marlin2266

He will sign the House Bill if the senate passes it He feels the stadium is important for the So Fla community It will keep the team in Florida and provide recreation/diversion/jobs I wish he had said he would contact Pruitt to push it, but he did not.

If I didn't go to Marlins games, I would probably put the money in either savings or debt repayment. They both create FIT, the former by me (Schedule B interest) & the latter by the credit card company. They create no tax for the state of Florida (savings used to create intangible taxes, but I believe the Republicans repealed that, plus I'm not rich enough to be touched by intangibles anyway). I am extremely wary about eating out, due to credit card theft by scanning my number, and few movies are first-run musts (S W Episode VII would be an exception but may never happen) and most can wait for DVD/Netflix/Library access.

Sample email - feel free to cut/paste/send - Mr. President & Honorable Senators: It is my understanding that the Florida House of Representatives has passed legislation authorizing a limited sales tax rebate to the Florida Marlins, for the purpose of constructing a regional sports facility in Miami-Dade county. I fully support this legistation, and look to you to pass it in the Senate and present it to Governor Crist for his signature. Thank you. (Add your name & address)

You just gotta think that the Reds Perez/Morgan/Rose pulled the trifecta at least once. Plus, Dodgers Cey/Lopes/Garvey.

..........We've all heard an Alezegary slip when he says in a momentary lapse, "let's get back to football. My producer says no more baseball talk..." or Boog limits his Marlins baseball talk to the absolute minimum, making a cursory comment here or there,or asking Peter Gammon one, maybe two Marlins incredibly general questions and then goes on to every other team on the planet. You give baseball a real forum in market and you'll finally see baseball, especially Marlins fans come out of the closet and be heard. It's Wayne Huizenga's worst nightmare. We have to know Wayne is going to doeverything he can to keep 790 on a string just like he did QAM. I loathe the guy, but I respect him too. He's brilliant at thisstuff, but then again he holds all the cards........ I agree WQAM gives the Marlins a bad rap - but it's the high-profile drive-time guys (Fat Hank and Maddog) who are to blame. Big O has come around and is generally positive about the team. And Eddie K - well, we all know he's on our side. Even the UM guys Joe Z and Beast give the Marlins a reasonable level of support. And Curtis is mini-me to Maddog, so he may be beyond saving. And I love it when a Marlins broadcast takes priority over the Fins - hear those guys cry WAAAAAAAH. I've said it before, but if anyone wants to really get Hank/Dog riled up, write a letter to their sponsors and copy them. Tell them how you feel about their mis-treatment of baseball & things will have a better chance of changing.

For anybody who has access, yesterday the WSJ ran an article about one of the most hated owners in sports - Bill Wirtz of the Chicago BlackHawks. He is mega-rich and still pinches pennies with the BHawks. As an aside, in the article it mentions that only one owner ranks below Wirtz - our own Jeffrey Loria. Not that I agree - just sayin'...........

So now we begin an 8 game homestand. I'd hazard to guess that if Julio even warms up, the faithful will shower him with invictives. You think his self-esteem is low now - just wait......... It's time to either DFA or AAA. Before the JRS insults start flying.

If I was you, I might try the sections behind the Marlins dugout (Sec 144-145). That way, you can see into the Mets dugout and watch Willie Randolph as he decides which pitcher to call in from the "early bird" special. It's easy to sneak over by the Mets during pre-game for autographs (if that's your thing).

Del - I think you way over-estimate LB's in-game role. Fredi manages the team. That means he decides who pitches, hits, sacrifices, starts, etc. LB provides the talent. Sure, Fredi understands that when LB acquires a player, that player is to fill a certain role/need. Fredi still makes the call on a day-to-day basis. I don't think he was wrong to give JJ every chance to succeed, and I think he's done the right thing by facing JJ directly with his assessment and future plans. But to go all "Oliver Stone" on this is kinda ridiculous. I am convinced there is no conspiracy or behind-the-scenes wrangling. If the closer changes every day (and I'm not saying he will), I'll still be convinced it's FG calling the shots, not LB. GMs acquire players. Managers manage the team. Very simple.

Counsel was a keeper in 1998. Of course, he was pretty cheap. He was hit in the face by a pitch in mid-1998 and never reclaimed the starting job at 2B. Luis came up & took over.

If you get the same seats, you will make friends with the STHs nearby. Sometimes, they'll give you their seats for future games they can't attend if you're nice to them. The kidz tickets are abolished. Everybody pays full price now. Over and above, it's a commitment to the Marlins org. It is an incentive to go regularly. Ask anybody - something could happen that you'll tell your grandkids about (no-hitter, ITP HR, cycle, great defensive plays, Julio, 20Ks, rookie debuts, concerts, Bonds, etc.......). Many of these things you cannot predict, so you have to go to see it live - I saw both Livan and DTrain in their debuts (back when they were no-body), and also saw Bonds hit a broken-bat HR (after by a sheer miracle getting his autograph before the game). Plus, the exciting end to Castillo's hit streak. Buy the pack - just do it!

Just out of curiosity, what ever happened to those uniforms that every team wore for like a game or two that was suppose to represent the future jerseys. There were like very "futuristic" if I can describe by words. I didn't like them too much but I was just wondering. I picked up the John Boles one with his autograph. I forget where I acquired it - they probably went to memorobilia / card stores.

I loved them, in fact I own one. Mee too - Lowell autographed. Love em.

Went to the game last night & enjoyed every minute. Too bad JW couldn't complete our first cycle ever - I wonder if any Marlin has done his "trifecta" before? On the scoreboard, I gotta say I don't like the new format. Too much space wasted with pictures and the stats are too small to comfortably read. From 456, I needed my binocs to see the previous ABs & current batter stats. Also, when they show a video & live feeds, everything is squished into the screen - looks bad. I would much prefer they use 2/3 of the total space and show everything in real dimensions.

What will "Pierre 42" go for on ebay?

If I recall correctly, DLee was going to walk anyway - so we picked up an opening day HR plus a McCovey Cove shot (and a short-lived chant HE-SOP-CHOY). And LB did add the finishing touches to the 2003 team - Pudge, Pierre, Urbina, Pavano, Redman, plus that diamond in the rough we call the DTrain. Anyway, I didn't really mean to start a debate better saved for the off-season - let's take at least 2 from the Phillies and get this party started. GO FISH

Yeah, but the short/medium term results (98-01) were crappy, unlike LB's 06. And he gave away Alou for squadoush. Renteria for Looper & Ozuna was another poor trade - termed at the time a "baseball move" not a salary dump - HA HA. Edgar was just coming into the $$$ years.

You should have been here in 1998 - wow did DD get back basically nothing in those trades. I always said he shoulda done better. Beinfest is a genius with what he's done.

Nice article. I once had the opportunity to meet Harold Reynolds, and I asked him the toughest pitcher he ever faced. He said (without hesitation) "Dave Stewart - that guy could thow some nasty stuff". Runner up was The Rocket.

"Chewy" signed with the Astros in 2001, after being name MVP in the 2001 College World Series. He homered at least twice in the CWS, and made some amazing fielding plays in Omaha. He was a late bloomer at UM, riding the bench until well into his Senior year. Then he broke out and led UM to the National Championship in '01. He is very smart, with his BS in Computer Science. He was the keynote speaker at this year's UM baseball First Pitch banquet, and keeps in touch with Jim Morris as well as other UM boosters. He was raised by his sister in Oakland CA. Since turning pro, he has bounced between A and AA in the Astros org, often a teammate of fellow UM grad Mike Rodriguez. He has always had MLB calibre defense, but struck out historically 1/3 of the time, which is way too much. His average was just OK (.230-.270) in the minors. He made his MLB debut (on defense) against the Marlins late in 2005, and homered in his first MLB at bat in September 2006. Word has it the Astros called him in to send him down about a week ago, and he balked at going back to AA. He is 27, and that's ancient for a AA player. Anyway, he asked for his release so he could pursue another roster spot in the show. He's a helluva nice guy, and I wish him well where-ever he ends up.

Like it or not, the way you conduct yourself really does have something to do with border-line HOFers. Any journalist will tell you that KB was surly and generally uncooperative. He won't get in.

SFF - I went to Fenway several years ago - took the tour, saw a game, etc.... Talking to locals there, they really want it replaced. The seats are really built for people under 5'6" (I'm 6'2"). In general, the pro-Fenway folks are out-of-towers who love historic structures for asthetics versus functionality, and attend a few games as a visitor to Boston as opposed to trudging there 20-80+ times a year. Yes, hard core Red Sox fans still go in droves, but that just ties in with their "long-suffering" self-image. There was a plan to build an "exact replica" right across the street (same dimensions, same Monster, 10K more seats), but it turned into a land issue & never got done - price tag exceeded $1B. It's kind of like wanting to date the prettiest co-ed in class - when you find out she's got nothing to say, you decide you wouldn't want to spend the rest of your life with her.

From what I've heard, the downtown site has a lot of underground infrastructure challenges. Digging that stuff up and relocating it is problematic and expensive.

I got the Holiday Pack & am very happy with it. Fri & Sat in Sec 456. I asked my rep about parking, and he said no discount, so I'll just pay per game.

Stream is open on WQAM.com For those of you at work