Streak BROKEN
Now thats how you start a road trip. Last night, Ricky Nolasco pitched a complete game shutout, the first for a Marlin starter in 301 attempts, a Major League record. Ricky only gave up two hits (should have been just one, but who cares) and struck out 10 batters on a chilly August night in San Francisco. Ricky had all of his pitches working for him last night, leaving the Giants batters looking like they wouldn’t even crack the starting lineup for the Jupiter Hammerheads. Ricky was absolutely filthy, without question this was the best start of his career so far. Maybe its because of the cold weather, I don’t know. But that might have been the best start by a Marlin pitcher in two years.
Might this be the spark we need to revitalize our fading NL East hopes? No way to know for sure. Lets just worry about tonight.
Tonight vs. Chicago: A MUST WIN
The Marlins are dangerously close to falling out of contention. We are now 3.5 back, and if the Mets win tonight and we lose we are looking at a 4.5 game deficit and only two games over .500. This is the biggest game of the season, and probably the most important start of Annibal Sanchez’s young career. This is when the true contenders step up.
So, if you don’t have any plans for tonight, now you do. GET YOUR BUTTS TO THE BALLPARK!!!!! NO EXCUSES, SOUTH FLORIDA!! I’ll be there, me and a couple of my buddies scored club level tickets last week. Keep in mind that this is a huge game against a big team with a huge out of town following, so if you do come arrive early and be prepared to wait in line for tickets. I’d definately reccomend that you pick up your tickets online at www.floridamarlins.com so you don’t have to wait on line at the booth surrounded by drunken Cubs fans talking smack.
LETS GO FISH!!!
VOTE FOR BILLY!!!!!
Billy the Marlin has been nominated for the Mascot Hall of Fame, and needs your support! Of all the changes that have occured during the 16 seasons that the Marlins have been in the majors, only two constants have remained: Dolphin Stadium and Billy the Marlin. So, show the big fish some love and go vote!
Power Ranks
Lots of movers due to the trade deadline… and the fact that I haven’t done this in a while.
1. LA Angels- Just picked up Big Tex from Atlanta to fix their only weakness. This team is scary good, and now they may just be the team to beat in the AL.
2. Chicago Cubs- I hate him, but I do hope Mark Cuban does buy the team… he could be great for baseball.
3. Tampa Bay Rays- If these guys were just a mirage they would have fallen off by now. Now with the Red Sox out of the picture they have a clear path to their first AL East title.
4. New York Yankees- They have had a good couple of weeks and seem to be finally putting it all together for a strong stretch run, and got some really good news when Manny left the AL… but then Joba left last night’s game with a “stiff shoulder”. If he is out for any significant ammount of time than the nice little run the Yanks put together will be for naught… he is the lynchpin.
5. Minnesota Twins- Liriano gives them a chance for the wild card
6. Philadelphia Phillies- yuck
7. Chicago White Sox- God I hope Ozzie replaces Fredi one day… if only for the entertainment value
8. Milwaukee Brewers- Well they failed that test against Chicago pretty miserably… hello wild card!
9. Florida Marlins- Big opportunity coming up with series against Philly and NY, the revamped rotation is looking pretty good
10. Boston Red Sox- I think Jason Bay will fit in well on this team, and they still have the pitching… but make no mistake, when they traded Manny they traded away all hope of repeating this year. Remember, David Ortiz hasn’t exactly been the frontrunner for Cal Ripken’s Ironman Award this year, and he is their only big bat left.
11. LA Dodgers - Manny definately helps their nonexistent offense… but I’m not so sure they make the playoffs
12. New York Mets - They may be playing better now, but they needed to take that series in Florida, and they also didn’t look too hot against Houston. Sorry, NY, the Willie Randolph Error screwed you guys from the get-go this year.
13. St. Louis Cardinals - Just not good enough to overtake Chicago or Milwaukee at this point.
14. Arizona Diamondbacks - Very quietly they have been playing much better in the second half. The NL West should be an interesting race if you can forget the fact that it is the weakest division in baseball.
15. Detroit Tigers- Screw them for trading Pudge to the Yanks instead of back to FL. Seriously. Dave Dombrowski has officially earned a top slot on my personal shitlist for that move.
16. Texas Rangers- I’m kinda surprised nobody tried to trade for Hamilton before the deadline
17. Kansas City Royals- The AL wild card is pretty wide open since it looks like Boston and NY have bowed out… nah, what the hell am I talking about?
18. Hous… forget it, its not like teams ranked less than 17 mean anything at this point of the season.
The Aftermath
So after a very tense 24 hours, Manny will be going to the Dodgers instead of the Marlins. It was really close, almost complete except apparently Pittsburgh balked at the end and tried to get more prospects out of the Marlins. Fortunately, our front office stood firm, the Marlins didn’t wind up getting ripped off, and LA stepped in for us to make Pittsburgh and Boston happy. I don’t understand why Pittsburgh didn’t like the Marlins deal but liked the LA deal, I’d take Hermida over Andy LaRoche any day. But, I’m not complaining, this was a deal that we shouldn’t have made.
Manny wouldn’t have added anything to this team that we didn’t already have, and he would make our team defense even worse playing in right field (if that’s even possible). What he would have added to the Marlins is a HUUUGE distraction and a “Manny being Manny” incident away from sinking our playoff hopes. Jeremy Hermida is having a very big second half, and we are the last team in baseball that should be giving away prospects on a rental that we don’t even need. I feel pretty strongly that this team is good enough to win the division, and possibly even win the series the way it is. Yeah, I said it, I believe this team can win the Series. I did not say I think we WILL win the Series, just that we can. Manny wouldn’t have changed that assesment by much. Frankly, the Dodgers and to a lesser extent the Pirates both did us a big favor.
At the end of the day, we added a very big piece to our bullpen in Arthur Rhoads, and thats all we really needed to do. We could have used a catcher, but the one that made the most sense went to the Yankees. I would have much rather seen Pudge back in teal than Manny.
The Dodgers? They do play in the weakest division in the game, they have the best pitching in the NL (league leading era), but the 13th best offense. He does help out that weak offense and forces either Andruw Jones or Juan Pierre to the bench, which is a very good thing for them. So, Manny probably does help them, especially if he goes on one of his tears, but he doesn’t exactly guarantee the playoffs for them. I wouldn’t be too worried if I were a Dbacks fan. As for the Sox, they get rid of a major distraction who also happens to average 34 homers and 110 RBIs for them. This could work out, Jason Bay is no slouch, but he can hardly carry a team like Manny does. This was a deal they had to make, however, as Manny would have never stayed. Now they replaced him with a quality outfielder. Do they make the playoffs this year? 50-50, especially considering how the Yankees have improved themselves.
Whew. Well, that was a hell of an afternoon…
Fishing Poll
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