Here is Hyde's article in the Sun-Sentinel. It portrays Rosenthal with quirky color, and gives him some much needed credit. Enjoy:

 

HYDE: Do you believe in magic? Marlins coach does his part

Published August 15, 2003

 

 

He takes a seat on the dugout bench exactly 45 minutes before every game.

 

He puts a pinch of tobacco dip in his lower lip precisely when that day's starting pitcher begins warm-ups.

 

He sits on the dugout stool as each game starts.

 

If you're trying to explain this funhouse of a Marlins season, there are worse ways than noting how pitching coach Wayne Rosenthal wears low-top shoes if that day's pitcher previously performed well when Rosenthal wore low-top shoes. If not, he wears high-top shoes. And he has been known to change shoes in mid-game.

 

Ditto for socks, by the way.

 

Double-ditto for the T-shirt under his uniform.

 

When the opposing team scores its first run, he must leave the stool to either stand or seat himself as the third person from the clubhouse-end of the bench. And he must throw out the dip.

 

If he visits a pitcher on the mound, he must jog from the dugout to the foul line and walk the rest of the way. On the way back to the bench, he must jog from the mound to the warning track just before the dugout.

 

How did all these rituals start? Well, they started like all superstitions do. Something worked, just once, like when a Texas Rangers fan threw him a pack of orange Bubblicious gum in 1991 and Rosenthal plopped three pieces in his mouth while in the bullpen that night. Then he went in and had a good game. It was three pieces of orange Bubblicious from then on.

 

To the normal person, all this would be quite a burden, you know. Sitting exactly here at this time. Jogging just to this point. Checking shoes and socks to see how they did last time out. Which isn't to say Rosenthal isn't normal. For instance:

 

"Probably not," he answers, when asked if he thinks any of this actually helps. "But it makes me feel better."

 

This makes him feel better still: Braden Looper is throwing a split-finger fastball. Oh, not often. And not totally how he wants it. But on May 11th, when Rosenthal came aboard and the Marlins season was in free-fall, Looper didn't have a split-finger fastball.

 

A couple weeks ago against Montreal, the right-handed Looper threw it to back-to-back left-handers and got two groundouts.

 

"To have something like that against tough lefties is something I need," the Marlins closer said. "It gives them something to think about besides the fastball."

 

Then, asked whose idea it was, Looper answered with what might be the real magic of Rosenthal's work thus far.

 

"It was my idea," Looper said. "No, it was his. Maybe. I'm not sure, to be honest. I think it was mine."

 

For two weeks after joining the Marlins, Rosenthal said nothing to his staff. Some, like Dontrelle Willis and Carl Pavano, knew him from past dealings. Most didn't. Plus, he had never been a major league pitching coach before. And, well, it was the middle of the season.

 

It's a touchy issue, being a pitching coach. Some players want feedback on every mechanical twist. Others don't want to hear anything. With still others, you have to suggest an idea and let it fertilize for a while, see if it takes hold.

 

But just as manager Jack McKeon brought an intangible tone to this team -- something the statistic-laden sport of baseball can't measure, something he once used to turn around the Padres and Reds -- Rosenthal's impact is there, too. You can look it up. Before he arrived, the Marlins starters had a 9-15 record and 4.12 earned-run average. Since then: a 40-26 record and 3.86 ERA, though, sure, Willis's mid-May emergence skews those results.

 

Then there's the relievers. They're crucial, because the difference between most contenders is a difference in bullpens. Richer teams can afford middle relief. Marlins' relievers had a 4.54 ERA on May 11. They clipped a half-run off that in the first six weeks and are at 4.09 now.

 

Ugueth Urbina sure helps, and in the past 16 games the Marlins bullpen has a 1.09 ERA. But it's not just Looper and Urbina. It's Nate Bump. It's Michael Tejera. It's even Chad Fox. Do you realize Boston, a team desperate for relief help, dumped Fox? Fox became a Marlin on Tuesday and has since pitched three scoreless innings.

 

How do you explain that? Or that Mike Mordecai has twice pinch run for Mike Lowell and then hit a winning home run? Or no Marlin is having an off season? Something is afoot this season. And Rosenthal, who once spent three years sending out resumes to hook up with a major league organization, wants to do his bit not just with the pitchers but the general karma.

 

"When I started here, we lost six games and the goatee got shaved off," he said, stroking it like a rabbit's foot.

very well deserved credit ,imo

LMAO! That was funny....all those Rituals are working. He needs to keep them up because we are coming Phils!