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E.B.: Run Home

I know it was done on opening day. By Yaz, last time in 1967. That's been the story so far. . My question is different. first home run=inside the park hr It doesn't matter what day of the season it happens on. Like when Hermida hit a granny as his first hr. There's only so many times this has happened. First game=rare. First AB, I believe. Much rarer. The first HR being an inside-the-park home run... yes, I'm sure that's happened tons, especially in the old days. Robert Clemente did it though... I think it's April 17th, 1955 - at the Polo Grounds in the first game of a double-header... - not sure if it was his first AB, but definitely his first home run, obviously Edit: Note, I typo'd the crap outta this, I've since revised it several times. It would have been against the Dodgers, and thus at Ebbets Field that day. And yes, 4/17/1955 was his major-league debut. I do know that he hit the only walk-off inside-the-park grand slam in MLB history the next season. Oh my! That must have been incredible to watch. Do you know the date or if there's any footage of the event?

only 5,000 show up tonight game i not sure because of cold weather American Idol. Washing their hair

Beinfest AND Hill AND Fleming AND Jennings AND more. Going to be hard to keep such incredible talent, but the recent pay raises and expansion of responsibilities helped. Hopefully with just compensation, they'll stick around. The challenge of crafting a winner out of the Marlins is far more interesting of a job than head GM at the other 29 clubs.

they never gave delgado a chance man i hate when the team does this sh*t Only 25 guys (12 pitchers) per team. Stop making a big deal about nothing. Truth. Our system is overflowing with talent. Other teams wish they had this problem.

I would like to have 2 fast guys on top of the lineup, like in the old days with Pierre and Castillo. We would have three...Maybin, Emilio, Hanley Except now 2/3 of them have the potential to slug the daylights out of the ball... Luiy could do that against left handers

i would definitely think gibbons but i dont know why everything does not like jai miller as he is another 5 tool player Love how you can bat .230, strike out over a 100 times and have stone hands, but as long as you can hit 10 homers AND steal 10 bases per year, you're considered a five-tool player. (Not saying that Jai fits ALL the above)

Baker, and no offense to him at all (I'm excited that we'll have a good young catcher), will not maintain a .370 OBP over the course of the year. Few catchers can. The season is too long. Playing time too inconsistent. Frequent minor injuries. When you're looking for a 2-hole hitter, the spot that has the second most plate appearances on the team and is called to serve the roles of situational AND run producer, AND secondary leadoff batter, you want one of your better and more dynamic hitters in the spot. Baker did well last year, but he can't offer the speed at the position. It's doubtful he'll have the power. And his situational hitting is far from proven. The 2-hole hitter is not simply a situational hitter spot. It's too important of a position.

So essentially he's Mark Lemke and Bret Barberie, except that he plays C rather than 2B. So probably slower and at greater risk for injuries. Throw in a catcher's inconsistent playing time, and you add streaky hitting. Sound like a good 2-hole hitter?

I want: Maybin Baker Hanley Baker, really? Why? Mark Lemke / Bret Barberie style 2-hole hitters are the worst. Getting that many at bats, and serving as the secondary leadoff hitter, the 2-spot should be one of your best hitters.

0/2 Hanley can hit any where. We really can't say where he fits best when nearly half the starting lineup (C, 1B/3B, OF) isn't fully set. Bonifacio can be a productive player. He has the talent and should be given the chance to fight Cantu and Sanchez for playing time. However, he's no Luiy in his prime (who is?) and I counsel against putting him at leadoff merely because he's fast.

Ani changes his number to 19! The new Mr. Marlin?

Sign him? Didn't he just restructure his contract with the Dodgers to make it easier to trade him? Now he's only getting $4M next year, with millions more (at no interest) over the next 6 seasons. Makes his contract manageable... for us, and the Dodgers and the rest of the league. However, South Florida and the Marlins would be a good spot for him. What are the Dodgers looking for? Pitching prospects probably?

That's a lot of games. And that's cause for concern.

The Marlins ahve no say over what positions players play in the Caribbean summer leagues. Each year you see MLB starting shortstops playing third or the outfield, catchers and outfielders at first base, etc.

I'm all for salary dumps. Teams (although, apparently not, fans) must weigh the the value added vs. salary expense. It's the talent dumps, like 1997/8, that I hate. (I'm conflicted over the boom/bust strategy of the present era. At its core, it is intended to benefit the team and focus on talent, but sometimes it unneccessarily forces to make rash, time-critical decisions when the unexpected happens (WS victory increases demand for raises, Delgado, etc. flop, stadium deal lays dormant for years)) The difference between the two? The former is guided by a plan to recoup similar talent at an appropriate salary, the other focuses on reducing the salary bill by making wide cuts. You see it all the time in business. The former utilizes wage renegotiations, consolidating similar departments, redeveloping processes. The latter is more harsh, you see hiring freezes and retraction of benefits without much focus on reforming the organization. Being fiscally conservative in preparing a budget is not a bad thing. And Loria, Samson, Beinfest and company shouldn't be vilified for it. The Marlins are forced to operate this way due to poor support and limited revenue sources.

Are they serious? Filing grievances over the following? The Collective Bargaining Agreement specifies that disabled players not traveling on the road with the team should receive "the full allowance if he is residing at a hotel or motel in either the metropolitan area of the club, or one to which the player has gone at the request of the club." Part of the grievance stems from the Marlins giving injured players per diem only when the team is on the road and not at home. Another issue is housing expenses. The Marlins cover local hotel stays, but players who are facing a protracted rehab and decide to rent apartments in or near Jupiter do so on their own dime. Sounds like it's the players and agents, not the Marlins, that are taking advantage of Jupiter's proximity to Miami. Seriously, their complaint is they want private apartments, not hotels?

I dont mind moving from Albuquerque, but I dont like the move to New Orleans. I wanted out of the PCL and not relocating to another hurricane-susceptible market. Preparation! New Orleans' ballpark is located out in the burbs, not at great risk of extended relocation of games.

Greensboro changed the nickname when they moved into the new ballpark. Might be rebranding.

That scary thought has already been considered. After all, Beinfest has been rumored with other teams in recent years and Hill, Fleming and Jennings have routinely make Baseball America's short list for future GMs. Last year's restructuring, and one can imagine raises, was intended to keep the team in place for a few more years.

I think the point is to promote private competition and curtail reliance upon public transit systems. The former I can understand, but we should encouraging the latter. However, too many municipalities are running deficits and the overtime expenditures to transit operators are quite expensive. Combine that with mounting pressures for maintenance and capital expenditures as most of their buildings and vehicles were built 20-40 years ago.

An owner who can not afford to own a MLB team should not be given a FREE ballpark. Even though the author of this article states the Marlins are going to pay 30% he failed to mention the naming rights which will more than pay for the Marlins alleged share. Where have you been? That's the deal most MLB teams have. Rarely do they pay any up front costs. They pay a modest set of rent, which can be waived if they perform significant maintenance. They get exclusive use of the stadium including advertising and naming rights. The city gets a 5-10 public events and tax revenues. That is the cost of hosting a MLB team.

Loria, Expos and Nats Before Loria even owned a stake in the Expos, the franchise was screwed. Brochu had traded every player away. The economics of baseball were moving in another direction. They needed stadium advertising, luxury boxes and people to fill them all. However, support from the business community (oddly, also some of the minority owners) was nothing. Loria came in, wrestled control away from fellow owners by investing in the ball club (no owners met cash calls for the investments), he/they saw no return for his efforts and no promise on the horizon. No wanted the team in Montreal. Not Loria. Not Brochu. Not anyone credible. MLB stepped in and took over the hapless franchise. Loria, Brochu and the other minority owners was accommodated with ownership of the Marlins. MLB held onto the Expos. Letting them get worse and worse. Towards, the end their scouting department was nearly empty. Most had left with Loria to Miami or for other opportunities. Under MLB's ownership, the Expos had some of the worst MLB squads and worst minor league systems. MLB held onto the Expos to sell them at a great profit. They orchestrated a deal with DC for a new stadium. Then they sold the club, bare bones at that point, to the Lerners, who are now servicing the $450 million debt while repairing the team that Brochu, Montreal and MLB destroyed.

Apparently not completely useless. Seems like he'll be classified as a Type B free agent this year. Draft picks! Nevermind: They kept the arbitration offer rule when they revamped free agent compensation. We shouldn't offer LoDuca arbitration (due 80% of his 2008 salary - the multimillion dollar one he signed with the Nats). Goodbye. No draft picks.

I would have probably preferred LoDuca at 1st base for the slumping Jacobs and also because Baker is HOT and fired up playing in front of his home town. So I like LoDuca in the lineup batting second, but not catching. That "fired up playing in front of his hometown" cracks me up. How did that work out for DTrain?? DTrain was immature. That's what made him such a great ballplayer. Played all out and careless. Only when people tried to refine his delivery was he unable to adapt. Evidently you missed or ignored the point. DTrain NEVER played well in front of his hometown crowd. Ignored the point. Couldn't care less either - all of 5 games. Just shocked by Willis' career path.