All Work and No Baseball…

Have you guys ever heard the proverb “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy?” No one knows for sure when this proverb first appeared but its modern version is credited to James Howell’s “Proverbs in English, Italian, French and Spanish,” written in 1659. However, this saying is most know for its mention in the 1980 film The Shining. The Shining is about a writer and his family winter caretaking a hotel with the idea of using the hotel’s solitude to work on his writing. He can’t come up with anything to write and some stuff happens, but I don’t want to ruin it for people so go rent the movie.  Well this was my tweet on 1/26/13 at 10:35 pm: “ALL WORK AND NO BASEBALL MAKES ANDY A DULL BOY ALL WORK AND NO BASEBALL MAKES ANDY A DULL BOY ALL WORK AND NO BASEBALL MAKES ANDY A DULL BOY!”

For those who have seen the movie, don’t worry I’m not going to get frozen today, I live in Florida. What does this history lesson in literature and film have to do with baseball? Well… I miss baseball so much! In the baseball offseason I get so bored that I try to find anything to keep my baseball “fix” going. This past season the World Series ended on October 28, 2012 and Opening Day will be on March 31, 2013. That is 154 days of baseball offseason! Now granted there are the Winter Meetings, free agencies, trading, and Spring Training, but at times there is nothing baseball! So what should you do to get your baseball “fix” when there is no baseball to watch? Luckily there is some great Marlins History just a click away!

Sept. 30, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; A general view of Marlins Park before a game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Miami Marlins. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Watch the series of Steve Bartman stories.

The 2003 National League Series, what a series! Marlins storming back from 3 games to 1 to win it all in game 7. People don’t seem to remember how great of a series this was. Everyone just remembers two words: Steve Bartman! So much hatred (unless you’re a Marlins fan) for just one man. All he was doing was just going for a foul ball like any fan would do and he became the new goat of the Chicago Cubs. I truly feel bad for the guy, and here’s why. Go and watch “ESPN 30 for 30 Catching Hell.” This is a great version of the Steve Bartman tale, and without giving anything away puts Steve in a very good light. The next one to watch is “The Top 5 Reasons You Can’t Blame Steve Bartman for the Cubs’ 2003 playoff collapse.” ESPN Classic does a great job trying to prove that Steve was not to blame for the Cubs losing the Series to the Marlins. The final one on this list is “MLB’s 20 Greatest Games #7 Marlins vs. Cubs Game 6 NLCS.” Anything that has Mike Lowell and Jack McKeon in it talking about the 2003 Marlins is worth a watch; especially hearing Bob Costa getting on Alex Gonzalez case for his error in the game. It’s a great piece of work. So after you’ve finished watching those, what else is there to do?

Break out your VHS Player and watch the 1997 World Series Official Video: Florida Marlins vs. Cleveland Indians.

You want to talk about reliving my childhood, this was the first time I had ever seen any of my hometown teams win a championship. I remember being in my room late at night, watching this game go on and on and hoping beyond hope that it would end in our favor. Then, in the bottom of the 11^th, Édgar Rentería hit that ball into center field scoring Craig Counsell for the Marlins first ever World Series Championship. This video lets me keep reliving my childhood. I never get bored with it. But why stop there?

Pop in the 2003 World Series Video – New York Yankees vs. Florida Marlins.

If you’re a true baseball fan, you really hate the Yankees. I enjoy so much when they fail (please don’t tell my wife or father-law that). What better way to show that failure than in the 2003 World Series. This was the only time in MLB history that a team other than the Yankees won the Series in Yankee Stadium. In the 40 times the Yankees have been to the World Series, only once did they lose it all in Yankees Stadium, and it was to our Florida Marlins. What a great DVD to watch.

Those are just a few things you can watch over the offseason. I can go on and on of other things you can do to get your Marlins “fix” during the offseason.  The Marlins have so much history in there 20 years. There is so much you can pull from to get you hyped up for the upcoming season. Besides, you can always come back to marlinmaniac.com and read some more great articles by myself, Geoff Parkins, Alex Agueros, and Ehsan Kassim for your baseball “fix.”