a lot of money putting together a bad team of expensive guys who were bad last year and who this year are mostly mediocre or have produced little.
Last year's team was not a great one. When the Marlins dumped Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante on July 23, the Marlins were 44-51 and in fourth place. Hanley went three days later.
Technically, USA Today lists the Marlins as having a payroll of $118 million at the start of last year, but $19 million of that was for Zambrano, and most of that salary was paid for by the Cubs, who were all too happy to dump him.
But here's a list of dumped players, their salaries last year and what they did last year and are doing this year.
* Hanley Ramirez -- $15 million, 14 HR 48 RBI .246 in 2012 while in 2013 has .455 in a mere four games for Dodgers.
* Josh Johnson -- $13.7 million, 8-14 with 3.81 ERA last year, this year a mere 19 innings with Blue Jays and 0-1, 6.86.
* Jose Reyes -- $10 million, a solid 11-57-.287 with 40 SB in 2012, this year injured appearing only in 10 games with Blue Jays.
* Anibal Sanchez -- an exception. He was 5-7 3.94 last year with Marlins but at a hefty $8 million, this year a solid 4-4 2.77 with Tigers.
* Heath Bell -- $7 million, 4-5 with 5.09 ERA last year, this year 4.50 with eight saves with Diamondbacks.
* Mark Buehrle -- $7 million last year with 13-13 3.74 ERA (not bad), this year struggling at 1-3 6.33 with Blue Jays.
* John Buck -- $6.5 million. He never got above the Mendoza line last year, batting .192. This year he started hot with Mets, but has been cooling off -- 10 HR, .228 BA.
* Emilio Bonifacio -- $2.2 million last year, now batting .196 with Blue Jays.
*Carlos Zambrano -- Marlins paid about $2.5 million of his salary, according to USA Today. He was 7-10 4.49 last year, losing his starting role> This year, last I heard, he was trying to come back in Phillies farm system.
Last year's team also saw considerably playing time by Gabby Sanchez (.202 before being traded), Bryan Petersen (.195), Chris Coghlan (.140) and Scott Cousins (.163).
In other words, the most recent dumping of players was not like what followed 1997 and 2003, those bitter events still throb in fans' memories.
For the year, the 2013 Marlins are now 12-32, the exact record of the hapless 1962 Mets at this point.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
PAYING customers?
First, the good news. Hechavarria remains above the Mendoza line even after going 0-4 in another loss before 13,444 announced customers.
Placido Estevez has pointed out at Marlinmaniac.com (no relation) that Marlins are NOT dead last in one category -- attendance.
The latest stats at espn.com show the Marlins with 18,076 average home attendance, ahead of Tampa Bay at 17,936 and Cleveland 15,649.
That Tampa Bay number shows how listless baseball fans are in the Sunshine State, since TB fields an interesting team in a tough division and does so by making smart front-office decisions (locking in young players early, among other things).
But here's the thing: I'll bet you that in ticket revenue, the Rays and Indians are far ahead of the Marlins. My buddy Orlando and I purchased upper deck outfield seats for opening night for $25.50, including various online handling fees. For that we got a free extra game, which we claimed Thursday night, sitting in the sixth row in section 14, which is behind home plate. If we hadn't had that deal, we could have taken advantage of seniors Thursday (seniors being anyone 55 over over), which would have also gotten us free tickets. My friend JS, with ex-husband, her ex-husband's other ex-wife and the other ex-wife's fiance, also attended Thursday night -- all on free tickets.
Our hot dog guy (great $3 sausages east of the ballpark) told Orlando that he and many people in the neighborhood have been approached by a Marlins rep and offered free tickets.
You can also get 2-1 deals on Tuesdays, kids eating free on Wednesdays, etc. So the number of customers paying full value for a seat must be astonishingly low.
After Friday's 9-2 loss to the Diamondbacks, the Marlins are 11-31. The worst team of the modern era, the 40-120 1962 Mets, were 12-30 at this point.
Placido Estevez has pointed out at Marlinmaniac.com (no relation) that Marlins are NOT dead last in one category -- attendance.
The latest stats at espn.com show the Marlins with 18,076 average home attendance, ahead of Tampa Bay at 17,936 and Cleveland 15,649.
That Tampa Bay number shows how listless baseball fans are in the Sunshine State, since TB fields an interesting team in a tough division and does so by making smart front-office decisions (locking in young players early, among other things).
But here's the thing: I'll bet you that in ticket revenue, the Rays and Indians are far ahead of the Marlins. My buddy Orlando and I purchased upper deck outfield seats for opening night for $25.50, including various online handling fees. For that we got a free extra game, which we claimed Thursday night, sitting in the sixth row in section 14, which is behind home plate. If we hadn't had that deal, we could have taken advantage of seniors Thursday (seniors being anyone 55 over over), which would have also gotten us free tickets. My friend JS, with ex-husband, her ex-husband's other ex-wife and the other ex-wife's fiance, also attended Thursday night -- all on free tickets.
Our hot dog guy (great $3 sausages east of the ballpark) told Orlando that he and many people in the neighborhood have been approached by a Marlins rep and offered free tickets.
You can also get 2-1 deals on Tuesdays, kids eating free on Wednesdays, etc. So the number of customers paying full value for a seat must be astonishingly low.
After Friday's 9-2 loss to the Diamondbacks, the Marlins are 11-31. The worst team of the modern era, the 40-120 1962 Mets, were 12-30 at this point.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Got My Money's Worth
I attended my third game of the year on Thursday, and boy was it a great game. I got my money's worth -- more than that, really, since I didn't pay anything for the ticket and was sitting in the sixth row behind home plate. (More on that at a later date.)
In the first, Juan Pierre hit a ball that barely cleared the right-field wall -- his first homer of the year. In 8100 plate appearances, he has 18 HRs -- one per every 450 at bat. Since he's 35, last night's "blast" may have been his last.
Fernandez did another spectacular pitching job, especially considering he was going against the hard-hitting Reds, but there were two defining moments.
In the ninth inning, the Marlins down 2-1 with a runner on third, the Cuban Missile, Aroldis Chapman, enters the game and immediately strikes out Placido Polanco, the vet, with pitches at 100, 101, 100 mph. Up comes Marcell Ozuna, 22, who is only a few days removed from AA ball. Pressure situation, All-Star pitcher on the mound, and the kid stepped up to the challenge, blasting a triple and giving Chapman his first blown save of the year. Ozuna showed right there that he's up to Big League pressure and can get around on 100 mph heat. A bright ray of hope for us struggling Marlins fans.
More telling of the grim reality of the present was a situation in the seventh inning -- one that shows how awful is the team this year. Adeiny Hechavarria singled, Derek Dietrich (just promoted from AA and hitting third) was hit by pitch. Runners on first and second, nobody out. And up comes the cleanup hitter, Ozuna, 22.
And... he squares to bunt. I was groaning right away. Marlins were down to 2-1 and their cleanup hitter gives them a chance for a big inning. What's more, the on-deck hitter is Coghlan, batting .220.
"Maybe he'll hit a deep fly ball," says the guy sitting behind me of Coghlan. Not a chance, I say. No power.
Even worse, the guy hitting behind Coghlan is Mathis, just off the injury list and hasn't had a hit this year.
Ozuna "does his job" -- bunts, sends runners to second and third with one out. The Reds intentionally walk (?!?) the weak-hitting Coghlan to get to the green Mathis, who grounds into a double play, ending the inning.
With such a weak-hitting lineup, you're not going to score many runs, a point proved again Thursday night as the Marlins lost 5-3 in 10 innings.
For the year, the Marlins are 11-20. The '62 Mets were 12-19 at this point.
In the first, Juan Pierre hit a ball that barely cleared the right-field wall -- his first homer of the year. In 8100 plate appearances, he has 18 HRs -- one per every 450 at bat. Since he's 35, last night's "blast" may have been his last.
Fernandez did another spectacular pitching job, especially considering he was going against the hard-hitting Reds, but there were two defining moments.
In the ninth inning, the Marlins down 2-1 with a runner on third, the Cuban Missile, Aroldis Chapman, enters the game and immediately strikes out Placido Polanco, the vet, with pitches at 100, 101, 100 mph. Up comes Marcell Ozuna, 22, who is only a few days removed from AA ball. Pressure situation, All-Star pitcher on the mound, and the kid stepped up to the challenge, blasting a triple and giving Chapman his first blown save of the year. Ozuna showed right there that he's up to Big League pressure and can get around on 100 mph heat. A bright ray of hope for us struggling Marlins fans.
More telling of the grim reality of the present was a situation in the seventh inning -- one that shows how awful is the team this year. Adeiny Hechavarria singled, Derek Dietrich (just promoted from AA and hitting third) was hit by pitch. Runners on first and second, nobody out. And up comes the cleanup hitter, Ozuna, 22.
And... he squares to bunt. I was groaning right away. Marlins were down to 2-1 and their cleanup hitter gives them a chance for a big inning. What's more, the on-deck hitter is Coghlan, batting .220.
"Maybe he'll hit a deep fly ball," says the guy sitting behind me of Coghlan. Not a chance, I say. No power.
Even worse, the guy hitting behind Coghlan is Mathis, just off the injury list and hasn't had a hit this year.
Ozuna "does his job" -- bunts, sends runners to second and third with one out. The Reds intentionally walk (?!?) the weak-hitting Coghlan to get to the green Mathis, who grounds into a double play, ending the inning.
With such a weak-hitting lineup, you're not going to score many runs, a point proved again Thursday night as the Marlins lost 5-3 in 10 innings.
For the year, the Marlins are 11-20. The '62 Mets were 12-19 at this point.
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