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Pay attention to the Miami Marlins -- please.
By Paul Beaty, AP
The team from South Florida with the new stadium, new uniforms, new geographic identification, new manager and new players wants it that way. Like the disruptive kid in the back of school classroom, they've pretty much filled the time since September trying to get a little attention.
We've noticed.
"We are a walking distraction," says team president David Samson, prefacing that declaration with, "When Ozzie is your manager, and the team we have and the new ballpark ..."
Ozzie Guillen was the first bit of dissonance, bringing his outspoken, often bleep-begging monologues from the Chicago White Sox to take over a team that historically has risen from irrelevance about once a decade, won a World Series, then shrunk back to its former near-anonymous life in a cavernous football stadium.
No more. The new-look, hey-look Marlins have a state-of-the-art ballpark that's actually in the city they've finally made part of their name. They've transformed their roster, supplementing blossoming young talent with the likes of Jose Reyes, who if he doesn't become their best player at least is forcing reigning best player Hanley Ramirez to reluctantly change positions; closer Heath Bell, whose slide into the pitching mound at last year's All-Star Game got him more attention than his 132 saves over the past three seasons; and Carlos Zambrano, who played for the Cubs in Chicago but caused enough ruckus in his clubhouse to be heard across town by Guillen.
They wooed Cuban free agent Yeonis Cespedes, seemingly a perfect fit for the community, and in less than 48 hours he signed about as far away from Miami and to play in about as antithetical a stadium as possible in Oakland.
They have a relief pitcher, Jose Oviedo, who was caught playing under an assumed identity; a left fielder, Logan Morriion, whose prolific tweeting is momentarily overshadowed by controversy over being given a uniform number previously retired to honor deceased club executive Carl Barger; an owner, Jeffrey Loria, who opened the checkbook for the new players but also has been answering questions from the federal government about the funding plan for the new ballpark; and, most of all, a roster that may or may not be up to challenging the five-times-running NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies.
Oh, and did we mention this will all play out on TV? The Marlins are the subject of Showtime's "The Franchise" series.
It's part of a marketing effort Samson says will help make, "Being a Marlin cool. It's been 10 years of struggle in that."
It's a series -- and a season -- he says is supposed to end, "With us in a pile," referring to a World Series celebration.
Will it be pile or heap?
The 90-loss Marlins of 2011 have 30 games to make up on the Phillies in the standings -- or a best-case 17-game leap from last place to the playoffs if MLB adds a second wild-card team in each league.
They can make it up if:
--.337 is closer to Reyes' batting average, as it was while winning the NL batting title last year, and not his number of at-bats. Remember, the new Marlins shortstop hasn't played more than 133 games in a season since 2008.
--Ramirez at third base is more like the .342 batting champ of 2009 than last year's .243 disaster or they guy called out by teammates and former manager Fredi Gonzalez for questionable effort the previous season.
--Mark Buehrle, who came along with Guillen from the White Sox, can replace Javier Vazquez, a free agent leaning toward retirement. They both won 13 games last season and Buehrle is a couple of years younger. And the odds are better for Zambrano to be an upgrade over 5-13 Chris Volstad, for whom he was traded. Zambrano won only nine last year but hasn't had a losing season since 2002.
--The emergence of man-child right fielder Mike Stanton continues. Now 22, he's coming off a team-leading 34 homers and 87 RBI. Nearly as important, though, is whether the more unexpected breakout of Emilio Bonifacio (.296, 40 stolen bases) continues now that he's slated to be the everyday center fielder and if Morrison is more notable for abusing pitchers (23 homers last year) than using social media.
--And maybe nothing is more important than Josh Johnson being the ace of the pitching staff again. He had a 1.64 ERA last season and allowed just 39 hits in 60 innings. Yes, 60 innings -- all he could muster because of a sore shoulder. Those numbers are no fluke. He's allowed less than a hit per inning since coming to the majors in 2005 and nearly a strikeout per inning. He has the 2010 ERA title and a couple of All-Star appearances. And he says he's throwing three times a week without pain.
Whether or not Guillen will get the last word this season is debatable but he's the odds-on favorite to get in the most words. So, in case there's any question about where things standing in Miami, here's the manager's take:
--On Ramirez: "I don't think he's 100% on board, not yet. ... Hanley Ramirez can be one of the best players in the National League. But he has to want to be."
--On Zambrano: "I expect Carlos to be upset and throw Gatorade coolers. If you're going to talk about your teammates be ready for the biggest fight because I will fight you."
--On Morrison: "If you win and he tweets a stupid thing, then people think it's funny. If you lose and LoMo tweets a stupid thing, then people think it's stupid."
It could be worth tuning in.
By Paul Beaty, AP
The team from South Florida with the new stadium, new uniforms, new geographic identification, new manager and new players wants it that way. Like the disruptive kid in the back of school classroom, they've pretty much filled the time since September trying to get a little attention.
We've noticed.
"We are a walking distraction," says team president David Samson, prefacing that declaration with, "When Ozzie is your manager, and the team we have and the new ballpark ..."
Ozzie Guillen was the first bit of dissonance, bringing his outspoken, often bleep-begging monologues from the Chicago White Sox to take over a team that historically has risen from irrelevance about once a decade, won a World Series, then shrunk back to its former near-anonymous life in a cavernous football stadium.
No more. The new-look, hey-look Marlins have a state-of-the-art ballpark that's actually in the city they've finally made part of their name. They've transformed their roster, supplementing blossoming young talent with the likes of Jose Reyes, who if he doesn't become their best player at least is forcing reigning best player Hanley Ramirez to reluctantly change positions; closer Heath Bell, whose slide into the pitching mound at last year's All-Star Game got him more attention than his 132 saves over the past three seasons; and Carlos Zambrano, who played for the Cubs in Chicago but caused enough ruckus in his clubhouse to be heard across town by Guillen.
They wooed Cuban free agent Yeonis Cespedes, seemingly a perfect fit for the community, and in less than 48 hours he signed about as far away from Miami and to play in about as antithetical a stadium as possible in Oakland.
They have a relief pitcher, Jose Oviedo, who was caught playing under an assumed identity; a left fielder, Logan Morriion, whose prolific tweeting is momentarily overshadowed by controversy over being given a uniform number previously retired to honor deceased club executive Carl Barger; an owner, Jeffrey Loria, who opened the checkbook for the new players but also has been answering questions from the federal government about the funding plan for the new ballpark; and, most of all, a roster that may or may not be up to challenging the five-times-running NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies.
Oh, and did we mention this will all play out on TV? The Marlins are the subject of Showtime's "The Franchise" series.
It's part of a marketing effort Samson says will help make, "Being a Marlin cool. It's been 10 years of struggle in that."
It's a series -- and a season -- he says is supposed to end, "With us in a pile," referring to a World Series celebration.
Will it be pile or heap?
The 90-loss Marlins of 2011 have 30 games to make up on the Phillies in the standings -- or a best-case 17-game leap from last place to the playoffs if MLB adds a second wild-card team in each league.
They can make it up if:
--.337 is closer to Reyes' batting average, as it was while winning the NL batting title last year, and not his number of at-bats. Remember, the new Marlins shortstop hasn't played more than 133 games in a season since 2008.
--Ramirez at third base is more like the .342 batting champ of 2009 than last year's .243 disaster or they guy called out by teammates and former manager Fredi Gonzalez for questionable effort the previous season.
--Mark Buehrle, who came along with Guillen from the White Sox, can replace Javier Vazquez, a free agent leaning toward retirement. They both won 13 games last season and Buehrle is a couple of years younger. And the odds are better for Zambrano to be an upgrade over 5-13 Chris Volstad, for whom he was traded. Zambrano won only nine last year but hasn't had a losing season since 2002.
--The emergence of man-child right fielder Mike Stanton continues. Now 22, he's coming off a team-leading 34 homers and 87 RBI. Nearly as important, though, is whether the more unexpected breakout of Emilio Bonifacio (.296, 40 stolen bases) continues now that he's slated to be the everyday center fielder and if Morrison is more notable for abusing pitchers (23 homers last year) than using social media.
--And maybe nothing is more important than Josh Johnson being the ace of the pitching staff again. He had a 1.64 ERA last season and allowed just 39 hits in 60 innings. Yes, 60 innings -- all he could muster because of a sore shoulder. Those numbers are no fluke. He's allowed less than a hit per inning since coming to the majors in 2005 and nearly a strikeout per inning. He has the 2010 ERA title and a couple of All-Star appearances. And he says he's throwing three times a week without pain.
Whether or not Guillen will get the last word this season is debatable but he's the odds-on favorite to get in the most words. So, in case there's any question about where things standing in Miami, here's the manager's take:
--On Ramirez: "I don't think he's 100% on board, not yet. ... Hanley Ramirez can be one of the best players in the National League. But he has to want to be."
--On Zambrano: "I expect Carlos to be upset and throw Gatorade coolers. If you're going to talk about your teammates be ready for the biggest fight because I will fight you."
--On Morrison: "If you win and he tweets a stupid thing, then people think it's funny. If you lose and LoMo tweets a stupid thing, then people think it's stupid."
It could be worth tuning in.
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