As the Red Sox and the Twins finish their series this afternoon at Fenway, I can't help but wonder what real Marlin fans think about the match up.Josh Beckett and Livan Hernandez...
2003 World Series MVP versus the 1997 NLCS and World Series MVP.
The man who shut down the Cubs and then clinched the World Series at Yankee Stadium against the big guy who kept winning games with the help of his nasty stuff and Eric Gregg's strike zone which was as wide as... well.... Eric Gregg.
Is their nostalgia?
Is their bitterness?
Is their resignation?
Or have you all just moved on?
Is that part of being a Marlins fan? Knowing that the post season heroes will go away?
Or are you more concerned with Dan Uggla, Hanley Ramirez et al getting THEIR World Series rings before leaving town?
Sully Baseball is just curious
Sully,
ReplyDeleteA few thoughts.
We live in the era of free agency and player movement. The Marlins are not unique in that situation though the amount of player movement with the Marlins is unique. I mean you can field an incredible team with former Marlins players. And you could have an incredible all-time time with players that wore the Marlins uniform. Sheffield, Trevor Hoffman, Derek Lee, etc. We learn to live with it like you learned to live without Johnny Damon.
Secondly, despite the fact that the Twins and Red Sox have a better record than the Marlins, the Marlins are closer to the division lead. That makes it easier to accept that players have moved on. We would have no Hanley if not for Beckett.
I love all the former Marlin players that had a part in the team's past success and obviously I think the Marlins would be better today if we could instantly add Beckett and Hernandez but I could also argue that we'd be better if Josh Johnson and Annibal Sanchez were healthy and in mid-season form.
I think the mostly untold story here is how the Marlins have decided to make runs at the playoffs every few years, in cycles, instead of trying to establish a core team to be together for 7-10 years. I mean if you consider that the Red Sox and Marlins have won the same number of World Series since 1993, when the Marlins started, you might have to concede that there's more than one way to slice an apple.
Are there Marlin fans?
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