Check it out. He talks about the Marlins and how good they are doing...

 

Mets: Floyd envies Marlins' fate

 

 

 

Wednesday, September 10, 2003

 

 

BY DON BURKE

Star-Ledger Staff

 

NEW YORK -- Cliff Floyd looks across the field at Shea and into the Florida Marlins dugout and likes what he sees.

 

The outfielder, who spent nearly five seasons with the Marlins before being traded twice last season and then signing with the Mets as a free agent during the winter, sees definite parallels between what Florida has done this season and what the Mets might be able to do now that the franchise has shown a commitment to its younger players.

 

 

The Marlins are tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for the National League wild-card lead and Floyd, who underwent season-ending surgery late last month, admits he is a bit envious.

 

"They're awesome," said Floyd, still using crutches to get around after Achilles' tendon surgery. "I wish them all the best, but it gets me ticked off. Why couldn't that have happened when I was there?"

 

It wasn't that long ago, Floyd said, that the Marlins were in the same predicament that the Mets find themselves in now. They were a young team with a losing record that hoped a few seasons of taking some lumps might be the springboard to success.

 

So, while the losing continued, their young pitchers got innings in and their young hitters, Floyd among them, got some at-bats. Now, after a slow start this season, the Marlins have been the hottest team in baseball since late May.

 

Meanwhile, the last-place Mets have had more games started by rookies -- 439 -- than any team in the National League. Last night, the Mets started three first-year players, but have started as many as six in a game several times this season.

 

This is New York, however, not southern Florida, and the Mets, while pleased with the development of players such as Jason Phillips and Ty Wigginton, don't figure to wait as long for their youngsters to develop as the Marlins did.

 

"They're a young team, but they've been through a lot," said Floyd, who played 84 games with Florida last season before being dealt -- first to Montreal and then to Boston. "It shows that if you have patience with young guys that things will be okay.

 

"If you can be patient and wait for guys to get older and mature and if you can handle people booing ... you for a while it tends to work. But it does take time."

 

Floyd is already looking forward to next season. That is the reason he elected to end his season early and have surgery to remove a bone spur that had made every step painful.

 

Floyd said the doctor who performed his surgery has assured him that he should be 95 percent ready by the start of spring training in February.

 

"I was just trying to stay in (the lineup) as long as I could," Floyd said. "It's on my head. I was the one telling them that I was okay."

 

Floyd, who was re-examined a few days ago, said he is not experiencing any post-operative pain. He is scheduled to begin riding an exercise bike today and will leave for his home in Florida soon.

 

While there, the Mets have arranged for him to work with the same physical therapist Mike Piazza used when he was recovering from the severe groin strain that caused him to miss nearly three months.

 

"I just have to be smart and not doing anything stupid," Floyd said.

 

http://www.nj.com/mets/ledger/index.ssf?/b...71816272340.xml

This is all i got to say to floyd"to bad so sad"!,remember when he said he wouldn't be with the marlins for nothing in the world well floyd we will not forgive you unless you come back to our team!

screw floyd we got MR. MARLINS..and Cab's

This is all i got to say to floyd"to bad so sad"!,remember when he said he wouldn't be with the marlins for nothing in the world well floyd we will not forgive you unless you come back to our team!

if you come back to our team?? Whatever

 

 

screw Floyd and everybody else who dogged the fish before they were winning

HAHAHAHAH FLOYD IS SO YELLOUS

Clif Floyd? No Thanks

 

I'm glad Clif, Preston, and Johnson are all out of the team. I don't care if they put better numbers than Bonds in years to come.