July 17, 200322 yr NL East Midterm Grades MARLINS (49-46) Jack McKeon sure knows how to make an entrance, huh? He took over two days after Dontrelle Willis' debut. The mercurial left-hander is nasty on hitters, but definitely makes managers look good. As does a rotation recovering from the extended absences of Josh Beckett and A.J. Burnett and a surprisingly complete lineup with power (Mike Lowell, Derek Lee, Pudge Rodriguez) and speed (Juan Pierre, Luis Castillo, Juan Encarnacion and Lee have 81 steals, more than any other team). However you break down the combination, the team is on the move, unleashed in no small part by its response to that 25-8 humbling in Fenway Park. From there, the Marlins took two of three in Atlanta and swept in Philadelphia. Included was a 20-1 victory that made them the first team on both ends of 20-run games in a five-day span since the '96 Pirates. That's the 1896 Pirates. Grade: B; still have shot at Dean's List. Award candidate(s): LHP Willis, Rookie of the Year; not to mention the next list of People's 50 Most Exciting People. 3B Lowell, MVP; if he keeps this up and the Marlins go to the wire, who else? Admin Beinfest, Executive of the Year; sure, it's easy to criticize, but Pudge, Encarnacion, Pierre, Carl Pavano, Mark Redman ... how did they get here? Remote control: No peeking at the daily standings, looking for an excuse to move Lowell. Invent a new platoon by getting a road closer; Braden Looper gets hit at a .209 clip in Pro Player Stadium and .316 elsewhere. Predicted finish: Third place in NL East.
July 17, 200322 yr Thats not a bad idea. Looper I never knew Looper got hit that much on the road so maybe Urbina could close on the road instead. Admin Beinfest for executive of the year! That would shut up the Herald big time. They did forget to put Mackeon as a candidate for Manager of the year.
July 17, 200322 yr Beinfest might win GM of the Year this season, but if we finish . 500 next year he should win it unanimously...
July 17, 200322 yr Author Admin Beinfest for executive of the year! That would shut up the Herald big time. They did forget to put Mackeon as a candidate for Manager of the year. arent you the one who said he was dumb? or was that the other aj?
July 17, 200322 yr I never said he was dumb. I did say he had being doing a greatjob last month and that this month would prove how good he's is. So far he's still doing all the right moves.
July 17, 200322 yr Yea the Team has been bashed by the Media and we got a B. Thats pretty good. Lets see if we can keep it up the 2nd half. I still have my hopes high for Mike Lowell to keep up his work. He has always slacked off in the 2nd half....
July 17, 200322 yr arent you the one who said he was dumb? or was that the other aj? it was prob ajbaseball34 since he ' thinks ' he knows everything
July 17, 200322 yr Lowell on pace for 56 HR's :w00t He's on pace for about 47. The All-Star break is not the halfway point of the season. Marlins have played 95 games & have 67 left.
July 17, 200322 yr He's on pace for about 47. The All-Star break is not the halfway point of the season. Marlins have played 95 games & have 67 left. ooh...still, 47 is a team record isnt it?
July 17, 200322 yr Getting a "B" for us is like a kid who skipped school everyday for a year getting a "B" on his final exam. :thumbup good job fish and good job by the media for recognizing accomplishments factually like they should
July 17, 200322 yr Just to interject as the voice of reason on this one..... This article is from the MLB/Marlins official site. Of course it's going to be positive. For as much as everyone rags on the columnists in SoFl for being negative, the least you could do is recognize the source of this column as well.
July 17, 200322 yr Let me tell you this again, the writers on MLB are independent of the site. They are reporters who follow the different teams and write articles on them. MLB.com has had some negative Marlins articles in the past.
July 17, 200322 yr Don't you think it would be a little naive to think that the articles that are selected to post on the official Marlins site would be completely unbiased and objective? It's a good article, but subscribing to the critical review and mid-term grade as purveyed in an article on the official site is a bit much.
July 17, 200322 yr Don't you think it would be a little naive to think that the articles that are selected to post on the official Marlins site would be completely unbiased and objective? It's a good article, but subscribing to the critical review and mid-term grade as purveyed in an article on the official site is a bit much. I'm not saying it is entirely objective, but it isn't a creation of MLB, but of a reporter hired by the MLB.com sites to write "objective" articles. Look at the Tigers or Devil Rays articles.
July 17, 200322 yr Don't you think it would be a little naive to think that the articles that are selected to post on the official Marlins site would be completely unbiased and objective? It's a good article, but subscribing to the critical review and mid-term grade as purveyed in an article on the official site is a bit much. I'm not saying it is entirely objective, but it isn't a creation of MLB, but of a reporter hired by the MLB.com sites to write objective articles. Look at the Tigers or Devil Rays articles. :thumbup
July 17, 200322 yr Yea, it's not like they force him to write positively about the team. He does it on his own, and the way we are playing right now, rightfully so.
July 17, 200322 yr You are right, they don't "force" him to write positive, but it's a factor. I can't imagine someone writing a scathing article a 'la Berardino or Le Retard and having the Marlins pick it up for publication on the site. And I do read the MLB posts on other sites, and if you like you can go over to the Tiger's site right now and read about how the Tigers really aren't that bad off, which is FLuff, blah blah fluff.
July 17, 200322 yr Fillet, you want them to write all negative and think all negative, just like you right? MLB is trying to promote it's product, not badmouth it. The best place for news on the teams is MLB.com because they give you all the facts, the writers and ESPN don't always do that. BTw, Jayson Stark is raving about us, how we are going to be the best team around this second half and how willis is great. Read his last few articles.
July 17, 200322 yr Yea, Fillet, there isn't much to be negitive about right now. SO why the hell are you complaining about optimism from people?
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