August 22, 200421 yr Tough road to the playoffs Florida, which has 41 games left, may need to go 30-11 to have a shot at passing San Francisco and making the postseason. By KEVIN BAXTER kbaxter@herald.com SAN DIEGO - Last week, the Marlins mailed out playoff applications to their season ticket holders. Now it's up to the players to decide if they want to go, too. ''If we don't win 70 or 80 percent of our games that are left, we aren't going to have a chance for any postseason play,'' infielder Mike Mordecai said Saturday. ``[but] saying it and doing it are two different things. We can talk a mean game, but we've got to go out and perform on the field. That's what it boils down to.'' Mordecai's math isn't too far off. The Marlins, who have 41 games left beginning this afternoon in San Diego, entered play Saturday trailing San Francisco by six games in the National League wild-card race. If the Giants continue to win at their current pace they'll finish with 89 wins; to beat that the Marlins will have to go 30-11 -- a .732 winning percentage. But when or how they win those games doesn't really matter, says manager Jack McKeon. ''Let's say hypothetically we win 30 or 29. You're going to lose a certain amount of games. It doesn't [matter] where you lose them,'' he said. ``It's not the end of the world.'' It will be if the Marlins don't get hot quickly. Including today's game with San Diego, half the Marlins' next 20 games are against teams that are ahead of them in the wild-card standings. ''You can't make up any ground when you're losing to the people in front of you. It's that simple,'' Mordecai said. ``We just have to beat them. It's just basic baseball. If you beat them, you're going to gain ground. If you don't do, you're burying yourself.'' Actually, inconsistent starting pitching has already partially buried the Marlins. The trio of Dontrelle Willis, A.J. Burnett and Josh Beckett -- who had been counted on to carry the team this season -- went into Beckett's start Saturday a combined 16-22. As a result, the Marlins haven't been more than two games above .500 since July 2. ''Those guys have got to get on a roll like they did last year,'' McKeon said of his pitchers. ``We dug ourselves a hole for a couple of months [and] we haven't been able to get out of that hole. ``We're sticking around .500. A game over, two games over, two games under. We need to get six, seven games over and then take off.'' Mordecai says the Marlins faced a similar predicament last season, but were able to close strongly enough to win 91 games and the NL wild-card berth. A three-game sweep of their series with the Giants, which begins Tuesday, would be a good start. ''Our playoffs lasted the whole second half last year. And that's where we're at right now. This is our playoffs,'' he said. ``We're having to win every series we play. It'll be much easier if we can get a roll and run off about 10 or 12 wins in a row.'' ? P.J. Loyello, the Marlins vice president for communications, confirmed Saturday that ticket prices will be raised across the board for the 2005 season although the club won't announce how much they'll be increased until later this week. The price hike is the club's first since 2001. The team will announce the new price schedule later this week.
August 22, 200421 yr I'm sure the prices won't drastically increase. That'd be foolish considering we don't exactly have the best attendance out there. But I'll miss my fish tank tix for 6 buks
August 22, 200421 yr Author WE CAN DO IT! I BELIEVE! GO MARLINS!!! ARE YOU GUYS WITH ME??? 522649[/snapback] You sound like Hey Arnold.
August 22, 200421 yr My boy knows what he's talking about. If we can just win 2 of 3 frequently we'll be fine.
August 22, 200421 yr Price raises are aweful. If they're going to raise prices next year, they'd better be good. Bad team+high ticket prices= 1998-2002 attendance numbers again.
August 22, 200421 yr Author Price raises are aweful. If they're going to raise prices next year, they'd better be good. Bad team+high ticket prices= 1998-2002 attendance numbers again. 522798[/snapback] I doubt it will be that bad. But price raises can't be good.
August 22, 200421 yr WE CAN DO IT! I BELIEVE! GO MARLINS!!!? ARE YOU GUYS WITH ME??? 522649[/snapback] You sound like Hey Arnold. 522693[/snapback] I haven't watched that show in a LOOONG time! It used to be one of my favorites. And they can't raise the prices THAT much. I mean tickets to Yankee games are what you call VERY expensive...but they won't be that expensive.
August 22, 200421 yr they haven't raised them since the '01 season, not even after winning the world series. they're trying to get a new stadium built. it's almost a given they were going to have to raise them next year.
August 22, 200421 yr It was a good call not to raise them after last season. BUt obviously the prices are such a steal in comparison to every other stadium in the league. And the probably will still be cheaper than many other stadiums in the leauge
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