Sep 30th 2008 4:15PM by Eamonn Brennan (author feed)

There’s nothing harmless in “hazing”, so long as it doesn’t turn into capital H, high-school-football-team-with-broomhandles Hazing. While that sort of stuff might still happen in small places among youth athletes, one doubts it ever happens among the pros. One hopes not, anyway.

But even among professional hazing, the Marlins version — as seen above — is especially friendly. A few funny costumes, like the Burger King dude, Captain America, and so on, and some wandering around on busy city streets. That barely qualifies as hazing.

Maybe it’s just because everybody on the Marlins is so young. Technically, everyone’s kind of a rookie. Who hazes the hazers?

Sep 28th 2008 10:00AM by Mullet (author feed)

Little did these furry creatures know back when this friendly picture was taken that they would be fighting to the death just two and a half short months later on the last day of the season … albeit in different cities. But with the White Sox and Twins both refusing to the chokeslam down on their respective weekend opponents (the Indians and the Royals), this divisional fight to the death is looking like what you would expect a fight between furry mascots to look like: sloppy, clumsy, and downright hilarious.

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Sep 27th 2008 10:00AM by Mullet (author feed)

They couldn’t possibly do this again, could they?

Of course they could. You know they could. And your New York Mets know gosh darn well they could choke away another season … especially after another lifeless late season loss to the Florida Marlins (who are now basing the success of their season on knocking the Mets out of the playoffs … mature) and a Brewers victory which puts the Mets one game behind the wild card lead, and one game closer to another disastrous ending. So in response, the Mets are bringing back Johan Santana on three days rest to try to extend the season to Sunday. Of course, if they get to Sunday still alive, who will pitch then? Jon Niese? Brandon Knight? Frank Viola? Jesus?

That’s silly. Everyone knows that Jesus would be in the bullpen because the Mets pen is so horrible. (And, you know … Jesus saves.)

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Sep 21st 2008 10:00AM by Mullet (author feed)

There was a lot of wondering as to why the Yankees couldn’t have the last game at Yankee Stadium on the last game of the season instead of having to play a whole week on the road afterwards. Some of that wondering came from the good folks at ESPN. But here’s the rub: If the Yankees closed out the season at home, their final game at the Stadium would have been a daytime affair since recent history shows that the last day of the season doesn’t include an ESPN Sunday night game (most likely to keep things fair for playoff teams and making sure they all get the same amount of rest and travel time). The way it is now, the final game in the House That Ruth Built And Steinbrenner Renovated gets the spotlight all to itself tonight on the very same network that wondered the schedule makers didn’t have the Yankees close out the season in the Bronx against Boston.

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Sep 18th 2008 4:36AM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)

The Brewers finally stopped the bleeding Wednesday night, beating the Cubs to end a five-game winning streak and keeping pace with the Mets, who were also victorious, in the wild-card race. But they might be worse off anyway. Ben Sheets left the game after two innings with stiffness in his forearm. After the game, Sheets revealed he has been battling elbow soreness since late August — describing it as a “cutting” sensation.

Yikes. Considering this is a team that just couldn’t go on with its manager with two weeks left in the season and the wild-card lead, it’s hard to imagine that the possibility one of its best pitchers being out indefinitely will go over well. Milwaukee has already made its panic move by firing Ned Yost. Now they’re really in trouble, right?

Yes and no. Sheets was slated to make two more starts this season. If he can’t make either, you’d be hard-pressed to argue that the Brewers have a better chance at qualifying for the postseason than they did yesterday. That doesn’t mean we should bury them entirely, though.

After all, it’s only two starts. Sure, maybe they’re two of the biggest starts in a quarter century for the franchise, but how many mediocre pitchers, even terrible pitchers, have strung together two good starts in a row in the major leagues. Heck, Carl Pavano even won two consecutive starts at the end of last month.

Stars are born this time of year, but so are unlikely heroes who rise to the occasion at the right moment then fade into baseball oblivion. (See: Spencer, Shane.) Carlos Villanueva or Seth McClung would be in line to start should Sheets be unable to go, and both are capable of turning in a good start or two.

There have been plenty of histrionics about the Mets and Brewers collapsing, but odds are one of those teams is going to the postseason anyway. With or without Sheets, there’s no reason it can’t be Milwaukee.Continue Reading

Sep 10th 2008 2:59PM by Eamonn Brennan (author feed)
The Marlins have been battling with their local municipality over a new park for months now. It’s clear the Marlins need somewhere else to play — Dolphins Stadium is not only a horrible place for a baseball game, its expanses of empty seats are downright depressing. So Jeffrey Loria, Marlins owner and notorious payroll tightwad, is battling for public funding for the stadium. On Tuesday, he got one step closer to that sweet, sweet taxpayer cash: Miami-Dade County Circuit Court Judge Jeri Beth Cohen ruled that a new ballpark for the Marlins indeed would serve a “public purpose.”
“This is a critical step in securing the long-term future of Major League Baseball in Miami,” Loria said in his statement. “We will proceed immediately to finalize discussions with the County and the City to put in place all the long-awaited final agreements. “We look forward to the Marlins playing in the new ballpark for generations to come.”
Of course Loria’s thrilled — this decision makes him six-for-six in the lawsuit battle, and means he has but one final legal hurdle to clear before the deal is done. When he wins, Miami-Dade County taxpayers will foot the bill for a $515 million retractable-roof baseball stadium that they may or may not even want.

The fallacy that baseball parks spur economic boosts has long been debunked, most notably in Baseball Prospectus’ . Loria has countered such claims by saying that the three-year construction cycle will produce 2,000 jobs for the community, and though that’s true, as Shysterball notes, those same 2,000 jobs would pop up if Loria built the stadium privately. The Marlins need a new baseball stadium, sure. Whether that new stadium will help anyone but Jeff Loria is highly doubtful.

Sep 4th 2008 5:13PM by Eamonn Brennan (author feed)
It’s true, it’s true: The Florida Marlins, long the victims of bad baseball (except when they win the World Series) and even worse stadium accomodations, do not provide a draw to fans in beautiful Miami, Florida. But rarely are the fans so noticeably absent as they were last night. From the Orlando Sun-Sentinel: That’s what reliever Joe Nelson and two other Marlins’ players, whose identities he loyally protected, did before the opening pitch of Florida’s 5-3 win against the Atlanta Braves. Each picked a section of Dolphin Stadium and scanned for fans. Nelson guessed 418. The official count came up with 584 fans, five fewer than the media accounted for.

“You guys might have had a better view,” Nelson said, referring to the smallest crowd at Dolphin Stadium since 375 came out last Sept. 13. “We had a few friendly jokes about how many people would be here. It was actually higher than I anticipated.” 584 fans. Terrible. Sarah Palin had more family members in the XCel Center last night, though, granted, some of them were unpaid. (Politcal humor!)

Beyond the park and the baseball, though, I suppose I can see why baseball fans don’t necessarily dedicate themselves to nine innings at the ol’ ballfarm. The fact that Miami Beach is so very close nearby would be my first. In the north, baseball is a celebration of the fact that you can merely sit outdoors for more than three minutes. In Miami, the distinctions aren’t quite the same.

Sep 1st 2008 7:00AM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)
With the playoff chase coming down to the wire, our MLB editor rounds up the five biggest pennant race stories in Eye Toward October.

The rosters expand from 25 to 40 today, allowing clubs that have fallen out of contention to give their younger players a taste of the majors and giving contenders the chance to add another bullpen arm or bench bat for the stretch run.

A few players to keep an eye on that could actually contribute to contenders down the stretch:

- Should give Arizona a much-needed left-handed bullpen arm for the final month.
Could get a spot start or two.

Shortstop Alcides Escobar has gotten a little more buzz, but Gamel could be in the platoon mix with Bill Hall and Russell Branyan plenty over the final month.

He’s starting against Milwaukee on Tuesday.

Phil Humber One of the players acquired by Minnesota in the Johan Santana deal, Humber will start out in the bullpen, which hasn’t been as strong as the Twins would like, but he could also make a spot start if needed.

Whither David Price? As Pat Lackey pointed out last week, he might not be as ready as most people think. Jaso has a gaudy .820 OPS at Triple-A Durham, and with Dioner Navarro nursing the bumps and bruises of a long season, he could spell the catcher effectively.Continue Reading

Aug 30th 2008 10:00AM by Mullet (author feed)

Hey, why not? Beltran’s in Florida, just like Chad Johnson was when he changed his name. And after last night’s grand slam against the Marlins to cap a ninth inning rally which started with two outs and nobody on, Carlos Beltran can give himself a cool nickname like Uno Cinco and then take a trip to Broward and get that name changed. Of course, I’m sure that Uno Cinco would have much rather done what he did last night against Adam Wainwright in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS, but that’s being picky.

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Aug 25th 2008 7:30PM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)

Somehow, only five weeks remain in the baseball season. Other than injuries, a contending team’s schedule might be the biggest factor in determining which teams get a shot at postseason glory and which spend October on the golf course.

The following is a quick breakdown of what the NL teams still fighting for a playoff spot will face over the season’s final weeks. Brewers

There are plenty of bottom-feeding clubs left on Milwaukee’s schedule. The Brewers will play six against the Pirates and Reds as well as four against the Padres down the stretch. In all, 16 of their final 31 games will be against sub-.500 competition. In addition, they only face the Cardinals — the team chasing them in the wild-card race — two more times.

The Brew Crew still have six games left against the Cubs, including a three-game set to finish the season. Milwaukee might want to lock up the wild card before that final series.

Key Stretch: From Sept. 11-21, Milwaukee will embark on its final road trip of the season. The Brewers will head to Philadelphia for four games and then Wrigley Field for three before ending the trip in Cincinnati. They’ll have a chance to catch the Cubs over the final 2 1/2 weeks of the season, but if they take care of business, the NL Central title should be a point of pride more than anything else.Continue Reading