Why don't they always play like this?

So tell me why for a second, do the Marlins not play like they did this weekend all year. They fell a few feet short (or to the right) of sweeping a team that is 11 games ahead in the standings in the NL Central in the Cincinnati Reds. It took that...

to secure the win today and for them to salvage a game in this 3 game set.

But more importantly, where were you when the 500,000th error in MLB History was made and not much later the 500,001th. I couldn't believe that there have only been 500,000 errors in the 120 years of Major League Baseball and of course it had to be a Miami Marlin in this debacle of a season that committed the error. Here it is.

Of course he didn't know that this was happening at the time as 499,999 happened literally seconds before but its simply ironic. Either way its a fun piece of MLB trivia, just like the first team to lose 10000 games! Anyone? Yes that is the Philadelphia Phillies.

Ok as a fan with 2.5 weeks left of season what can I look forward to now? Besides the immense amount of pitching changes and hearing that we have a limited bench even though our rosters can expand to 40? Well I do like Wednesday coming up for two reasons, one would be the commemoration of the 500,000th error Jose Reyes bobble head day. Nothing is cooler than making your own bobble head museum at home right? At least that will get me all three for this year. 

Also on Wednesday though comes the end of an era, the end of Larry Chipper Jones abusing us in our backyard. 

As you know he is retiring after this year and has always been a career .300+ hitter against the Marlins organization and finally finally!! he will stop torturing us. He has honestly been a man that has tortured us for years and I hate him for that but man do I respect him. He has actually stayed on the same team for years and played the game right. I will absolutely applaud him and give him a standing ovation Wednesday night and hope and expect the rest of my Marlins brethren to do the same for this great player.

So that's the big event to look forward to this week. I'm sure the players are almost dying to get to October 3rd and this fan is partially there but trust me I will still miss it. At least we have a chance of getting a better record than last year!!

-Big note from Saturday night's game, Mark Buehrle went to 188.1 IP on his season total which puts him 11.2 innings away from another 200 inning season with 2 starts left to go. Talk about durability, this would be his 12th season of pitching 200+ innings which seems doable at this point. One of the big reasons why the Marlins signed him this year.

The Underlying issue for the Marlins...

I think its now very obvious and apparent what the big issue is for the Marlins are going into the 2013 season since 2012 is for fun now. Its an offensive consistency issue. This team can score runs on any given day, even with guys batting under .200 in the lineup. Just look at the 13 run outburst in NY and 12 run outburst in Arizona. The consistency was none more evident yesterday. After going two games with 18 runs on 35 hits, they combine in a doubleheader to score 2 runs on 11 hits and all of a sudden they have gone 15 innings without scoring. Halfway to that dreaded 30 number! Ozzie will not be happy then.

The pitching on the other hand has been great. What more could this team ask for yesterday then not one but TWO quality starts from their pitchers. Jacob Turner went a nice 6 innings, 3 runs allowed in his longest (and best) start ever in the big leagues. Wade LeBlanc did one better by going 7 innings and only allowing three runs and most of the hits allowed were jam shots...

 

 

Also important to note that the Marlins now have 7 starters on their roster who all seem prime to take one of the 5 available spots on next years roster. Each pitcher has done well in their own right even with Jacob Turner's one start, it's evident he is ready for the show.

 

-Josh Johnson: the stud of the rotation should be the ace.

-Mark Buerhle: the innings eater that consistenty keeps you in the game.

-Wade LeBlanc: he has shown all year that he can throw and throw well since spring training and should of made the roster then. He has earned a 2013 job

-Carlos Zambrano: he is a free agent and will most likely walk unless he takes a huge paycut, and he may want to play with Ozzie some more being that Ozzie was the one who gave him the shot.

-Ricky Nolasco: He is owed one more year and has been the most inconsistent of the bunch who seems to regress year by year with reduced strikeouts. He may be sent to the bullpen now but he will most likely start next year instead of being an expensive reliever. Look for a trade here to upgrade the offense.

-Nathan Eovaldi: He has done great here for a youngster and it will be hard to send him down.

-Jacob Turner: He is also the future and will have this time to prove to all he is the real deal.

 

Prediction: It seems that right now Turner will take Nolasco's spot in the rotation especially after he gave up 5 early on Tuesday, but coming into next year I believe either Turner or Eovaldi will start the year in the minors to make space for a rotation of JJ, Buerhle, LeBlanc, Nolasco, and Eovaldi/Turner. Zambrano will walk as someone will give him a nice contract. The only possible change would be if the Marlins can complete a trade sending Nolasco away for a bat.

 

So the good news is the Marlins have a plethora of pitching for 2013, but the big issue is what we started with, scoring runs on a consistent basis. We know Stanton and Reyes will do it, but who else. Thats where winter 2013 becomes intensely interesting for the Marlins who believe they are close if they can score more runs.

 

-The Marlins are off to Hanleywood Los Angeles for 3 games. Nathan Eovaldi gets to face his former team Friday night at 10:10 ET as the Marlins try to drop LA more behind in the NL West.

Anatomy of a 9 run inning.

Its not every day we see 9 runs on ten hits... First of all, 9 runs is a season record 1 short of the franchise record. 10 hits in an inning ties a franchise record. In total they ended up with 12 runs on 20 hits and this lead to big games including Jose Reyes with a 4-5 including 3 doubles and John Buck, yes the one and only John Buck went 4 for 5 which prompted this great tweet by @fishatbat

Oh yeah and I think Stanton homered? But I'll get to that.

Joe Saunders was rolling into the fourth when Solano starts the inning with a nice bloop hit. Jose Reyes outdid his blooper with another blooper and they were in business. Runners on the corners no out. On a hit and run, Carlos Lee hits a routine ground ball to the spot the 2B would of been to score the run and tie the game. The Marlins are nickel and diming Joe Saunders to death. Then of course Stanton comes up and goes YARD...again. 442 feet as shown on hittrackeronline.com (great resource for your home run disntance needs)

Ruggiano says hey Stanton anything you can do I can do better and hits one exactly 442 feet as well. Ahhh there is nothing like a healthy Justin Ruggiano! 5-1 Fish. (The home runs of Ruggiano and Stanton were actually the two longest home runs of the day)

The inning could of ended there but no John Buck singles, Murphy and Buehrle are out and back to the top of the lineup. Bonifacio picks a great time for an infield single. Solano decides to frustrate Saunders with ANOTHER bloop hit to score Buck. Finally, Reyes puts the nail in Saunders night with a bases clearing double to make it 8-1.... Oh we aren't done! Carlos Lee greets the new pitcher with a single and RBI and we end with a 9-1 game. This is how it looks.

Miami - Top of 4th	SCORE
Joe Saunders pitching for Arizona	MIA	ARI
D Solano singled to center.	0	1
J Reyes singled to shallow right, D Solano to third.	0	1
C Lee reached on infield single to second, D Solano scored, J Reyes to second.	1	1
G Stanton homered to left (442 feet), J Reyes and C Lee scored.	4	1
J Ruggiano homered to center (442 feet).	5	1
J Buck singled to left center.	5	1
D Murphy flied out to center.	5	1
M Buehrle bunt popped out to pitcher.	5	1
E Bonifacio reached on infield single to third, J Buck to second.	5	1
D Solano singled to right, J Buck scored, E Bonifacio to third.	6	1
J Reyes doubled to deep left, E Bonifacio and D Solano scored.	8	1
B Bergesen relieved J Saunders.	8	1
C Lee singled to center, J Reyes scored, C Lee thrown out at second attempting to advance on play.	9	1
9 Runs, 10 Hits, 0 Errors

Or for you visual learners! http://miami.marlins.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=24077753&c_id=mia

It is always fun to see innings when a team is just going off like the Marlins did. 

-Giancarlo Stanton homered completing the game with his 26th homer later on in the game bringing about this ridiculous stat. In 11 games in a NL west city (SF, SD, Col, Az), he has homered 9 times. 35 percent of his home runs are in the NL West cities and he still has 6 more games out there. WOW. Marlins are also 9-2 in those 11 games. Coincidence? The best part of his home runs are the reactions of the Dback players. 

They are pretty much in shock and awe of Mr. Giancarlo Stanton. Awesome reactions, but at this point I think that's the reaction everyone around the league has every time Mr. Stanton sends one deep.

What did Stanton really just do in Coors Field?

That says it all. Giancarlo owns Coors Field and Rockies pitchers. He hit 6 home runs over 6 consecutive games over two season at Coors Field. He is setting records not only at Coors Field but in baseball for home runs in one park and its not even his own park!! Most of those numbers were set by people at their home stadium where they had a larger sample size to do it. Stanton did it in 6 games. Seriously imagine if Stanton played at Coors Field 81 times a year or in the NL west were they have 9 games a year at Colorado. Wow the damage that would be done. Also these aren't little altitude cheap ones. Lets look at this chart posted before Saturday's home run. 

Those balls are clearing the fence and more. These balls are going over 450 feet and Friday's went 494 ft. Enough to make the Colorado Rockies announcer say that the ball went "stupid" far. So where did Saturday's ball go?

That's right, top of the concourse and OUT of Coors Field. Giancarlo is simply "stupid" strong. "Only" 465 feet. On Sunday he didn't get much to hit, because Jim Tracy was fed up with seeing these bombs go out and he had his home crowd booing each intentional walk. Even their crowd wants to see "Monster shots"

Giancarlo is special and now the Marlins organization really needs to go out and give him that extension he deserves. If you noticed Reyes and Stanton together could carry a team to wins as you saw Friday and Saturday and quite frankly saw in the Marlins 21-8 month of May. A hot Stanton means a lot of Marlins wins. So, Marlins organization, the first thing you must do this summer is not go out and find a free agent, its give Stanton that extension and create from there because I want to see this for many many more years to come. 

and keep saying "No freaking way" when the ball goes off Stanton's bat.

- The Marlins ended up splitting with Colorado and head to Arizona (another hitter's park) for 4 games in 3 days... Weird huh? Thanks collective bargaining agreement. I think players would rather play one game a day then doubleheaders and the off day.

-Isn't it crazy that Coors Field, is the third oldest stadium in the NL and the oldest of the new ballparks? The Marlins are also visiting the 5th oldest and 2nd oldest stadiums in the NL. Crazy how everyone except the Dodgers and Cubs in the NL has joined in on the new stadium binge. 

-The lineup saw the return of Bonifacio, Ruggiano, and Donnie Murphy. Murphy hitting behind Stanton as "protection" is questionable at best. Solano or Dobbs is obviously a better choice depending on the starter. Ozzie hopefully fixes that tomorrow. 

WTF happened in Denver last night

Let me start by saying this was one of the freakiest games I've ever seen that literally shaked all the freakyness out of it within the first 5.5 innings. Lets recap this WTF night...

Top 1 seems simple enough. A single a stolen base and then Carlos Lee hits a ball that has a mind of its own past the 3B for a double. 1-0 Fish

Bottom 1: John Buck throws out Dexter Fowler stealing... really?

Top 2: The Rockies commit two straight errors and the Marlins are in business until John Buck forgets that he is a baserunner and actually gets picked off at second by the pitcher... come on man!

Bottom 2: Nothing crazy

Top 3: Gorkys gets his second hit of the game in a bunting fashion. First multihit game for the Marlins and I wouldnt be surprised if ever. Then Jose Reyes decides to try to bunt too... Yeah popped that sucker right up. I bet he does that once a year but right to the pitcher and boom double play.

Bottom 3: Wade LeBlanc channels his inner hockey player, makes a glove save, loses the glove and still gets an out. Here it is.
http://miami.marlins.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=23976659&topic_id=8878534&c_id=mia

Top 4: Normal.

Bottom 4: Colorado literally bloops and bunts their way to 2 runs. Coors Field effect. 2-1

Top 5: Seems like a normal inning until Jose Reyes hits a fly ball that just carries and carries. Carlos Gonzalez goes up and...

As you can see in the eyes of the fans there he didnt get it. See it here.

http://miami.marlins.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2012_08_17_miamlb_colmlb_1&highlight_content_id=23978809&c_id=mia

Carlos Gonzalez really did have the ball but running into the fence kind of ended that dream and the Marlins take a 4-2 lead there.

Bottom 5: The small ball and Coors Field effect helps again with broken bat and seeing eye singles galore. The Rockies score 3 as well and its 5-4 Colorado. One of those games right.

Top 6: Here it is... you sit there watching and then Stanton makes you go OMG.... WOW....and HOLY SHIT in the same sentence.

Even he is like "WOW I just hit that ball really really far" Try 494 ft far according to ESPN. Only the 2nd visiting player to hit a home run in 5 straight games at Coors Field tying Jeff Kent. He can tie the MLB record tonight.

PLEASE see this clip all the way through and listen to the Rockies announcer's reaction on how far that ball went.

http://miami.marlins.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=23997169&topic_id=11493214&c_id=mlb

Donovan Solano follows with a triple and then John Buck a double shortly after and we are sitting at 6-5 Marlins and thats how it ends. It turns into a normal baseball game after that but more importantly we get to see this.

Marlins even the series! 

There are 162 games in a season and you are bound to see wacky stuff going on. Last night was just full of the wacky. Game 3 tonight. Eovaldi on the mound and Stanton going for history.



West Coast baseball and two former Marlins having issues?

So the Marlins are on a nice little West Coast swing. 11 days 11 games through the West Coast including Denver, Arizona, and Los Angeles (which isnt exactly the West coast except for LA) but it means later start times and a lot less people watching and Rich and Tommy having their excuse to say dumb stuff because it is either "Late night with the fish" or "happy hour with the fish"

First stop is Coors Field home of the worst record in the NL West Colorado Rockies.

Its a run scoring game every time you go a mile high in baseball as there is less resistance on the ball and the ball will travel further as you can see in Giancarlo and Lee's home runs last night. Giancarlo Stanton has homered in 4 straight game at Coors Field as really really loves Rockies pitchers. He has homered 7 times against them in limited games and has homered in every game he has played at Coors Field (4). 

Who can't forget that amazing moment!!

Don't turn off the tube when he is up today. Also Wade LeBlanc, the Marlins best pitcher right now, takes his shot and turning the trip around 

-AJ Burnett and Hanley Ramirez had a cute spat yesterday, both former Marlins who people dont care too much for. Amazing how AJ Burnett has revived his career in Pittsburgh. 15 wins... wow. 

-Burnett, who called a players meeting before Wednesday's game, got angry after the Dodgers took their only lead in the fourth when Ramirez hit a two-run homer.

As Ramirez rounded second base during his home-run trot, he circled his eyes with his fingers as he turned in the direction of Burnett. The gesture is a trademark of Ramirez's.

"If you're going to hit a homer, act like you've hit one before," Burnett said. "The first batter, Loney, hit one, was very professional about it. Ran hard the whole way. I just thought he did a little something at second base. I could be wrong. It was heat of the moment."

When Ramirez struck out swinging to end the sixth, Burnett screamed at him as he walked off the mound. Ramirez was reprimanded by Campos for throwing his bat, and the two had a somewhat-heated discussion. (sit the f*** down) looks right

"I was just excited to get him out," Burnett said. "Every time someone clicks one off you, you want to get him out the next time up. He drove one that went pretty far, and then I was able to get him out so I was pretty fired up."

-Sigh the pennant race is hot and strong for everyone else but us... Next year Marlins fans next year!

30...

It took 30 innings to end the futility! Finally. I mean people were actually going to the game like this!!

I went yesterday to the game and that honestly was rock bottom for this team. They lost the game on the 2nd pitch of the game when Josh Johnson makes ONE mistake and Rollins takes him yard. That was it. I should of gotten up from my seat and gone home at that point but I wanted to see the major league debut of Rob Brantly.

He caught a pretty decent game but he is still waiting for that first hit. What I see in Brantly (could of been nerves) was desperation in his swing. Trying to do too much which really did build on the team during this 30 inning streak. The change ups were killing them. The Marlins were SO desperate to get that run that they were flailing all over the changeups that Capuano, Hamels, and Kendrick were feeding them. Finally it ended  when the Dobbers drove in Lee in the 4th inning today off of  Roy Halladay of course (because baseball is a funny game)

Then, even better, the Marlins actually score 6 runs in the 8th inning! I had to see it to believe it! At that point I went off to buy a Powerball ticket, because obviously I'm going to win the Powerball! The Marlins scored 6 in an inning so obviously I'm a quarter billionaire tomorrow!

http://miami.marlins.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2012_08_15_phimlb_miamlb_1&highlight_content_id=23920305&c_id=mia

There, see it so you can believe it yourself!

-For the record, the Miami Marlins beat the 1993 Florida Marlins and set a franchise record in not scoring in 30 innings. The previous record was 27, which is crazy given this team has a man named Giancarlo Cruz Michael Stanton who can end that kind of streak in a half swing...

-Yes I know Justin Ruggiano got hurt, but before this blog officially enters panic mode we will wait for the results and see if he is (dont say it, dont say it...) shelved.

-Marlins start a nice 11 game west coast swing tomorrow starting off in last place Colorado but if they can bring their 8th inning stroke to Denver then it will be fun, but if they revert back to the 30 it will be a LONG series, because we know how Denver is a hitter's paradise.

Now the fun side of the weekend.

As you are well aware the Marlins were doing there fantasy auction last night so they had there Tommy Bahama pre-party and then event tonight. But it all started at the park on Sunday when the girlfriend got to meet her idol Mr Jeff Conine and steal one of the 12 and under binders...damn women and their flirtatious powers.

They lose, whats new... and we go off to the player signing (hopefully) outside the ballpark and none other than the man the myth the legend JUSTIN RUGGIANO signs my ball! WTF amazingness!

One of those you try and keep your cool moments when you know its just so damn hard! but the fun didnt end there because we went to Tommy Bahama for the pre-party and ran into a lonely Scott Cousins... NO ONE wanted to talk to him so he came up to a little boy next to us to strike up a conversation. This proceeded with us talking to him for a solid 10 minutes. Honestly Scott Cousins would be someone I would hang out with in real life even if his profession wasn't major league baseball player.

Great guy. Then all the heavy hitters started coming in. Ruggiano and Cishek with his fear of EVERYTHING. He is scared of shellfish...whoops.

Now the bullshit here is that Tommy Bahama wanted us to spend 100 dollars at their store so we can have them sign something for us...Talk about a nice bait and switch. Honestly what the hell....

Our hitting coach who is a nice funny guy but will most likely be jobless by the end of this season. Poor guy. And then your voice on the TV that just becomes a fixture from April to September. Rich Waltz

He was doing a machoman pose there for me. Sadly he didnt want to switch careers with me and become a teacher and let me become the voice of Miami Marlins on FSFlorida...What gives.

Then finally on Monday LoMo did a Meet and Greet at a Jiffy Lube which my girlfriend could not contain her excitement in meeting him. 

Its made her season. Sadly maybe only 100 people showed up which is fine I guess for a 11 am in the middle of Miami Gardens on a Monday.

In two days, we have met and conversed with so many players that I didn't think was possible. It makes spring training pale in comparison to what I've seen here. It makes a huge difference when you actually get to personally know the guys on the team and what they go through. In my girlfriends case, its actually allowed her to grow and cherish the Miami Marlins and she actually enjoys the games she attends instead of being that girl you drag to the game. May be a strategy that you could use in the future to convince a spouse of yours!

Hanleywood came and left.

So we all know that our nemesis Hanley Ramirez came into town this weekend and went off...well duh of course he did. He was motivated...if you listen around the minute mark Ozzie candidly says we need a guy who works hard every day but unfortunately...oh no he is a good player.

The moment that defined us at the ballpark was what was going to be the fan reaction. If you were wondering my reaction... here it is.

Yeah let me just say that Jeff Conine was not the least bit amused.

The best part was the moment he comes up in the top of the 2nd...now batting Hanley Ramirez... BOOOO...yes my rally cry worked!! Thank you all for the support. The only cheerer was a lady three rows in front of me who told me a story how Hanley nearly ran over her kid...yet she is cheering him on... She doesn't count. Lets refer back to the video a second.... Hanley got booed...apparently he is in denial if you can even understand what he is trying to say.

Anyways by Sunday Hanley I guess identified with a new fan base....that or he is REALLY racist.

Duh ashuns see like dis?

The "I see you" was incorporated at Marlins park. I spoke to a Marlins player Sunday who really wanted to be hush about it but then went off about how he is happy Hanley is gone and really only plays when he wants to and not hard every day. Take care Hanley Ramirez and to the lady who cheered him on...really?!?!

Today is Boo Hanley day at Marlins park.

This is it ladies and gentlemen you have all seen the franchise and Hanley's too excited blackberry to go to Hanleywood and we all have been bombarded by this on our twitter.

Lo Viste is no more and has been replaced in "Hanleywood" by "I see you" An obvious derogation. Come on Hanley be clever. You didn't have to use English. It is L.A.  

My favorite thing was seeing this comment yesterday morning on twitter. Hanley Ramirez yesterday to #Dodgers reporters asking about his return Friday to #Marlins Park: "I don't got nothing about Miami.'' first I'm wondering HUH? What does he mean? He never cared. 

If you have read my thoughts on Hanley you know how I feel about him and now is the time to let him know how you feel. Don't applaud or cheer him tomorrow because you feel its the polite thing to do. Let him know how you really felt. Let him know he frustrated the shit out of you, that a prima donna doesn't bat .240. They also don't forget their own medications. 

So today we will be in section 27 row 3 doing what everyone else needs to be doing. BOOOOING Hanley Ramirez. Don't let him know that everything he did here was ok. Settling for less is not ok... Let him know that you are furious for what he did to us. Join us those that are going to Marlins park today in letting him know we are happy you are gone Hanley Ramirez and we never want you back.

Lets think Carlos Lee and 2013 a second...

So an article came out today that speculated that maybe, just maybe, the guy that we were dying to get rid of  just to get a cheap profit may stay. No he WANTS to stay in Miami. The first thought of this crossed my mind when I was watching the franchise last night when he was the man standing right next to Bonifacio as he was getting tended to. For a man who is a free agent and supposedly out the door, he sure cares a lot.

I've read over and over again how he is 36 how his power is non existent (and we have seen that) and he has turned into a singles hitter who is slow but here is something we get from him. We get a guy that will put the ball in play, not strike out and drive in runs. In 30 games here he has driven in 22 men and is on a 14 game hitting streak. He is batting OVER .400 with RISP. How many Marlins can say that? I figured he was a goner until I read this... http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/08/carlos-lee-has-spoken-to-marlins-about-2013-return.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

The question Carlos Lee is do you understand that you are 36 and your power is gone. If you want to stay in Miami you got to come for 1 years/5 million. Understand that you are more likely a DH but if you want to stay here you go. That's as high as they will go guaranteed and that may be pushing it. Lomo is the plan for first and Christian Yelich is the future but we as Marlins fans NEED to be scared about 2013.

If the Marlins want to they can easily fill their needs with those photos above. Jacob Turner will be ready for the rotation in 2013 albeit young. Rob Brantly will fight John Buck next year and eventually take over in 2014. Jose Fernandez is a September 2013/2014 callup starter. Christian Yelich is also a sept 2013/2014 LF starter and Zach Cox could be fighting for 3B next year. The future pieces are there but how do you react in 2013? 

Do you waste 2013 and lose all your fan base who assumed you were all in now or try again? Your holes are obviously at 2B/CF/LF/3B even though some of that could be resolved with a short term Carlos Lee by buying one more year of Lomo in left, and my man Justin Ruggiano in CF. Where do you go? 

The plan is tough and the fans won't forgive the Marlins if they don't make one big splash in the offseason... They will cry fire sale. Lots of decisions to make and I'm happy I'm NOT making them.