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Perspective on slow start

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Marlins

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Don't think any of you were really panicking because the Marlins lost their 2 games, but just in case, here's some reassurance that the world isn't over.

 

Nice article.

PERSPECTIVE ON 0-2

 

 

A few quick off-day numbers and observations about the 0-2 start.

 

This is the 6th time the Marlins have started 0-2. It last happened in 2003, and things turned out OK that year, as I recall.

 

Tomorrow night, they’ll look to avoid opening 0-3 for just the 3rd time. They did so in 1995 and 2001 when they actually started 0-4.

 

I’d discourage folks from jumping to too many conclusions based on the lack of offense in the first 2 games of the season (the same way I’d discourage folks from comparing this team to the ’27 Yankees if it had scored 28 runs on 34 hits in the first 2 games).

 

First, look around baseball at the lack of offense nearly EVERYWHERE in the first couple of days. And look specifically at the NL East, where the pitching ought to stay ahead of the hitting all season long.

 

How about these numbers as you look at the Marlins and their 4 division rivals?

 

Miami, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Washington and New York COMBINED to allow a TOTAL of only 6 runs in their season openers, and the Marlins gave up 4 of those.

 

You think the bats may be a little behind the men on the mound?

 

And the Marlins are far from the only club off to a slow start at the plate, as the other 4 teams in the division COMBINED to score only 4 runs in their season openers. The big outburst belonged to the Nationals, who won a 2-1 slugfest at Wrigley Field on Opening Day.

 

Beyond that, as I observed on the broadcast yesterday, it seems like we sit around every single April and talk about how offense is down all around baseball. Then the weather warms up, the ball begins to carry a little better, and the hitters get into their rhythm, and by the end of the year the numbers all even out.

 

To take all of that a step further, we all put way too much stock in early-season numbers. If a team starts 0-5, it’s a national disaster. If the same team loses 5 in a row in July, hardly anyone notices.

 

They don’t hold parades for the team that finishes April with the best record.

 

This is even more true when you look at individual performances. If a hitter opens the year 1-for-23, you see that .043 on the scoreboard and on the TV screen and everyone panics. When that same hitter goes 1-for-23 in July, again, no one even notices thanks to the ebb and flow of the marathon season.

 

The Marlins have played 2 of their 162 games. That’s the equivalent of an NFL team being, what, 40 seconds into its first game of the season? You giving up on the season if your favorite football team allows the season-opening kickoff to be run back for a touchdown?

 

This isn’t pro football with a 16-game schedule. This isn’t college football where one loss can crush your title dreams. Even full-season NBA and NHL schedules are only half as long.

 

At some point, the Phillies, the Braves, the Red Sox, the Yankees, the Rangers, the Angels, the Tigers…they’re all going to lose a few games in a row. At some point, their bats will all fall silent for a few games in a row. At some point, their pitching staffs will all have a collective slump. It happens. To EVERY team. EVERY year.

 

The players and teams that enjoy the most success are the ones that maintain an even keel through all the inevitable ups and downs. You don’t get too high or too low, because when you play a game virtually every day for 6 or 7 months, things can turn around pretty easily tomorrow—for better or for worse.

 

The suggestion someone made on my Facebook or Twitter that Ozzie better have been all over those guys, or words to that effect, after yesterday’s game is ludicrous, laughable and not even worthy of a response.

 

I know hopes and expectations are high for this season. Believe me, your hopes and expectations are nowhere near as high as those of everyone in the organization and in the clubhouse.

 

Relax. The sky is not falling. It’s a marathon. Baseball is like life. We have our good days, and we have bad days. Sometimes we even have 6 or 8 bad days in a row. You keep plugging along. Anyone who wants to panic after starting 0-2 (or start sizing fingers for rings after starting 2-0) just doesn’t get it.

 

Tomorrow’s another day. I hope it’s the day the Marlins pick up their first win. But if it’s not, no need to save a seat in the lifeboat for me. It’s a little too early to jump ship.

 

 

 

 

http://glenngeffner....6941302656-1063

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Hanley2Ramirez Blue Wahoo

Hanley2Ramirez

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I'm going to put a different perspective on the 'slow start'. So far we have lost 1.2% of our games. 1.2% of a football schedule is the the end of the first quarter of the 1st game. Don't think the Giants or patriots were too worried in the first quarter. Everyone take a deep breath and enjoy what is about to come. A marlins hot streak

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