HawkFan

Why touch Robertson at this point? He has exceeded expectations and has done fine in his role. Quite frankly, I think at this point Dontrelle would be best suited for being the next Rick Ankiel. Here's our new lefty off the bench. Much rather have him than Lamb. Shouldn't be too difficult to teach him a position down in the minors until he is servicable. Of course, I thought Anibal was done as well, so maybe a change of scenery back to the NL will do him some good. Far more lefty hitters in the NL East.

As my favorite, all-time player, I'm thinking about possibly attending Andre Dawson's induction to the HOF on 7/25. I've never been to the HOF, so I had a few questions for those of you that had, especially if any of you have attended on an Induction Day. 1) What's the best Airport to fly in and out of, both in terms of cheapest flights and proximity to Cooperstown? I've seen some comments about Albany and Syracuse. I don't have to worry about a place to stay bc my wife has tons of family up there. 2) What other good things are there to do up there? Best places to eat? Finally, for those of you who've been on Induction Day, how si it set up? Where do you park? Do you have to pay to get a lawn seat? Is the museum open after the event? re there other events going on that weekend? I would think w/ so many HOF's comign into to town, they'd have a card show/autograph signing or soemthing. Thanks!

Seems like every year is a decent mix of performers for everyone. Youre gonna hate some and love others, but youre bound to find at least one that youll enjoy, and i think thats the point, from a marketing/business sense. Have something for everyone 6 of the 10 groups announced so far are Hispanic groups, that's really not much of a mix. I understand why though, the Hispanic groups are the ones that seem to bring the highest attendance. They still haven't announced anyone for June 26th, July 24th, August 7th, or September 4th, so I'm curious to see who they bring out. It'd be great if we can get back to the point where people go to the games to watch the Marlins play baseball, not which past-their-prime musical act is palying the concert afterwards.

If they want speed in the OF and want to let Cogs get his mind together, they could always try Raynor. I read we got him back yesterday from the Pirates after they designated him for assignment. Personally, I think they just need to bide their time till Cogs finally puts it together and starts hittign again. Maybe he's jsut a traditionally slow starter. Besides, there's more wrong with the team than the top 2 hitters getting on base. When you load up the bases in the 8th and 9th innings and can't score a single run, that's embarassing.

Why? Why the Rays again instead of the fish. That's 4 games in the last two weeks. I get that Sun has the heat but why do they then move the Rays to FSFlorida. Tonight I'll have two options to watch the Heat, two to watch the Rays(mlb.tv) and 0 to watch the Marlins again! I take it you're not a "Lost" fan...lol. Think of it this way, the more games not broadcast now means less games not broadcast when they really count (yeah, yeah, please no one be such a literalist you have this overwhelming need to explain to me "they all count"). The contract calls for 150 games, we're getting 150 games (and this year there's some plus plus games as well). The big problem is Dave Van Boring is the only alternative, unless you want to count actually going to a game... *edit* Unfortunately, Lost is a Re-run tonight! A great re-run (the Richard-centric Ab Aeterno), but a re-run none-the-less.

I was wondering if anyone in South Florida has seen any reusable Marlins Grocery Bags at any Publix stores doen there? Last season, we hit up one in WPB and they had really nice Dolphins bags (that went over very well as Christmas present wrapping for my Dolphan family). It got me to wondering if any Publix stores (perhaps closer to the stadium) cary Marlins ones. I know the Stadium Store (At least last year, they did) sells Marlins ones, but they were about triple the cost of the Publix ones and weren't as nice. Thanks!

Or that Brett Carroll would be a Triple shy of hitting for the cycle in his first game back from the DL?

leave the one I'm with and start a new relationship with... another pen. Damnit! Are we long-lost brothers or something!?! I was going to say that!

Not really an organized thing, just wanted to see if their were other fans who would want to go out and watch the game and eat wings. lol Yeah, I tried to get some going last year but we were never able to make it work. I'm stuck in the same boat, though, as I have a 9 to 5. Any other night game, I'm down.

Funny tidbit for you all. Went to Marlins-Nats game in Viera on Saturday. After the game by th team bus, John Baker came over to sign autographs. Badenhop came out of the clubhouse and started signing further down the fence. Baker looked over and said "Look, there's Badenhop. Everyone, call him "the Dragon," he loves it!" Some loud, obnoxious guy yelled out "Look, there's the Dragon!" Hopper gout a huge grin on his face and called down to baker "You tell them to say that?" Don't know the genesis of then ickname, just fgured we need to stop calling him "the Hopper." Also, that story a couple of weeks ago about him trying his hand at screenwriting; he's writing comedies.

I'm rooting for Anibal to put it all together and nail down the rotation spot, if only for the horrible stretch he's had with injuries and his son since his rookie year. It got me to thinking, however, say he and RVH continue to improve and solidify and earn 3/4. Who's our 5th? Would Anibal and RVH making the rotation automatically default Andrew Miller to 5, regardless of his spring? 1-4 is a whole lot of righties, especially in a division w/ so many good left-handed hitters. Who else could be a lefty starter? They wouldn't move Dan Meyer out of the BP where he is so effective, would they? Or is Freddi's comment about Sean West in the Herald foreshadowing: "He'll be back." I wonder if the plan is to give the Miller the opportunity to start and after a few games into the season if it's not happening, bring Sean back up and see what he can do?

Online campaigns can work as proven in the UK last Christmas. Every year for the past 5 years or so the winner of 'The X Factor' was #1 in the charts at Christmas however a huge Facebook campaign to get Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" to be the #1 worked as nearly 1,000,000 people joined the FB group. Obviously it differs slightly in that these people can go out and buy the single and directly affect the result, however the basic point I'm making is that online campaigns can become quite powerful. Somebody ought to start up a FB group then, if there already isn't one. But a physical petition or protest or something would be more of a powerful message. I remember a few years back Orioles fans had gripes with ownership and had a "free the birds" walkout during a game and thousands of fans just got up and left all at once. Don't know if it accomplished anything but it's an idea. I think we can all agree we like the teal and black colors. I'm totally okay with the name change and logos/uniforms changing(in 2012 anyway), but the colors need to stay. If we as fans can do something to make that happen then we should. Maybe at next year's FanFest just grill Samson with question after question about keeping teal(although that might be too late). Good idea, so I just created one: Keep the Marlins Teal.

we should have a petition as fans and show Loria that we should be calling the shots on this one. I've actually planned on doing that exactly; start an online petition linked to all the major Marlins sites and send it to Loria and Samson. They m,ight be the owners/executive leadership and hell-bent on eradicating our history, but if we the fans are expected to buy their merchandise, we better have a say as to what that merchandise looks like. I'm all for redesigning the logos and uniformas, just not the color scheme.

I think calling the team "Florida" Marlins was wise at the time. Tampa and I think Orlando were competing with Miami for the team. Tampa already had the stadium ready and had tried previously to get both Chicago AL and the SF Giants (and I think one other team) to relocate there. I don't know all of the politics of the deal but I think it's a bit surprising Tampa didn't get a team before Miami did. Calling the team the "Florida" Marlins at least tries to unite the three different Florida markets for the Marlins before anyone knew that Tampa would eventually get their own team a few years down the road. Exactly. And it wasn't just an effort to unite Orlando and Tampa, but all of FL. The Marlins were Florida's first MLB team after being the main ST home for MLB for so many years. They wanted the whole state to identify with this team, not just South Florida, especially with much of FL being Braves fans by proxy. I bought into this fully- I got my first Marlins shirt right after the expansion team was awarded. However, now that the Rays exist and Miami/Dade is building the stadium w/o state dollars, it's harder to justify keeping the name Florida. Aside from the pockets of us that DO exist, the state-wide support dwindled (one could argue this the Marlins own fault, but I digress). I've come to terms with the name change after initially being distraut; at first, I felt the fans outside of So. FL that love this team so much were in effect, being excluded. However, I realized if the name change was so important to city and county commissioners to make it part of the deal, that if that's what it took to keep the team in FL, so be it. I'm personally not nearly concerned with the short-term uniform transitioning as I am the apparant wholesale redesign of our identity that is coming in 2 years. Teal has been a part of this team for nearly 20 years, and while the overuse in the first several years was comical at best, I feel the 97-02 unifroms struck the right balance between teal and black. Our current color scheme is unique in baseball and classy, no reason to throw it away for change's sake.

Also, when I got Andre's signature after the BBTN theater show, I asked hime how Maybin was looking. He said he was still hurt (recovering from shoulder surgery) and that he wasn't going to get serious looks until ST games start this week.

His comment about Hanley was "that he's only been in the league 4 years", but that he "he walks around with an air about him" and that the only thing keeping him back is "his work ethic." Andre has long been known for his dedication to the craft, sacraficing his body and time to the game he loves so much. If Andre has concerns about his work ethic, honestly, there's something there. Perhaps Dan and Helms werent' wrong for calling him out last year, either. However, I think a lot of that is maturity and the fact he is the lone superstar on a small market team- same thing happened to Miggy. Once Maybin, Morrison and Stanton fully arrive, I think the superstar pressure will be alleviated to an extent, and his latent leadership skills will take over. As far as his fan relationship, personally I find Hanley far more accomodating to fans than Miggy ever was. It was good seeing you too, fanofthefish. I did a final count, I ended up with 27/45 of the athletes/espn announcers that were there, with Andre, Ochocinco, Hester, Reavis, Bernie Williams, Deangolo Williams, Witten being the highlights. I even got Dick Vitale to sign my old copy of the Sega Genesis "Dick Vitale's Awesome Baby College Hoops!" I don't think I aksed, when he was over at the SportsZone, what was he doing? I got Devin Hester's auto when he was doing the wiffleball homerun derby.

Why is this such an issue-because it is religion. If abortion, pro or con, was "very important to him" then would you want him to sign his name and follow it by "ban baby killers". I think that would be a starting point. How would management view that. How would you view that-depending on your point of view, especially if you only expected his name on your ball. I have commented on this and then not responded to even a personal attacks on me for an objective view. If I don't want his sig with a biblical reference, you are right, just don't ask for it-BUT-at a fan fest there are certain expectations and if I am unaware that his baseball signature will have it, then your comment is wrong. That is the point. His beliefs are respected but people did not know that to get his sig comes with a condition. I still do not think that a parent should have to expect that their 5 year child will get anything other than a baseball signature without religious promotion. That is NOT the correct thing to do. Respectfully, he may ask if the person would be ok if puts in a bible reference rather than just doing it. It is mutual respect. As to the remark that I probably don't agree with him and that is why I am against it, that person who wrote it misses the point and always will. I do not even know what the scripture says and I may fully agree with it. But I do not have to read it to have the opinion I have. The point is that many people fully agree with him as to his beliefs , but at the same time would not agree with him using the fanfest to express those views,especially if it was unexpected. That is all this is about. It is not denying one his right to his religious beliefs. Anotherrealfan- I'm assuming the "person" you're referring to would be me. I've read through my post several times trying to find out where I personally attacked you or your views (which clearly ARE NOT objective); are we really to a point in this country where disagreeing with someone on a message board is considered libel? I did not state you disagreed with Cogs putting on a religous message because that message didn't match with your beliefs like you said above; I simply asked if his views aligned with yours, would you still have a problem? Your post said you respected his beliefs, but he did not respect yours; however, clearly you don't respect his beliefs as you're decrying him for professing his faith which is protected by the US Constitution. The First Ammendment guarantees the free exercise of religion, both public and private. The only restrictions apply to the State establishing a State religion (or favoring/recognizing one faith over another) and to the denial of the right of religous belief/worship (except where the practice of that faith conflicts with other governing laws, ie polygamy or human ritual sacrafice). Saying the man cannot write a religous inscription on an autograph is violating not only Freedom of Religion, but the 1st Ammendment protection of Freedom of Speach regardless of whether you feel the message or the vehicle/venue for the message is appropriate. You and others have mentioned that he shouldn't be doing this because he's representing the Marlins at Fanfest. While it's reasonable not to expect a religous inscription at a pre-season event, per Employment law, the Marlins couldn't restrict this practice even if they wanted to- it would be considered Religous Discrimination. In addition, Contractually each player is required to attend FanFest, but as far as I know, they are not required to sign autographs. If that is the case, they are acting as an Independent Contractor/Entrepenuer in signing autographs. The transaction is between the fan and the player, not the fan and the Marlins, so they have NO say. Trust me, I do "get it." I quietly practice my faith, letting my actions and the way I live my life be the reflection of that faith. I do not like Bible Thumpers, bikers or whoever wants to impose their will over others as the "truth" or "one way." However, real respect is realizing this great country grants them the right to do that while granting me the right to crumble their pamphlet in the garbage can or slamming my front door on them mid-spiel. If this inscription is truly bothering you as much as it seems to be, I go back to my original post: obscure the passage with more Sharpie. Or get rid of it and replace with another Cogs auto sans inscription (ebay has plenty to choose from, some as low as a $1).

Here's a funny aside relating to FanFest. I was in Tampa yesterday on a work related matter and I saw the ad in the St. Petersburg Times for Rays FanFest (which is this Saturday). If you want to get a wristband to be eligible to get autographs, you have to pay $20.00. No wristband, no autographs. Season ticket holders automatically get wristbands! Hey, at least the long lines for Marlins autographs was free! Wow, having fans has really gone to their heads. YEah, it's pretty funny that way. Considering my relative position to the Rays compared to the Marlins, I've obviously been to more Rays Fan Fests than Marlins (what's equally funny is that even though I have been a Marlins fan since Day 1, I've actually not made it down for one! This was the first year it looked like we were finally going to make it down only to have my hopes dashed). They didn't start the charging for auto wristbands thing until last year (because of their 08 WS success, obviously). There were easily double the people there last year than the previous two, and a lot of people buying the wristbands. What sucks about the setup is that they either schedule the best players in the same line (which is untenable, to say the least, since season ticket holders also get in an hour earlier than everyone else w/ those wristbands) or they stagger them throught the various lines throughout the day (which is also untenable since most people get in line ahead of time for the upcomign star, but don't move for the current player...really sucks if you actually want to get the player that is signing at the moment). I would like to say that the $20 is technically a donation and completely goes to charity (this year, Haiti relief), so it's not entirely a bad practice. However, if you're going to drop that kind of cash for somethign every other team doesn't charge for in their FanFests, there should be some guarantees that you're going to get at least one bigger player. Either they should pass out tickets, or just not announce who's going to be in what line at what time. That at least gives everyone a fair chance and makes the lines much for manageable. For this reason, I decided not to go this year because my $40 last year (my wife and I) got us only a bunch of relief pitchers and non-roster ST invitees. when was rays fanfest? This past Saturday.

Here's a funny aside relating to FanFest. I was in Tampa yesterday on a work related matter and I saw the ad in the St. Petersburg Times for Rays FanFest (which is this Saturday). If you want to get a wristband to be eligible to get autographs, you have to pay $20.00. No wristband, no autographs. Season ticket holders automatically get wristbands! Hey, at least the long lines for Marlins autographs was free! Wow, having fans has really gone to their heads. YEah, it's pretty funny that way. Considering my relative position to the Rays compared to the Marlins, I've obviously been to more Rays Fan Fests than Marlins (what's equally funny is that even though I have been a Marlins fan since Day 1, I've actually not made it down for one! This was the first year it looked like we were finally going to make it down only to have my hopes dashed). They didn't start the charging for auto wristbands thing until last year (because of their 08 WS success, obviously). There were easily double the people there last year than the previous two, and a lot of people buying the wristbands. What sucks about the setup is that they either schedule the best players in the same line (which is untenable, to say the least, since season ticket holders also get in an hour earlier than everyone else w/ those wristbands) or they stagger them throught the various lines throughout the day (which is also untenable since most people get in line ahead of time for the upcomign star, but don't move for the current player...really sucks if you actually want to get the player that is signing at the moment). I would like to say that the $20 is technically a donation and completely goes to charity (this year, Haiti relief), so it's not entirely a bad practice. However, if you're going to drop that kind of cash for somethign every other team doesn't charge for in their FanFests, there should be some guarantees that you're going to get at least one bigger player. Either they should pass out tickets, or just not announce who's going to be in what line at what time. That at least gives everyone a fair chance and makes the lines much for manageable. For this reason, I decided not to go this year because my $40 last year (my wife and I) got us only a bunch of relief pitchers and non-roster ST invitees.

And I'm pretty sure Kiko is looking for a 2 year deal, and besdies, I believe the MArlins have moved on; at Fanfest, I read Beinfest said something to the effect that we've had only minimal discussions with Kiko, besdies we have young guys to fill his place. Even with his breakout year in 09, no way anyone gives him more than a 1 year with his injury history coming off that many innings. I suspect as we get closer to ST and he continues to have no job, he'll get desperate and then maybe we'll have a shot. I never put any stock in these predictors because they always put the Phillies or Mets at 1/2 followed by the Braves 3 (sometimes we make it to 3). Ever since 2006, we're predicted to finnish with a losing or barely 500 record, yet every year we tend to stay in playoff contention. Despite what the article says, last year's team wasn't a "young team;" certainly not over the hill, but their core players are pretty much in the dawn of their prime years.

My wife and daughter went and got lots of autographs,I had to work. Cogs signed a mini bat with Rom (some numbers). My daughter did not know what he did until I told her that I read he was doing it. Personally, no place for promoting his religious beliefs. I respect hhis, but he must not respect mine. Just because he is a ball player, no difference if he owned a restaurant and I went there to eat. I wouldnt want him to offer me his beliefs, that is not why I go there. Overall, most were real nice, but out of all, Uggla is the most, let's say, least friendly-like an effort to be there. I don't look at it that way. That's his sig and he should be able to do it any way he wants, especially if he is consistent doing so. Folks should be happy he actually took the time to do it in the first place. It's equivalent to asking a friend to do you a favor and then getting ticked off because he didn't do it your way. I agree. He's giving of his time to sign an autograph, so no one really has a right to complain about what's on said signature or what sig looks like (I love the dealers when they complain how crappy the auto looks right after they get somebody huge, say Drew Brees at ESPN the weekend a few years ago; it's because "crappy" autos don't look authentic, thus not as likely to sell) if they asked for one. If you don't agree with his religous beliefs, you don't have to look up the Biblical verse or can cover it up with more ink. anotherrealfan, I wonder if you would be having as much of a problem if he shared your beliefs and put forth a scripture that conformed with your viewpoint? What's interesting to me is I got Cog's auto several times last year, including the party after the final home game- none had Biblical verses. Wonder if winning the ROY and visiting the toops in the Middle East deepend his spirituality? On another note, it's a bummer I missed out on FF this year (again) bc it was the first I had VIP passes for (seeing as I am a "season ticket" holder bc of my Flex Ticket). Anythign earth-shattering come out of the VIP town hall? I so bad wanted to go to that and make a comment about keeping Teal.

I'm not so sure about them being fake (with the one I purchased on e-bay, the coloring and quality of the wool is consistent with my original 1995 teal/black cap, as is all stitching, embroidery and inside tagging right down to the original new era logo and diamond collection tag), but I concur that the sizing is off. Perhaps they were "rejects" destined for a discount store because the sizing was not right, or maybe the wool has just constricted a lot over 10 years, but the 7 3/8 I purchased didn't even go on my head (I normally wear a 7 1/2, and an 1/8 of an inch shouldn't have made that much of a difference). As far as alternatives, I know Lids.com has both in the New Era Coop Line, but they have the fore-mentioned NE flag on the side. I think your best bet is to either take the chance on one on ebay that it fits or go for one you know will fit (but has the drawback of beinga fashion cap, and not mlb authentic). There was a wholesaler down there many on the board found some of the classic fitteds on markdown, don't remember name of the store or if they still have them.

This is as good a time as any to say bring back the sleeveless jersey! Mmmm... black sleeves, teal script AND pinstripes. Best Marlins uniform ever IMO. I'm praying for that to be a throwback alt in 2012(15th anniversary of 1997.. who knows?), similar to what Milwaukee does. Then, like Milwaukee, when half of the fans buy that instead of the current gear maybe it will spur the team to wear the right Marlins uniforms. I can dream lol. They did wear those jersey's one game in 07 for the 10th anniversary, but the vest was slightly different, closer to the rockies vest (top of the vest tapered out instead of in if that makes sense).

I think the simple answer as to why there's love for BC is because: 1) He works as hard, if not harder, than anyone on the team to improve his game. While we can't necessarily call the Marlins a "young team" anymore, you do have a few personalities that this kind of professional approach needs to rub off on. 2) He doesn't complain about his limited playing time or his role seeming to be limited to late-inning defensive replacement. He accepts that as his place on the team and remains focused on the time when he his needed, not dwelling on the the time he is not. 3) His defensive ability is unmatched by anyone left on this team if Amazing leaves. Contrary to popular belief, defense is important in baseball, especially with the cavernous OF of DS. 4) He's a nice guy that is very accomodating to the fans. It is easy to dwell on his poor offensive numbers, but like Eddie pointed out, when you get 1 token AB every few games or so, it's extremely difficult for even the best hitters to get in a rhythm and put up ok numbers. Actually, there was some time there earlier last season, I believe it was between Maybin gettign sent down and CC getting pulled up, that BC got some decent playing time and his numbers improved pretty dramatically. I'd like to see his numbers as a PH/Defensive replacement vs. games started, I wouldn't be surprised if there is a difference.

That's actually exactly why I didn't like them. They felt too much like the Yanks' or Cubs' jerseys. Wow, that's the first thing in a while you and I have agreed on, Rabb!