Marlins Open 2008 With a Loss

Ok, one major criticism for my Marlins: Loria, lose the douche patrol cheerleaders.

Maybe it isn't new this year, not sure, but today I noticed some guys that looked like Met fans posing as Marlin fans. A bunch of transplants - you know the type, hats turned to the side, random armbands and wristbands, bad goatees that look more like chin straps, big sun glasses for no reason - running around trying to get people to cheer for the Marlins.

I know we got tons of Met fans down here, of course today was no exception, but do we really need people running around enforcing us to cheer? And the fact that they look like hoodlums lingering around looking to take your seat makes it annoying.

I would rather we paid to keep Miguel Cabrera instead. Or at least Miguel Cabrera's personal bat boy (who, despite rumors, is not Alfredo Amezaga).

And I also want to note that whatever you do, do NOT sit in section 443 row 12 seats 23 and 24. The aisle is on your left, which means there will constantly be people walking up and down the aisle throughout the game blocking your view. What is worse is that these same people are not only illiterate, but also can't read numbers. And then there is the railing that is used to keep these mouth-breathers from falling into the little tunnel that leads into the section that blocks your view of homeplate.

Despite all of that, and dealing with the sea of obnoxious Mets fans, it was good to take in a ball game on a beautiful afternoon. It felt good seeing the guys out there with a renewed sense of hope for the future. Now, let's get a win against these Mutts tomorrow and send their fans home in disappointment - if only it is a brief drive back down into the sewers for the visiting Mets fans.

Opening Day 2008: A New Hope

Yes, it is the title from the first Star Wars film (the real first film...). It is appropriately used here.

Wedged between the start of the season, which is today, and the end of the last one is a shining affirmation of not just hope, but of expectation. For the first time, fans of this franchise can start to expect and can begin looking up. Well, the first time since that fateful first day back in '93.

The Marlins have a stadium on the docket. Sure, it won't materialize until 2011, but the road there begins here: with a young roster with loads of talent and upside. Just don't expect all of it will be retained when we do this again in 2011 in a new stadium.

Think about that for a second: for the first time in years, Marlin fans can look at today and expect a continuation next season. Gone are the talks of contraction, the threats of relocation and that is as refreshing as the sunny weather we take for granted down here.

Let baseball be as our weather, let us take it for granted that it will return to us each and every year. Let us rejoice in this national ritual that is baseball, when everyone emerges from their homes to see the sun shining and feel hope for a brighter future.

So it is with this team. They have been able to walk the path and avert disaster. This team has emerged, today, in front of a home crowd with renewed expectation for this season and the future. It will not be without its growing pains, however.

Expect that talents like Chris Volstad and Cameron Maybin might not be called up immediately despite being ready to play on this team. They only lack experience and seasoning, which they can get here with the big club. The only reason they won't is because the Marlins will want to keep them on the roster come 2011 - they can control their contracts to that point via arbitration. It will be limited based on their years of service and arbitration.

The Marlins also will be looking to build on the momentum they closed last season with taking 2 of 3 from the Mets. In the midst of their playoff chase, the Mets came to Miami expecting to regroup against a 69-90 Marlins team. Yet this young team, never backing down, fought and took 2 crucial wins from the desperate Mets who had choked away their 7 game lead to fall short of the playoffs.

It starts today with Mark Hendrickson and Johan Santana squaring off. It starts today with a man throwing out the first pitch who was there to see the first pitch ever for this franchise at the start of his career: Jeff Conine. It was the start of his career and of this franchise. Conine has retired, officially as a Marlin as of Friday, but the franchise is still here.

Let hope be renewed. And let's play ball!

Starting Rotation Will Challenge Marlins

The success of this team is not going to be based on its offense, its defense or even, for a change, its bullpen. It will be based on how consistent their starting pitching can be.

This season, like last season, the Marlins are starting out short-handed as most of their rotation is out with injuries. Sergio Mitre is out with a strained forearm, Anibal Sanchez has undergone shoulder surgery while Josh Johnson, arguably the staff ace, had Tommy John surgery.

The new rotation for this season is going to be free agent Mark Hendrickson, followed by Rick Vandenhurk, Andrew Miller, Scott Olsen and Ricky Nolasco.

Last season, the Marlins were hard pressed to get into the 7th inning with any starter not named Dontrelle Willis: and even the now-departed D-Train had his struggles.

The starting five is not going to turn heads with name dropping. Unless you're a die hard baseball fan and you probably won't recognize the names of Mark Hendrickson or Andrew Miller. Rick Vandenhurk might only be recognized by his native Netherlands and the few dedicated Marlin fans here at MarlinsNation.

One of the more established members of this staff is now Scott Olsen. Olsen has had success and is no longer considered a prospect. He was 12-10 in 2006 with 166 Ks in 180.2 IP with a 4.04 ERA. Yet last season, he regressed a bit. His walks went up (85BBs) while his Ks and his IP went down (133Ks in 176.2 IP). His ERA also shot up to 5.81.

Olsen also had some off the field problems that only contributed to his rough season last year. Hope is renewed and the Marlins are expecting him to take another step forward this season and get back on track to being the promising lefty he was shaping up to be after the 2006 season. Another benefit for Olsen could be the return of Mark Wiley, the Marlins pitching guru that was dismissed a few seasons ago in favor of Rick Kranitz when Joe Girardi was hired as the Marlins manager. Wiley helped Dontrelle Willis get back on track a few seasons back and is being expected to do the same with this young staff.

Andrew Miller has a lot to prove as a highly-touted pitching prospect coming out of the Tigers' system. The stakes are raised a bit more as he is one of the two main assets the Marlins received in exchange for Willis and Miguel Cabrera. He seems to have control problems and the Marlins main focus this season, with the return of Wiley, is to throw strikes.

If Miller falters, there is always Gaby Hernandez and Chris Volstad waiting to step in and give it a go.

Yet the challenge will be getting consistency out of the starters this season. The bullpen was very much improved but also a bit overworked last season. With consistency, the Marlins pitching can remain in their usual roles which could lead to more wins. But will it be enough to improve on a 71-91 season of a year ago?

New Stadium Fallout

There are many things to consider with a new stadium on the horizon for the Marlins. There are effects that are going to spring forward from the events of Thursday that will create many changes.

Let's start with the immediate. Now the Marlins and us fans have hope and expectation. We covered that in the last blog here at MarlinsNation. But what is more interesting is to see how this affects the team and its players. Now, young players will have a future to look forward to that is more tangible. If they like living and playing in Miami, they will want to stay. They will reach out to the community and put forth more effort on the field. They will take more pride in their work since now, the Miami Marlins, are a legit MLB franchise. They are playing for their future contracts here, in south Florida.

This has Hanley Ramirez saying the right things and for the first time in a very, very long time, there is hope that a player can actually stay here. "I hope I can stay here for my career, they know how to treat people," Ramirez said. "They know how to treat players. It's a good organization. Hopefully, I can be here for Opening Day [2011]."

Hanley Ramirez doesn't begin arbitration until 2009, and the Marlins will lose control over his rights (he will be a free agent) after the 2011 season. That means, after the first season in the new digs.

Will payroll increase? Not likely in the immediate future. But fan interest will most undoubtedly change as they see this team is here to stay. Fans will start investing in the future of this franchise - something that was very tangible back in the '93 season, it's first ever.

Not only do the fans and the players see a future ahead, but some others have to change their business structures as a result. For example, Wayne H. Huizenga, whom yours truly refers to as H-bomb, is now basically forced to see the Dolphins franchise. Why? Because after 2010, that stadium will be losing its biggest tenant - the Florida Marlins - as they move into their new home.

And you better believe that the Marlins are an integral part of the Dolphins franchise. Without the Marlins and their rent money, H-bomb would be losing lots of money as the facility went unused for almost 7 months out of the year. That is a lot of lost revenue.

Coincidentally, H-bomb is selling the franchise. Remember, this is the same situation that drove Joe Robbie to sell the Dolphins to Wayne Huizenga in the first place. The cost of the stadium was strangling the finances of running the team and its revenue.

Ironic it is that the Marlins are moving to the original home of the Dolphins and tearing it down to build their new home. The Dolphins, in some ways, are seemingly being banished from outside of Miami left to reside in a lonely stadium that will serve only football games.

The fate of the franchise had definitely shifted.

What Took So Long?

Imagine driving your car to the old site of the Orange Bowl and seeing a beautiful gem in the heart of Miami with a sparkling new roof and a spire that enables spectators a bird's-eye view of Miami. You pull into a parking garage and walk into the stadium to hear the crowd buzzing with energy.

What stands out most is that the stadium is full. And everyone is wearing Marlins garb. It seems eerily similar to the old days, back in '93 when this town was filled with teal.

Or in '97 when strangers were walking up to each other and talking about the championship and the heroics. Teal everywhere.

Or in 2003, when the might Marlins overcame the juggernaut that was the New York Yankees.

This franchise has deserved this day - but it has been a long time coming. And it has cost the Marlins greatly. Just ask Mike Lowell, Josh Beckett, Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. Just ask Jeff Conine, who has been here for practically every watershed moment in Marlins history.

What took so long?!

The Marlins are staying put. They are safe at home. Now we get to see what it is like to have a franchise with a future, and not a death sentence. Now we get to expect things - like Hanley Ramirez having a career as a Marlin, or bigger payrolls. We can expect to see Maybin develop and grow into the phenom he is. We can expect to sign free agents - maybe even see a return of old, familiar faces when they hit the market. Maybe Dontrelle Willis comes back to Miami?

Things have changed. This day has been a pivotal point for Marlin fans. We Marlin fans have been watching every game we can on TV - in fact, the networks noticed and that is why, despite trading away Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis 150 games will be televised this season.

You can also expect that those ratings will translate into a steady, and rabid, fan base that will turn out at the games. That is, when the new park is built.

But this also helps for the immediate future. Gone is the anxiety, replaced with hope and expectation. Now Marlin fans no longer have to think about supporting another franchise - since their home franchise is just a transient, like the rest of the snowbirds only here temporary. This team is here to stay. This now puts pressure in the right places - on the franchise to spend the money they will be making and on the fans to go to the games because they will have a brand new and exciting facility to attend games at. And they won't need their umbrellas and rain coats.

Indeed, it won't rain on the Marlins franchise ever again. They have a roof. And now, they can act like every other franchise - to the hope or dismay of its fanbase.