Team meeting boosts Marlins' spirits

 

Young team still holding heads high despite weekend sweep

 

By Kevin Fiorenzo / MLB.com

 

MIAMI -- One lost weekend is not enough to get this Marlins team down for too long.

Following a 7-3 loss to the Dodgers on Sunday, completing a three-game sweep at the hands of Los Angeles, Marlins manager Joe Girardi held a team meeting to get some things off his chest and make sure his players were still in the right frame of mind.

 

"I think it was just kind of a message to [not] get too down," said Scott Olsen, who received his first loss since June 28. "It's only a weekend series. We can go to their house and very well do to them what they did to us. It's not something to get too down about."

 

Girardi said he didn't get upset and that none of the players showed any signs of being overly frustrated.

 

"We all want the same thing, and that's to win every day," Girardi said. "Sometimes, you just need some time to sit around and talk baseball. It gets frustrating for all of us, and sometimes you need to hash things out."

 

Girardi didn't want to characterize the meeting as a lecture, but more of what he called a "learning session."

 

"School was in session," Girardi joked.

 

The meeting came before the Marlins embarked on a 10-day road trip that could make or break the rest of their season.

 

"It's going to be a long road trip. It's never easy going on the road," reserve catcher Matt Treanor said. "[The meeting was to] give everybody a little taste of where we're at, what our goal is for the road trip and how we're going to go about doing it."

 

Whether the pep talk affects team morale remains to be seen beginning Tuesday in Washington, but Olsen said that the team responded well to it Sunday.

 

"When it's long speeches about stuff you care about, you've got to pay attention," Olsen said. "Team meetings are good for a lot of reasons. They build a lot of team camaraderie."

 

Girardi said that with the team complexion of so many first-year players, he wanted to make sure that players weren't getting too down on themselves.

 

"With so many young guys, you want to make sure and let guys know, 'You are good. You are good players,'" Girardi said.

 

Although some teams in the Marlins' situation, having used 21 rookies, would be happy with their progress thus far this season, Olsen said the team is not satisfied with its current status.

 

"We haven't exceeded our own expectations," Olsen said. "No one that has come through this clubhouse as a player has thought we are that team that's going to lose 120 games, like everybody said we would. Nobody thought we would finish dead last. Every player believes in themselves and believes in their ability.

 

"We expect to win, bottom line

 

 

i hope this works because we can still do this

That a boy JOE! Fires these kids up! Lets win 7 of 9 on this road trip!

Or a 9 games winning streak.

We are held against a corner but we can still comeback. It time to start dominating the league again in this 7 games road trip.

:gofish :gofisht :gofishb

For this very reason, Joe Girardi should be the coach of the year. Motivating is a big part of coaching and this guy has it. He also did the meeting at the right time.

When will Girardi going have the "Make fun of your Momma" meeting?

For this very reason, Joe Girardi should be the coach of the year. Motivating is a big part of coaching and this guy has it. He also did the meeting at the right time.

 

 

Yea. Right after he got his butt chewed out by Admin and David. Wouldn't surprise me a bit if Michael Hill was in that room also. Now there is a guy I wouldn't want ticked off at me. Looks more like a body guard than a team official. LOL

For this very reason, Joe Girardi should be the coach of the year. Motivating is a big part of coaching and this guy has it. He also did the meeting at the right time.

 

 

Yea. Right after he got his butt chewed out by Admin and David. Wouldn't surprise me a bit if Michael Hill was in that room also. Now there is a guy I wouldn't want ticked off at me. Looks more like a body guard than a team official. LOL

 

Did he really get chewed out?? For what reason???

didn't we start playing well after girardi's last team meeting?

only one problem a bunch of teams play tonight so hopefully cinci loses and we can gain a half game

We gotta hope they did get energized by this meeting and go over and play hard in D.C.

 

Let's veto those Senators! :anon

if the team shits the bed in DC, any hopes of even thinking about the playoffs are over

 

this series is our season

Or a 9 games winning streak.

We are held against a corner but we can still comeback. It time to start dominating the league again in this 7 games road trip.

:gofish :gofisht :gofishb

 

 

When I first heard that they had a team meeting i thought he was going to pull a Leyland on them! It's a good thing we have a patient encouraging manager! :lol :lol :lol

I like the part where Olsen says that the team is not satisfied with their current status and so far they haven't exceeded their expectations. This is why I love this team so much because they want to suceed and prove everyone who thought this team would lose 100+ games wrong. Go Marlins! :hat