Tag Archives: Marlins

“30 Teams, 30 Posts” (2016): OOTP ’17 (almost) determines the greatest Marlins team of all

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In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post (of varying amounts of seriousness) about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2016 season. Earlier installments can be found here. Today, the Marlins.

I am lucky enough to have on my hard drive a reviewer’s copy of Out Of The Park 17. While obviously the review will not be out for a few more days, I decided that for today’s “30 Teams, 30 Posts” I would use one of OOTP’s newest features to answer a question:

What was the greatest Marlins team of all time? Was it the 1997 Florida Marlins helmed by Jim Leyland or was it Jack McKeon’s 2003 Marlins?

Using the “Historical Exhibition” feature of OOTP 17, I’m going to find out… after the jump:

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Over at HOVG: “The Devil’s Baseball Dictionary” (with bonus Marlins entries in this post!)

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Over at “Hall of Very Good” this week, Wisdom and Links brings you the Devil’s Baseball Dictionary, the only glossary of baseball terms that dares to tell you the truth, no matter how hard it hurts. For example, if I had written it today instead of yesterday, it would have contained the following (consider this the addendum):

Jennings, Daniel: Future Ex-Marlins Manager

Loria, Jeffrey: A foolish, selfish, idiot owner who will likely be the first against the wall when the revolution comes.

Marlins: A good but sad joke.

Redmond, Mike: The luckiest man on Earth, because he no longer has to work for Jeffrey Loria.

Or something like that.

“30 Teams, 30 Posts” (2015): Giancarlo Stanton’s greatest dingers

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In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2015 season. Previous installments can be found here. Today, we honor the Marlins the best way possible: Giancarlo Stanton dingers.

There are many ways to look at the Miami Marlins. You could look at a team on the rise, of Ichiro’s final days, or Jose Fernandez’s return from injury.

Or, you could just look at lots of Giancarlo Stanton home runs.

Let’s do that (after the jump):

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2014 SEASON PREVIEW (PART 7): Best Case/Worst Case for… the NL EAST (with Getty Images)

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We reach our last installment of Best Case/Worst Case… with, of course, sometimes irrelevant images from Getty.

Here we go:

Atlanta Braves:

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Best-Case Scenario: World Series. I mean, look at that pitching staff! Look at the young hitters! They should at least make the playoffs, right.

Worst-Case Scenario: Well, unless their pitching gets hurt. If that happens, there could be big trouble.

Worst-Case Scenario That Could Actually Happen: Whoops. It’s already happened.

Washington Nationals

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Best-Case Scenario: The World Series comes to Washington for the first times since the 1930s, while Bryce Harper makes a great leap forward into near-Trout levels of awesomeness, bro.

Worst-Case Scenario: Stephen Strasburg’s arm spontaneously combusts during a game.

Worst-Case Scenario That Could Actually Happen: Harper stagnates, Strasburg and Friends get hurt, Matt Williams is not a good manager, etc.

New York Mets

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Best Case Scenario: Everybody stays healthy and they don’t embarrass themselves too much before Matt Harvey returns next season from Tommy John. Maybe some of the prospects, like Noah Syndergaard, make their first appearances.

Worst Case Scenario: This is the Mets, so you should imagine your worst case scenario for them then multiply it by 500.

Worst Case Scenario That Could Actually Happen: This is the Mets, so you should imagine your worst case scenario for them then multiply it by… 499.

Philadelphia Phillies

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Best Case Scenario: The Fountain Of Youth hits the Phillies and they do one last run.

Worst Case Scenario: They are a bunch of old guys who play like it, and Ruben Amaro still acts like it’s the last years of the previous decade.

Worst Case Scenario That Could Actually Happen: See above.

Miami Marlins
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Best Case Scenario: Giancarlo Stanton hits lots of dingers, Jose Fernandez is awesome.

Worst Case Scenario: The above doesn’t happen….

Worst Case Scenario That Might Actually Happen: See above.

 

Next Time: The Previews Continue…

Bizarre Baseball Culture: BILLY THE MARLIN guest-starring SPIDER-MAN

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In Bizarre Baseball Culture, I take a look at some of the more unusual places where baseball has reared it’s head in pop culture and fiction.

What if I told you there was a comic about Doctor Doom invading 90s Miami in order to kidnap Jeff Conine, only to be foiled by Spider-Man and Billy the Marlin? And what if I told you that Robb Nen also had a brief cameo? Would you be interested in this comic?

Well, seeing as how you are currently looking at this, the answer is probably yes. And, guess what? You are in luck, as this comic does exist:

MarlinsSpideyCover

Yes, it’s time for Bizarre Baseball Culture to jump into Billy the Marlin, guest-starring Spider-Man! Read below to see the background of it, or go below the jump for an overview and analysis:

The comic, as far as I can tell, was given out in either 1996 (that’s the copyright date in the book and also fits with some of the Marlins portrayed) or 1999 (that’s where it’s listed on some online websites, but doesn’t fit since Conine and Nen weren’t on the 1999 Marlins team) for Billy the Marlin’s birthday, a nice little treat for kids who were at the Marlins game. Based on what I could find, Billy the Marlin’s birthday is usually celebrated in August, so presumably this comic came out in August of 1996 or 1999 (I personally think 1996).

The writer and colorist of this comic was Mark Bernardo, who primarily worked as a colorist and editor at Marvel during the 1990s, primarily in Spider-Man books- he was one of the many cooks in the kitchen during the disastrous “Clone Saga” (which was apparently so complicated both in-story and out that I don’t quite understand it even from what I can find online).

Pencilling the story was Alex Saviuk, a prolific artist who is, according to the “Comic Book DB”, best known for his work involving Spider-Man, including a Sunday newspaper strip.

Greg Adams did inks, Janice Chiang did letters and Glenn Herdling was the Editor. All three had plenty of experience in comics.

End of background, go BELOW THE JUMP for overview and analysis (Warning: image-intensive!):

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Famous for something else: John Lynch

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John Lynch made 9 Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl during his career as a strong safety in the NFL, and he now does some broadcasting on FOX. But he does hold a unique spot in baseball history as well: He threw the first pitch in the history of the Florida (now Miami) Marlins.

Well, sort of. You see, in order to let expansion teams get a farm system up and running, it’s not uncommon for them to have farm teams that play even before the parent club does. They also are able to draft players as well.

The Marlins’ first farm team was the 1992 Erie Sailors (remember, the Marlins started play in 1993). And the pitcher who threw out the first pitch for the Sailors in 1992 was… John Lynch. YouTube has video of the event here.

Like most individuals in “Famous for Something Else”, Lynch’s career was short on the diamond, and he probably made a good choice by going into football (although he did do pretty well in his short career).

Year Age Tm Lg Lev Aff W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB
1992 20 Erie NYPL A- 0 3 .000 2.15 7 7 0 0 0 0 29.1 24 15 7 1 17 0 16 2 3 0 128 1.398 7.4 0.3 5.2 4.9 0.94
1993 21 Kane County MIDW A FLA 1 0 1.000 3.00 2 2 0 0 0 0 9.0 4 4 3 1 12 0 3 0 0 0 43 1.778 4.0 1.0 12.0 3.0 0.25
2 Seasons 1 3 .250 2.35 9 9 0 0 0 0 38.1 28 19 10 2 29 0 19 2 3 0 171 1.487 6.6 0.5 6.8 4.5 0.66
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/31/2013.