Marlins providing some magic [7/31/03]

It was quite a night last night at the ballpark. I really had a great time. Dontrelle got off to a shaky start and then he just mowed them down. I was upset when he was taken out of the game. I knew he was coming out because everyone was talking to him on the bench. But then they let him hit and then he went to the mound. I think it had something to do with who was going to bat. He only threw 104 pitches, but ultimately it worked out. You hold your breath when Looper is out there on the mound. He was bringing some heat last night though. Jack McKeon has instilled confidence in this team. He has them believing. I don't know if Torborg ever got that with them. There was always something wrong when he was here. The Marlins won last night without two of their startes. It was quite a scene out there last night with 37,000 people. Don't tell me that place is no good for baseball. It is the deal that is bad. The services in the stadium stink. It is a poorly run stadium and they were not ready for the crowds last night. On top of that the Marlins do not get to keep anything. It all goes to the stadium corporation which is owned by Wayne Huizenga.

Something else that I noticed last night is that when teams are going good everything breaks well for them. Last night, the Diamondbacks are on a losing streak and the Marlins were on a winning streak. You look at what happened in that ame. The Marlins took a lead on a blown double play ball. That is what happens to teams that are losing and what happens for teams like the Marlins who are winning. They get the breaks and somehow the other team does not. Think about it. It should have been an easy double play and the shortstop just throws the ball away. If Derrek Lee is the first baseman for the Diamondbacks last night, he makes that play by the way. I talked to him in the locker room last night after the game and he told me he would be alright for Houston tomorrow. That locker room was a happy one. I would like to see this run right through September and see how they are covered compared with the Dolphins. Will they get their due for what they are doing on the field?

Everybody is ganging up on me because I was one of the people that didn't think that the Marlins had a shot to get to this point. My point was that there were too many teams for them to overcome. I think if you have followed baseball for a long time or any sport, part of the difficulty is that when you are trailing so many teams that it is not an easy taks to jump over all of them. Well, the Marlins have jumped over all but four and all but one when it comes to the wild card race. I think the crowd was a big factor last night at that stadium. The Marlins found a way to win that game. What I said before this homestand was that this was the critical stretch. These were the teams that they had to beat. They have risen to the occasion and done it. I give the credit to Beinfest. Shouldn't he get some consideration as the league's best executive? He is the guy who went out and got a lot of these players and made these deals. Almost all have worked out postive for the Marlins so you have to tip your hat to him. They have made a very strong run and they will probably have a losing streak before its over too. That is the difficulty when you have so many teams to overcome. I am not crowning them yet, but I am happy where they are.

Positive writing from WQAM, oh my!

:wow