A year ago no one on the national scene was more down on the Marlins and their organization than Peter Gammons. I guess he's got religion, maybe he's going to church with Jack :blink:

 

Youth drives Marlins forward

By Peter Gammons

Special to ESPN.com

March 9

 

A former teammate of Derrek Lee's with the Marlins predicts he will have a monster year for the Cubs in Wrigley Field. "Our park killed his power, which is to right center," says Mike Lowell. "Don't be surprised if he hits 40 homers."

 

But don't weep for the Marlins just yet. If Josh Beckett and Miguel Cabrera reach stardom this season, they can be right back in it with their pitching. "The way Beckett, Brad Penny, Dontrelle Willis and A.J. Burnett have taken responsibility for leading drills this spring is an indication how much they grew up in October," says Florida manager Jack McKeon. It may have been a blessing that Burnett had a minor setback last weekend, because he was rushing to try to get back by the start of the season when his realistic Tommy John recovery schedule would have him back in June.

 

Marlins hitting coach Bill Robinson has worked hard with Hee Seop Choi to free him up and be quicker to the ball, and the results thus far have been positive.

 

No, I did not know that Lenny Harris batted third and Rafael Palmeiro fourth for Miami's Jackson High School. "When we were kids, the rest of us would be playing football or basketball or something and Raffy was out there on the fields, hitting," says Harris. "We'd be in church, and Raffy was out there, hitting. We'd be going out for fun, and Raffy was hitting. No wonder he's going to end up with 600 homers and 3,000 hits (in his career)."

No, I did not know that Lenny Harris batted third and Rafael Palmeiro fourth for Miami's Jackson High School. "When we were kids, the rest of us would be playing football or basketball or something and Raffy was out there on the fields, hitting," says Harris. "We'd be in church, and Raffy was out there, hitting. We'd be going out for fun, and Raffy was hitting. No wonder he's going to end up with 600 homers and 3,000 hits (in his career)."

i heard raffy took a batting practice machine to senior prom :thumbup

shhh... don't tell anyone.

 

 

 

but yeah, it's nice to see some optimism out of gammons. 2004 will have many pleasant surprises, fo sho.

Always nice to hear something positive rather than the negative towards the Marlins :thumbup

But don't weep for the Marlins just yet. If Josh Beckett and Miguel Cabrera reach stardom this season, they can be right back in it with their pitching. "The way Beckett, Brad Penny, Dontrelle Willis and A.J. Burnett have taken responsibility for leading drills this spring is an indication how much they grew up in October," says Florida manager Jack McKeon. It may have been a blessing that Burnett had a minor setback last weekend, because he was rushing to try to get back by the start of the season when his realistic Tommy John recovery schedule would have him back in June.

 

 

True.