Hello Marlins fans,

 

I am a journalist from the UK, and am researching a story about ex-Marlins owner John Henry, who is currently in the process of taking over Liverpool Football Club, one of the world's largest.

 

The press seems to be praising Henry for his tenure at the Red Sox, but little is said about his time with the Marlins. I'd like to know what Marlins fans think about him - did he do a good job? Did he improve the team? How did he relate to the fans, if at all?

 

Sorry to be coming from a position of near ignorance on this one. All thoughts appreciated.

From what I understand he owned the Marlins from 1999 to 2002? That's a very short period of time, but look at the final standings:

 

1999: Marlins 64-98 (5th place in National League East)

2000: Marlins 79-83 (3rd place in National League East)

2001: Marlins 76-86 (4th place in National League East)

2002: Marlins 79-83 (4th place in National League East)

 

 

These are terrible results, but still a very small pool from which to judge an owner, in my opinion. Specially since Henry acquired the Marlins after Wayne Huizenga, in 1999. After the Marlins won the World Series in 1997, Huizenga sold/traded pretty much every player on the team, to an extent that the 1998 Marlins have the MLB worst record for a defending champion, at 54-108. From thereon in, Henry didn't have much to work with, although he did draft future stars like Josh Beckett and Adrian Gonzales. Josh Beckett would eventually be acquired by John Henry again in 2005 as as the Red Sox owner, and he proved to be key in winning the 2007 World Series for Boston, just as he had with Florida in 2003.

People say that Henry's guys were a big reason why we won in 2003. I can't really verify that, but they say Henry and Dombrowsky made up a good deal of that 2003 roster.

One things for sure, he cant do any worse than Gillett and Hicks at Liverpool

The most memorable thing about the Marlins' Henry Era was him promising to build a stadium while negotiating to buy the team...then saying that he'd have to build a really small, scaled down stadium if he was going to build it with his own money....then crying poor when striking out trying to get state money....and finally somehow finding $700 million to buy the Red Sox when they became available. I know that he and his ownership group is generally well-liked in Boston, but he did the Marlins franchise no favors in his time here. Dombrowski did a great job during that time...Henry was a weasel. He came in saying he was going to save the franchise and then bolted when a more attractive situation came along. While we may not like the way Loria has operated the team, at least he and Samson stuck it out, fought a long, tough battle, and saved the future of baseball in Miami. The same can't be said for John Henry.

Did John Henry make the deal with Dolphin stadium that they would get all the parking money, etc from Marlins games?

The most memorable thing about the Marlins' Henry Era was him promising to build a stadium while negotiating to buy the team...then saying that he'd have to build a really small, scaled down stadium if he was going to build it with his own money....then crying poor when striking out trying to get state money....and finally somehow finding $700 million to buy the Red Sox when they became available. I know that he and his ownership group is generally well-liked in Boston, but he did the Marlins franchise no favors in his time here. Dombrowski did a great job during that time...Henry was a weasel. He came in saying he was going to save the franchise and then bolted when a more attractive situation came along. While we may not like the way Loria has operated the team, at least he and Samson stuck it out, fought a long, tough battle, and saved the future of baseball in Miami. The same can't be said for John Henry.

 

 

 

This is what I remember about him as well, in his time here.

Actually Loria bought the team in 2002 so you can remove that from Henry's record. Henry did his best to get a new stadium deal done, when he couldn't he bailed fairly quickly on the Marlins.

He did bring back Charles Johnson to the team so he tried to put some money into the team, he also approved Josh Beckett's contract to insure that he would sign with the team. An interesting fact I recall about Mr. Henry was while he was Marlins owner he was also a minority owner with the Yankees and he had to sell that stock before he could buy the Red Sox.

The most memorable thing about the Marlins' Henry Era was him promising to build a stadium while negotiating to buy the team...then saying that he'd have to build a really small, scaled down stadium if he was going to build it with his own money....then crying poor when striking out trying to get state money....and finally somehow finding $700 million to buy the Red Sox when they became available. I know that he and his ownership group is generally well-liked in Boston, but he did the Marlins franchise no favors in his time here. Dombrowski did a great job during that time...Henry was a weasel. He came in saying he was going to save the franchise and then bolted when a more attractive situation came along. While we may not like the way Loria has operated the team, at least he and Samson stuck it out, fought a long, tough battle, and saved the future of baseball in Miami. The same can't be said for John Henry.

 

 

This. He came in promising to get the stadium deal done, and then completely botched the process by demanding a valuable parcell of land and handling state funding terribly. First chance he got to bolt, he abandoned the team.

an F_M sighting! Yeah that's how I remember him too. Not fondly.

 

 

 

Give Dombrowski credit for helping to build the '03 team, sure. Henry, no.

I always felt John Henry gets villainized unjustly by Marlins fans. The Cowboy wearing the black hat was actually Huizinga.... Henry was actually betrayed by S. Fl polititions who pretty much stonewalled his staduim endeavors. He never really understood the 3rd world politics of Miami. I felt he was well frustrated when Selig came along and handpicked Henry's ownership group for Boston. Sticking us with cheapass Loria. If Henry would have stayed here we probably could have gotten a staduim deal much sooner. Just an opinion now.

The most memorable thing about the Marlins' Henry Era was him promising to build a stadium while negotiating to buy the team...then saying that he'd have to build a really small, scaled down stadium if he was going to build it with his own money....then crying poor when striking out trying to get state money....and finally somehow finding $700 million to buy the Red Sox when they became available. I know that he and his ownership group is generally well-liked in Boston, but he did the Marlins franchise no favors in his time here. Dombrowski did a great job during that time...Henry was a weasel. He came in saying he was going to save the franchise and then bolted when a more attractive situation came along. While we may not like the way Loria has operated the team, at least he and Samson stuck it out, fought a long, tough battle, and saved the future of baseball in Miami. The same can't be said for John Henry.

 

 

I think this is the way most Marlins fans remember him. Saying if he couldn't get state help to build a stadium he would pay for it himself. Then crying poverty when the state money fell through, then coming up with $700 mil to buy the BoSox. IOW, he didn't leave a good impression.

 

JH was first and foremost a baseball fan. What alot of people don't know was that he was also part owner of the West Palm Beach Tropics, one of the original teams of the Senior Professional Baseball Association. Our manager was Dick Williams, and we had players such as Rollie Fingers, Dave Kingman, Mickey Rivers, and Al Hrabosky. Home games were where the Braves and Expos ST and Class A teams once played (now demolished and a Home Depot). They were fun games to attend, and the players made themselves very available to the fans. And I do mean VERY. JH would roam the stands to sit and chat with the fans during the games. Often sharing his peanuts. Very small guy in stature, to the point of seeming to be fragile. In a fight, I would put my $$$ on David Samson. :lol

Hello Marlins fans,

 

I am a journalist from the UK, and am researching a story about ex-Marlins owner John Henry, who is currently in the process of taking over Liverpool Football Club, one of the world's largest.

 

The press seems to be praising Henry for his tenure at the Red Sox, but little is said about his time with the Marlins. I'd like to know what Marlins fans think about him - did he do a good job? Did he improve the team? How did he relate to the fans, if at all?

 

Sorry to be coming from a position of near ignorance on this one. All thoughts appreciated.

 

 

 

I wrote a piece on another blog (EPLTalk) about this. Henry was viewed as the guy who was going to save baseball in South Florida but he turned out to be a disaster. When public money for a stadium wasn't forthcoming, he traded off all his best players every year as if he owned a club that was just relegated. He got out after only a few years as the league allowed him to sell the club and buy the Red Sox in one transaction, and we almost lost the team to Washington. He also badmouthed pretty much everyone on the way out, including the Marlins' scouting department, which was odd considering the team his people put together won the World Series a year and a half after Henry left. I'm a Newcastle supporter, and I like Henry even less than Mike Ashley. That being said, Henry's a sports nut, and as long as things are going his way and the money is rolling in, he will be successful. He'll let the football people do their jobs, and he'll make the Anfield experience better.

Those who have spoke on the REAL John Henry, I couldn't agree more.

 

I honestly and truly believe he basically used his time in Miami to get in with the "good ol' boys" network, which would allow him to move on to greener pastures.

 

Crying poverty and coming up with 700 mill to buy the Red Sox? Sure sounds fishy to me.

Hello Marlins fans,

 

I am a journalist from the UK, and am researching a story about ex-Marlins owner John Henry, who is currently in the process of taking over Liverpool Football Club, one of the world's largest.

 

The press seems to be praising Henry for his tenure at the Red Sox, but little is said about his time with the Marlins. I'd like to know what Marlins fans think about him - did he do a good job? Did he improve the team? How did he relate to the fans, if at all?

 

Sorry to be coming from a position of near ignorance on this one. All thoughts appreciated.

 

 

 

I wrote a piece on another blog (EPLTalk) about this. Henry was viewed as the guy who was going to save baseball in South Florida but he turned out to be a disaster. When public money for a stadium wasn't forthcoming, he traded off all his best players every year as if he owned a club that was just relegated. He got out after only a few years as the league allowed him to sell the club and buy the Red Sox in one transaction, and we almost lost the team to Washington. He also badmouthed pretty much everyone on the way out, including the Marlins' scouting department, which was odd considering the team his people put together won the World Series a year and a half after Henry left. I'm a Newcastle supporter, and I like Henry even less than Mike Ashley. That being said, Henry's a sports nut, and as long as things are going his way and the money is rolling in, he will be successful. He'll let the football people do their jobs, and he'll make the Anfield experience better.

 

 

Thats odd he took the scouting Dept with him to Boston for the most part why would he badmouth it

In fairness to Henry he didn't suddenly find $700 million under his couch. He put some of his money into the ownership group that bought the Red Sox, but he's not the majority owner or was a major financial contributor.

In fairness to Henry he didn't suddenly find $700 million under his couch. He put some of his money into the ownership group that bought the Red Sox, but he's not the majority owner or was a major financial contributor.

 

 

But the thing that ticks off most Marlins fans is even if it wasn't all his money, he still put in a significant amount of that $ 700 million, certainly more than half of that amount. By the way the price tag of the stadium back then, was estimated to be about ½ the amount we finally paid for it. So he had the money to do it, he just wasn't really interested in doing it. I really don't feel he ever intended to stay here long, and actually building that stadium would have more or less tied him to our franchise. I think he and Buddy Bud knew that the Red Sox would be up for sale even as he bought the Marlins, so it was a set up deal from the very start.

Please correct my memory, if necessary, as to my recollection. Henry did a terrible job lobbying or whatever at the State level. He also was intimidated by Huiezenga in the negotiating process with the purchase. Wayne basically called him names in the media and that Henry needed to s..t or get off the pot during the negotiations. I think Henry buckled and accepted some very bad obligations regarding concessions etc. I also recall Wayne, at one point, actually telling the State legislature that the Marlins were not in jeopardy as he would always give them a lease, thereby making a new stadium less of a priority. But this may have occurred during the Loria period. There was a lot of nasty going around, but Henry did not have the nuts to stand up to Wayne at that time, that is how I recall it.

probably the best They Might Be Giants album

In fairness to Henry he didn't suddenly find $700 million under his couch. He put some of his money into the ownership group that bought the Red Sox, but he's not the majority owner or was a major financial contributor.

 

 

While it is true that he didn't come up with the total $700 mil, the BoSox ownership is listed as "a group led by John Henry and Tom Werner." That tells me he is a majority owner.

In fairness to Henry he didn't suddenly find $700 million under his couch. He put some of his money into the ownership group that bought the Red Sox, but he's not the majority owner or was a major financial contributor.

 

 

But the thing that ticks off most Marlins fans is even if it wasn't all his money, he still put in a significant amount of that $ 700 million, certainly more than half of that amount. By the way the price tag of the stadium back then, was estimated to be about ½ the amount we finally paid for it. So he had the money to do it, he just wasn't really interested in doing it. I really don't feel he ever intended to stay here long, and actually building that stadium would have more or less tied him to our franchise. I think he and Buddy Bud knew that the Red Sox would be up for sale even as he bought the Marlins, so it was a set up deal from the very start.

 

The price for the new park was alot less. I remember seeing drawings of it at a FanFest back in those days, and I don't remember a roof being part of it.

 

Now I could be wrong, but I think part of the "buckling" you are refering to was because Henry wanted property next to Joe Robbie for the new place and Huizenga owned it.

 

I disagree with your reasoning of why he didn't build the stadium (it would have increased the value of the team even if it was still under contruction) but I do agree that he bought the Marlins as a stepping stone to buying the BoSox. I seem to recall he had to sell his shares of the Yankees to do that. He owned like 1%, or something miniscule like that.

While it is true that he didn't come up with the total $700 mil, the BoSox ownership is listed as "a group led by John Henry and Tom Werner." That tells me he is a majority owner.

 

Hard to tell. Henry and Werner (ex-owner of the Padres and a Hollywood flake) between them probably own more than 50% of the Red Sox, but Henry is probably the minority in that interest of the pair, Werner has more money. But, Henry seems to be the bigger baseball fan of the two, and so is the public face and nominal manager of the interest, which allows him to direct the entire partnership. Much like Steinbrenner ran the Yankees.

 

I can relate to Henry, he made his money the same way I did, advising discretionary commodity futures trading accounts for 20% of the profits, with tens of millions under management. I've made (and lost) more than a million dollars in less than an hour many times, as I'm sure he has. Henry continued on, I retired 30 years ago.

 

Henry's biggest winning trade in the last 20 years was buying the Sox, he hasn't done too well trading futures. If not for the Sox, he might be broke, the last few years of markets haven't been kind to him.

 

As for his failure to build a stadium here, he was a novice in both the MLB baseball business and politics, so that might have been expected. He was just another guy with some big dollars to put down on a team.

 

I don't attribute any great significance to anything he did, one way or another, and he probably doesn't, either.

One other interesting matter in the Henry tie in with MLB and Boston, is that MLB sent in their man, can't remember his name (think it started with an L) nor can I find it quick enough in a search, to work with the Marlins, the local govt and the state on the stadium issue. Coincidentally, Henry and the MLB guy must have hit it off real good, because after the "attempt" to procure a stadium in S Florida, the MLB guy and Henry were both part of the Red Sox new group.

Please correct my memory, if necessary, as to my recollection. Henry did a terrible job lobbying or whatever at the State level. He also was intimidated by Huiezenga in the negotiating process with the purchase. Wayne basically called him names in the media and that Henry needed to s..t or get off the pot during the negotiations. I think Henry buckled and accepted some very bad obligations regarding concessions etc. I also recall Wayne, at one point, actually telling the State legislature that the Marlins were not in jeopardy as he would always give them a lease, thereby making a new stadium less of a priority. But this may have occurred during the Loria period. There was a lot of nasty going around, but Henry did not have the nuts to stand up to Wayne at that time, that is how I recall it.

 

This is a huge misrepresentation and oversimplification of the facts. John Henry agreed on those absurds terms of sales because all indications were there that S Florida public officials were gonna back a new State of the Art Facility. That was Henry's error He never expected to stay at the stadium more than a couple of years, however the politicos blindsided him and backstabbed The Marlins Organazation (Strange how everything worked to Huipinga's advantage...always wondered if he ever had something to do with it) The stadium was just a rental until the House was finished, little did Henry know that the promised House was a mirage in the desert, Huizinga was laughing all the way to the bank. I bet he was pulling the strings all along...ofcourse that can never be proven

Please correct my memory, if necessary, as to my recollection. Henry did a terrible job lobbying or whatever at the State level. He also was intimidated by Huiezenga in the negotiating process with the purchase. Wayne basically called him names in the media and that Henry needed to s..t or get off the pot during the negotiations. I think Henry buckled and accepted some very bad obligations regarding concessions etc. I also recall Wayne, at one point, actually telling the State legislature that the Marlins were not in jeopardy as he would always give them a lease, thereby making a new stadium less of a priority. But this may have occurred during the Loria period. There was a lot of nasty going around, but Henry did not have the nuts to stand up to Wayne at that time, that is how I recall it.

 

This is a huge misrepresentation and oversimplification of the facts. John Henry agreed on those absurds terms of sales because all indications were there that S Florida public officials were gonna back a new State of the Art Facility. That was Henry's error He never expected to stay at the stadium more than a couple of years, however the politicos blindsided him and backstabbed The Marlins Organazation (Strange how everything worked to Huipinga's advantage...always wondered if he ever had something to do with it) The stadium was just a rental until the House was finished, little did Henry know that the promised House was a mirage in the desert, Huizinga was laughing all the way to the bank. I bet he was pulling the strings all along...ofcourse that can never be proven

I don't see a huge misrepresentation, however, the facts are detailed and span a number of years, making every post here an oversimplification. Yet, you seem to agree that Wayne, during that time, did play the whole issue to his benefit. He always said he was selling because another owner would have a better chance to get a new stadium instead of him, since he was perceived to be super wealthy, then of course, whatever his motives, he did not like Henry much and always wanted to sell to Don Smiley, or just wanting to be sure to fill 81 dates at his stadium, he certainly seemed to pull the rug out from under the Marlin efforts.