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| We all hang our heads... |
As a Miami native, I have always lived through the ups and downs of the Marlins franchise, but this is just too much. I’ll never forget the horrible drives out to Sun life stadium where rain, heat, and low attendance numbers made the experience of watching mostly no-name rosters getting the shit kicked out of them unbearable. Nonetheless, I still went. Even though I was only 11 at the time, I remembered the excitement after the 2003 World Series. We had toppled the mighty Yankees, and we had a great core of young players in Miguel Cabrera, Josh Beckett, and rookie of the year Dontrelle “D-train” Willis. I remembered thinking, “Man, if they could just get their own stadium, their own place to call home, more people would come to the games. People would rally behind the hometown team, and we could really have something special here”. But only one problem, our owner is a cheapskate and a douchebag.
He has officially replaced Nick Saban as the most hated man in the modern era of Miami sports teams. ‘03 happened and then poof, Loria worked his bargain bin magic and all our talent was gone. Miggy achieved the first Triple Crown in over 40 years last season with the Tigers, while Josh Beckett became an all star and World Series champion with the Boston Red Sox (although he’s fallen of the wagon recently and we did get a few good years out of Hanley Ramirez/Anibal Sanchez for him). And Dontrelle, well, I’ll give points to Loria for that one, that guy fell of the map completely when he left town. I digress. My prayers were answered last year when the Marlins opened their new stadium and, gasp, actually spent money in free agency. They had a fiery new manager in Ozzie Guillen, an excellent young infield with newly acquired shortstop Jose Reyes, reliable second baseman Omar Infante, fan favorite Gaby Sanchez, and I even believed the mercurial Hanley Ramirez would have a rebirth at 3rd base. And, with the exception of Mike Trout, we had the best young prospect around in Giancarlo Stanton (I’d take him over Bryce Harper any day of the week). Not to mention a playoff worthy rotation with Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Anibal Sanchez, and Ricky Nolasco. After a slow start in April, They posted Major League best 21-8 record in May, and I really believed they were heading back to the playoffs. Then the Marlins, well, acted like the Marlins. After implosions during June and July, they got rid of the face of the franchise, Hanley Ramirez. Most people hated the trade, but I actually applauded Loria for this move. Hanley was lazy, stupid and over paid. I didn’t shed a single tear when he left, but in retrospect I should’ve cried like a baby because his removal was a harbinger of things to come. As the team continued to deteriorate and the Heath Bell signing proved to be a complete joke, the Marlins did exactly what the Marlins have always done, abandoned ship. They sent Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante to the Tigers for minor league prospects. Shocking, right. I was mad at them then, but we still had a solid roster and I thought we could rebuild.
But this! Are you kidding me? He’s sunk the team for the foreseeable future, and the worst part, lost the trust of franchise cornerstone Mike Stanton. What kind of precedent has Loria set? He’s saying “We’ll pay you, but the second the going gets rough, you’re off to the highest bidder.” That’s even if Stanton will consider resigning with them after his arbitration is up. I know I wouldn’t. There’s a special place in hell for Jeffrey Loria. He made his decision and, like always, it was to screw the franchise, the city, and walk away with fatter pockets. The Marlins will never be a good team while Loria is running the show, and that’s why they are the worst franchise in sports.-Ryan Parrish
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