anotherrealfan

What amazes me about the Marlins is that were gonna be in the playoff chase in September AGAIN. Lets face it......nobody thought this team was gonna make a run at the playoffs back in March. Im not talking about them playing well and going above their 65.5 projected win total. Im talking playoff hunt. Incredible. Totally incredible, we are really in the wild card race-i figured that this season would be just to watch baseball with no real purpose other than seeing how the kids play and learn.

Let him go...we'll be fine. We had maybe three or four people who even wanted this job last year...I'm fairly certain candidates will be lining up for the job with all our talent. Exxxxxxx....actly! :thumbup I think this has more to do with Loria being a prick, than about if someone could possibly do a better job Ramp, short and sweet and right on the button.

Two destructive firesales and baseball treating the fans like crap DO have an impact on attendance. The first world series would have raised avg attendance from close to 30,000 (not so bad, compare that to the white sox last yr or most, not all, teams) to well over 35,000. Now that is history. We can argue both ways because I also think that there should be better attendance. But in any business, and I do not go along with baseball or pro sports being like any business, it takes a lot more effort, costs a lot more and is very difficult to get your customers back once you have screwed them in the first place. Baseball in S. Florida was so young in 1997 and the fan base was basically locking in at about 25,000 solid. That is a base you build on. If you chop it up and blow it up with bunker busting bombs, like Wayne did, you have to start all over again. Loria stepped into a team that everything fell into place for him. He tried to build on it in the best way that an owner who is in over his head could, said all the right things about long term committment and permanence, and then gave it two more years-not exactly long term, but an attempt. Then he bombed the base all over again. The slow return of the fans has been destroyed again. The surprise play of this team is not enough, unfortunately. We won't even get in to the crap going on with Mr. Minor League owner and Girardi. Now try to get them back-Matt Treanor thinks he can shame people to come back, or is just frustrated that people who have watched two firesales just don't go to the park in the numbers he and we would like. Well, Matt has to come to the park, it is his job. I go to the games, people on this board go to the games, but a lot of people have stopped for whatever reason including the constant barrage of how bad the stadium is, how lousy the seat configuration is for baseball, the threatening weather etc etc. That does not help. Joe Robbie used to bash the Orange Bowl in an attempt to get Miami to build him a stadium. Trashed the parking, the bleacher seats, the bathrooms, the leaking pipes and on and on. Look at the attendance at the OB in the mid 80's, it dropped and many people used the same reasons that Robbie used as a justification for not coming. SUMMARIZE, yes, S. Florida fans should show up in greater numbers but baseball and ownership have their own issues (Relocation trips to Texas, Oregon, Vegas at the same time of the firesale-good way to keep the 22,000 fans per game who came last year) and MUST accept some of the blame for the current problems. Matt Treanor?-who cares about him, I don't, let him focus on playing and winning, nothing else.

Think what you want about a 6 man rotation, but just as long as it does not spell V-A-R-G-A-S

The fact that it IS a big series and that the wild card is still there is simply exciting-NO MATTER WHAT ENDS OF HAPPENING.Sure there are still a lot of teams ahead of us and a week ago I was accepting the probability that we had no chance, but now, most of the teams ahead of us are only one or two games ahead in the loss column. We also play a bunch of games against the fleas (phils) and arizona, so why not dream. We also have 3 against cincy the last week of the season-what if those mean anything to us? Being practical or logical is not why we follow the game.

Thanks Swift. But who are they kidding about getting the park done in 27 months? It really depends on a) who supervises construction and b) what is built. Alot of the larger, more complex components will have to be engineered (as in design, wind and stress-tested because of unique weather conditions here, etc.) and fabricated. The more they can approximate an already existing structure (let's say MinuteMaid for example) the quicker it can be built. It will be interesting to see if it is in fact Miami, who get's control over construction, once a primary demand of the Marlins. The worst thing that could happen is either the city or county builds it ad you have another PAC on your hands, with mega-cost-overruns. Typically, I agree with you letting the county or city handle construction. But, if Loria only wants to rent it, then the governing body is not going to let him dictate and run construction. Loria doesnt know who he has to provide the kickbacks to, the city does. Seriously, the issue is do you want to let Samson run the construction? This could be a big fun filled fiasco in the making.

i dont see much of a future for messenger a 91-92 mph fastball with no movement is like placing the ball on the tee for major league hitters additonally he doesnt have a quality second pitch that he can count on . i dont see the point in sending him down because ultimately it wont make a difference but there is not a lot of upside with messenger imo at his best a slightly above average middle reliever ...one thing is for sure dont want to see messenger in a tight game the guy cant be trusted to get the job done That his fastball is 91-92 is what is concerning. He used to get it up to 95-96. Is it just tiredness, or something else. His curve doesnt break much either, use to have a bigger bend. So, a no movement 91-92 fastball and a hanging breaking ball all adds up to souveniers in the outfield seats-lots of them.

I have season tickets. I'm not sure what I'll do next year. What would sway me to renew: - New stadium deal - No more fire sales or dumping of salaries - getting a decent center fielder and solid additions to the bullpen Even then I will probably get a smaller "package" of tickets and buy additional single game tickets on a game by game basis. The general idea of getting season tickets (for an individual fan not a business) is to guarantee good seats for all the games. If the stadium is going to be as empty as it was this year, there is no incentive to buy tickets up-front especially since there are always several tickets that go unused. However, in future years, with a smaller stadium and a better team season tickets sales will probably soar. Or so I hope. I will always renew, except if a move to another city was completed. Why? Because I remember how I always wanted a major league team here and how happy I was when we got it. So, as bad as it is, it is still a dream come true to have a team in my hometown. I also know that if I did not have the tix in advance there would be a good chance I would not go to as many games. Always a reason to say, manana, lets watch the game tonite on HD, etc. True, we do not have major league ownership, and sometimes the team has been less than major, but they always get listed in the papers as a major league team.

Regardless of the logic and common sense of getting better draft picks versus winning more games, who can really admit that when they watch a game they are thinking of future picks and hoping the fish lose the game. I doubt anyone here does anything other than root for the home team. We want the key hit, the big strikeout or double play in every single game because when the game starts we are thinking win. I wouldn't go to the games or watch on the tube if I want them to lose for a better pick.

This experiment needs to end. Sorry for the late input. Sitting at the game last night and seeing Reggie in the lineup made me cringe. All I could think of is why, why, why. And other than putting one ball in play, probably luck, he was not even close on any swing. I can, with total honesty, say that I never boo my team, no matter what, but this is pushing the envelope. And if the situation warranted, you know that the opposing team is not dumb enough to walk Reggie to get to the pitcher, any one of them seems to have a better approach and swing. Please end it, it is not an experiment anymore, it is just a disaster.

Supposedly before the non-waiver deadline the Nationals wanted SOME of the following in a package: Vargas Pinto Mitre I would have done that in a HEARTBEAT. Hell, I'd give up all three for him. Where do I sign? Vargas is going nowhere with the Marlins and the same goes with Mitre. Exactly. I'm not a huge fan of short term rentals (Soriano will be a FA) at this point in the franchise's history, but Vargas is absolute trash and Mitre and Pinto aren't quite there yet but I don't know if they can be saved. neither am I. why give up players that we could have for many years to come for ONE player that will play for us for the rest of the season? we're not even in contention. there's no purpose of soriano coming here. No logic in the move, but the common theme seems to be it doesn't matter as long as it includes Vargas-which is all the logic necessary.

Boy I never thought this would get so many replys. I thought it would be poo-poo'd by a few of the Loria guys and maybe forgotten. Shows that there are people who can see thru the spin. Loria lucked out in 03 and did a few good things but it is obvious that he is not major league material. His big deals always had escape routes and he used them, which, in my opinion, was always the intent. He is way over his head. Statements that he is the best owner the Marlins have had, well, not much to compare to-except, until the sell off, Wayne was the best owner, as well as being financially capable. Also, a good owner delegates responsibilities to capable representatives to handle other important issues-like political relationships, lobbying, etc-Samson anyone? We may, hope, hope, hope, get a stadium, but if we still have Loria, this franchise will never had any long term stability.

he's also been incredibly durable. We absolutely MUST sign him to DWright deal. Also, if he wins the batting title it will get him more money, so I hope he finishes second and wins it once we lock him up. :o This goes back to the poll "Is Loria a good or bad owner". This is one incredible talent, the type you do not let get away for all sorts of reasons. C'mon Jeff, lets see a real long term contract, not a Delgado deal(which was a one year deal for us no matter what happened). Cabrera is so good, that no matter what you give him, he will be marketable, so unless Loria is waiting to see if Cabrera has a career ending injury or starts overeating again whereby he can't bend down, it will only cost him more in the long run.

Tough as it is, we are at the point where every series is huge. We really need a dodger like winning streak of 9 or 10 games to get over the hump, or it won't happen.

No matter how much smarter Beinfest is than most of us, we are all smart enough to know that Tank stays

Matos was released after last nites game...He has speed and hits for power He also can play Cf. The best is that he would cost us nothing! He is a must as a late addition to this team. Matos is a true player...Send Kool Aid down to triple A to play everyday (although he is playing much better) call him back next month How is it that Reggie at .217 is playing MUCH better? Much better than what or whom? Send him down, it hurts to see his name in the lineup.

And I agree, let the dreams go on. Realism and history do not matter right now, unless you are betting. But if you are just a fan, then until we are out of it, go in to a swoon etc, we are as much in it as anyone else-and we watch the scoreboard, but can't really figure out who we want to win or lose.

A couple of things may be at play here. One, he just isn't getting the ball down like he was a few weeks ago, so it's probably a mechanical problem that's keeping him from locating the way he wants. The pitch he hit was way above the catcher's target. And this may sound silly, but as we all know there is a "friendly competition" going on regarding first pitch strikes and I wonder (out loud) if perhaps some guys are subconsciously more concerned with getting their first offering over than pitching smartly. It could be a hundred things, both of above, neither, one or the other, something else, who the heck knows. But what I'm left with is Kensing's improvement this season and the belief that as he matures (as a MLer) he be a very good pitcher. I thought about that friendly competition last night after he threw that fat, flat first pitch to Jones. I agree with you, a veteran like JOnes is looking for a fat first pitch knowing that the young pitcher wants to get ahead in the count. Andruw will swing at pitches off the plate and is not a guy you want to try to blow a fastball over the plate by. The night before, Tank did not put any over the plate on Andruw and struck him out on a high outside fastball. Oh well, tough loss.

I laugh at curses!!!! Arent we all a little to smart to believe in Hocus Pocus? Noooo. Everyone go get garlic necklaces-hurry-there is too much blasphemy here.

Gee, forgot all about Moles.

I know the camp my wife works for had about 90 of the 140 seats purchased used. The tix went for $5. But it fills the seats and looks better. Sort of like the mystery 10,000 tix bought on the last day of the 2002 season so we would finish ahead of the expos in attendance. But if it works, next we should have prison release day and other promotions.

It's Wayne's house. Loria is just the shmoe paying on the bad lease of John (I must be crazy) Henry.

I just think earlier projections of his home run abilities were just that, early projections of a young athlete. Hanley will still put on some weight and build strength. I would expect him to be a consistent HR threat.

I was thinking the same thing this morning when I saw Jakey's .288 average. I just instinctively checked Delgado and saw .252. No one can knock Carlos, just an awesome threat, but you have to be impressed with Jacobs-especially with the slow start and the looping flaw in his swing. They caught it, he worked on it and just straightened it out-the results are tremendous. Girardi adds to the building of Jake's confidence by letting him play against lefties and not lifting him in key late game situations. Basically, he has been a real gem. And we have lost nothing defensively, hint of sarcasm, as both of them will not see gold. But again, Jake is young and can get better, Delgado is what he is out in the field.

Much better than listening to Berardino on QAM this morning. Boy, is he a depressant.