IN MY OPINION

 

 

Marlins gave plenty to be thankful for

 

BY GREG COTE

 

gcote@herald.com

 

 

We may be losing Major League Baseball. The Marlins may be leaving. Thanksgiving takes on a different feel when you find yourself thankful for snapshots and memories because, soon, that may be all you have left.

 

You ever hear people say the first possession they might save from a burning house is their scrapbooks? Sometimes those hold the only proof that something was real, that you didn't just dream it.

 

Sports are insignificant, I know. Pray for world peace, right? Give thanks for your loved ones, and their health, not silly games.

 

Sports matter, too, though. If you are a fan they are interwoven into your life. Your team matters -- and probably never more than when you see it disappearing.

 

I am thankful we have had big-league baseball for 13 seasons and for at least a couple more, no matter what happens beyond that.

 

I'm thankful my two sons, now 18 and 14, have been able to grow up Marlins fans, a luxury they have blissfully taken for granted -- like, doesn't every kid get to know what two World Series championships in seven years feels like?

 

I'm thankful for the memory of my oldest son and I playing long-toss in the street in front of our house, and he would have me ''announce,'' and I'd throw long flies to the imaginary warning track, and he would make game-saving catches as Chuckie Carr.

 

I'm thankful for that very first knuckleball pitch from Charlie Hough butterfly-stitching the air on that very first perfect opening day. Stee-riiike!

 

For the way a bag of peanuts cartwheels from a vendor's distant hand.

 

For ball-on-bat making that distinct wooden crack, not a metallic ping.

 

For the mad scramble for a foul ball, and the chance that, out of the scrum, the ball is held aloft by a child with the fiercest grin.

 

I am thankful for that frozen moment when Craig Counsell is off the ground, arms raised -- flying -- sealing that 1997 championship.

 

For Livan Hernandez saying, ''I love you Miami!'' And us making so much noise we could barely hear him.

 

I am thankful for the ''one heartbeat'' of that magic team, and for the heart that beat inside the gruff, stoic exterior of Jim Leyland and his swirl of cigarette smoke.

 

I am thankful for Gary Sheffield's wrists flashing like chef's knives.

 

For Billy the Marlin.

 

For Wayne Huizenga doing the Hokey Pokey, back when we still loved him.

 

And for Take Me Out to the Ballgame, because that's America.

 

I am thankful for Mr. Marlin, Jeff Conine, the first time, and later.

 

For the quiet class of Mike Lowell, even in hard times.

 

For Juan Pierre, bunting, and stealing.

 

And for Luis Castillo and Alex Rodriguez, maybe the best double-play combination . . . ever.

 

I am thankful for Pudge Rodriguez, taking that brutal hit at the plate, and rising with the ball squeezed triumphantly in his hand.

 

For Steve Bartman.

 

And for Josh Beckett, making that final tag-out in the 2003 World Series, and screaming with defiant joy into a stunned-silent Yankee Stadium.

 

I am thankful that old Jack McKeon, through a cloud of cigar smoke, told those players to ''just have fun.'' And that they did. And that we did, too.

 

Mostly, I am thankful for hope.

 

That a new stadium somehow will rise up.

 

That our Marlins somehow won't leave.

 

That somebody else's children, and theirs, and theirs, will live to appreciate what we almost lost.

 

Make him stop before I start tearing up!

 

:Clap

Damn I love his articles. The best articles of late totally and completely.

It makes me really happy and incredibly sad all at the same time.

I read that this morning and I thought it was awesome. I even wrote to Cote to tell him how much I loved it...

Cote generally writes good articles about the Marlins. This adds another to his list. Great article!

That was beautiful.

I read that this morning and I thought it was awesome. I even wrote to Cote to tell him how much I loved it...

 

 

So did I! It's incredible how such wonderful, treasured and joyful memories can be accompanied by overwhelming sadness. I'm not the least bit ashamed to say it brought tears to my eyes this morning.

For the quiet class of Mike Lowell, even in hard times.

 

For Juan Pierre, bunting, and stealing.

 

And for Luis Castillo and Alex Rodriguez, maybe the best double-play combination . . . ever.

 

I am thankful for Pudge Rodriguez, taking that brutal hit at the plate, and rising with the ball squeezed triumphantly in his hand.

 

Alex Rodriguez and Luis Castillo... I love that Marlins combo. Anyone else remember it?

I read that this morning and I thought it was awesome. I even wrote to Cote to tell him how much I loved it...

 

 

So did I! It's incredible how such wonderful, treasured and joyful memories can be accompanied by overwhelming sadness. I'm not the least bit ashamed to say it brought tears to my eyes this morning.

 

Haha... funny you should mention the tears, cause that's exactly what I wrote to Cote. I told him that reading his article brought tears to my eyes...

For the quiet class of Mike Lowell, even in hard times.

 

For Juan Pierre, bunting, and stealing.

 

And for Luis Castillo and Alex Rodriguez, maybe the best double-play combination . . . ever.

 

I am thankful for Pudge Rodriguez, taking that brutal hit at the plate, and rising with the ball squeezed triumphantly in his hand.

 

Alex Rodriguez and Luis Castillo... I love that Marlins combo. Anyone else remember it?

 

yeah sometohing happend though. i caught that too lol....

 

so did this article give anyone else goosebumps? save the marlins.

I read that this morning and I thought it was awesome. I even wrote to Cote to tell him how much I loved it...

 

 

So did I! It's incredible how such wonderful, treasured and joyful memories can be accompanied by overwhelming sadness. I'm not the least bit ashamed to say it brought tears to my eyes this morning.

 

Haha... funny you should mention the tears, cause that's exactly what I wrote to Cote. I told him that reading his article brought tears to my eyes...

 

It wouldn't be a bad idea if more people wrote to him. It couldn't hurt to encourage him to keep articles like this at the forefront.

 

For the quiet class of Mike Lowell, even in hard times.

 

For Juan Pierre, bunting, and stealing.

 

And for Luis Castillo and Alex Rodriguez, maybe the best double-play combination . . . ever.

 

I am thankful for Pudge Rodriguez, taking that brutal hit at the plate, and rising with the ball squeezed triumphantly in his hand.

 

My paper version said Alex Gonzalez.

He stole some of those ideas from one of the threads here

Great article none the less

For the quiet class of Mike Lowell, even in hard times.

 

For Juan Pierre, bunting, and stealing.

 

And for Luis Castillo and Alex Rodriguez, maybe the best double-play combination . . . ever.

 

I am thankful for Pudge Rodriguez, taking that brutal hit at the plate, and rising with the ball squeezed triumphantly in his hand.

 

Alex Rodriguez and Luis Castillo... I love that Marlins combo. Anyone else remember it?

 

I was scratching my head on that one too.

 

But still it was a very moving article.

Gonzalez to Castillo to Lee....

 

The smoothest 6-4-3 of all time!!!

Gonzalez to Castillo to Lee....

 

The smoothest 6-4-3 of all time!!!

 

Lenny!!