April 14, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria before a game against the Houston Astros at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

September 11, 2011; Landover, MD, USA; Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder stands on the field prior to the game against the New York Giants at FedEx Field. The Redskins won 28-14. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-US PRESSWIRE

In a presser a couple of days ago, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria promised that he would “figure out what went wrong and how to go about rectifying it. And we will.” As a lifetime Washington Redskins fan, statements like that are cause for a fog of despair and gloom to settle on my normally sunny outlook.  Y’see, I’ve lived through the Dan Snyder horror show.  When I see owners start talking about how they intend to “fix” losing teams, I can’t help but replay the litany of errors Redskins fans have endured since 1999.  In November of 2010, the Washington City Paper published a breakdown of some of Snyder’s somewhat colorful and checkered history in the corner office at Redskins Park.

When Earvin Johnson put together his dream team syndicate to purchase the Dodgers from Nemesis-grade owner Frank McCourt,  he made sure that a real baseball guy was part of the group.  Guggenheim Partners put up most of the money, but Stan Kasten is the guy that really runs the show. Snyder, lacking any experience in actual football beyond being a fan, has put together a master class on how to grind one of the most loyal fan bases in football into the dirt.  Over the period between 2003-2009, the Redskins have slipped in nationwide popularity from #6 to #17.  A hallmark of Snyder’s tenure has been his influence on roster decisions, mostly through then-GM Vinny Cerrato.  Sometimes it looks like Jeffery Loria is taking a page out of Snyder’s playbook, with arbitrary roster moves handed down from the non-baseball team of Loria and Samson.

For fun, here is a comparison of Snyder and Loria:

However, I urge caution and reflection before running out to the garage to find the pitchfork and that old torch.  There still isn’t a smoking gun that explains why so many of our starters and new acquisitions suddenly had back-of-the-bell-curve seasons. I’d argue that over the course of this season, the only actual disappointment/bad offseason move has been Heath Bell, and mostly for the weakness he’s shown in his slump. Seriously…blaming your catcher? In the meantime, Loria has cleared away some salary and traded away some bad clubhouse juju, and has put together a pitching staff that is starting to look very good. Aging rental player Carlos Lee is doing exactly what we’ve asked of him. Giancarlo Stanton is headed to the firmament, and will get there in a Marlins uniform.

Although Loria has made a number of moves that have seriously pissed off Marlins fans over the years, he’s Bush League in comparison to Snyder.

Showing signs of an offense with a pulse, the hot-hitting Miami Marlins face the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second game of a four-game series.

Ricky Nolasco is slated to face Trevor Cahill in tonight’s game.  Nolasco has done well against the D-Backs. In seven starts, he has a 5-2 record with a 4.14 ERA. Cahill has only faced the Marlins once, a no-decision game when he was with the A’s.

The excitement for this game will be the Marlins offense.  Giancarlo Stanton has now registered home runs in the last 5 consecutive games, including a line drive shot in Colorado that measured 494 official feet, and a tall shot that wound up in the Colorado parking lot.  Broken scoreboards, car windshields….Stanton has a promising career ahead of him as a vandal.  What’s next?

Carlos Lee has been an RBI machine, and Emilio Bonifacio, with his 30 stolen bases, is also looking for a headline appearance at the Post Office.

Catch the game on Fox Sports Florida tonight at 9:40 PM, or on the radio at 790 WAXY. It’s Twitter Tuesday on FS Florida, so look for a Tweet from yours truly, @MarlinManiac.

August 20, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Miami Marlins catcher

Days like this and months like May are glimpses of the potential that we Marlins fans have been looking for all season long. How nice it was to see our guys come out and dominate a pitching staff!

Last night, the Marlins beat the Diamondbacks, 12-3. Giancarlo Stanton sent two over the fence, bringing him to five consecutive games with a round-tripper. Justin Ruggiano and John Buck also hit the long ball, and as a team, the Marlins logged 20 hits in the game, a feat not seen by Fish fans since July of 2008.

Mark Buehrle led the defense, going a full seven innings. He only gave up two earned runs on six hits, yielding no walks while striking out four. The relief was handled by Chris Hatcher, rocking his Clew Haywood for two innings, yielded one earned run on three hits.  Buehrle went walkabout from the bench to stay loose during the marathon 12-batter fourth inning.

The focus for the game, however, needs to stay on the offense.  John Buck (!) and Jose Reyes both went 4-5 on the night, and Carlos Lee went 3-5.  The only walk drawn was by Donovan Solano. None of the Arizona pitchers lasted more than 3 2/3 innings. In the fourth inning alone, the Marlins logged ten hits, as Carlos Lee actually registered a hit before getting thrown out at second on an 8-2-4 gotcha play. Lee now has 30 RBI’s in 42 games as a Marlin.

Gorkys Hernandez, Bryan Petersen, and Mark Buehrle were the only Marlins that didn’t get at least one base hit.

Coming off the heels of two 6-5 wins in a series split with Colorado, the Marlins are continuing to perform well in the NL East.

August 5, 2012;Washington D. C., USA; Miami Marlins pitcher

A rough second inning set the stage for a win for the Nationals today, despite a six-inning effort by Ricky Nolasco.  Yielding a two-run base hit to Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, the second inning of the game proved to be the undoing of the Marlins in the matinee matchup.

Greg Dobbs put the only Miami run on the scoreboard, doubling to put Carlos Lee across the plate from second base.  While Lee has established a respectable streak in his own right, the distance from second to home looked daunting for the plus-sized first baseman. All ended well, as Lee was able to galumph his way to a standup RBI.

On the defensive side of the game, In a night of fours, Nolasco threw four strikeouts, four walks, and four earned runs in an unremarkable, yet thankfully long 6-inning appearance.

Chad Gaudin and Steve Cishek came out of the bullpen to hold the Nationals scoreless outside of the awful second inning.

Offensively, base hits by Jose Reyes and Carlos Lee continued streaks.  In Reyes’ case, it’s a streak that is gaining national attention, as it’s the longest streak in baseball, and one game shy of Kevin Millar’s third place 2002 25-hit streak for Marlins club history. Carlos Lee is up to 11 games in a row, and continues to deliver the goods necessary for the Marlins to break above the 3-run limit that has plagued the team for the first three months of the season.

Tomorrow is a day off as the Marlins take a train to Flushing for Matt LeBlanc to face Jon Niece’s Mets.  Personally, I’m good with the day off, as I’m out of town on vacation, visiting my brother in the wilds of Tarheel country. The beer is running like the tides at Scapa Flow, and I’m catching the worst of the debate as my Marlins continue to struggle.

August 4, 2012;Washington D. C., USA;Miami Marlins second baseman

So…it looked like we were on our way to the second win in a row against one of the top three teams in baseball.  We had ‘em on the ropes, as a matter of fact.  But then… Reliever Mike Dunn flat-out blundered. On a crappy, basic PFP-drill flip from Carlos Lee to the covering pitcher, Dunn opened the door to a brutal six-run eighth inning that deflated, demoralized, and discombobulated what looked like a nice win for the Fish.

In a year where five of the starters fell far short of even modest expectations, tonight’s game was simply another nail in the coffin of what has turned into a season of difficult to swallow disappointments.

And yet, the Marlins still have promise, just maybe not for this year.  Rumors have been circulating around the possibility of a trade of Heath Bell and John Buck for the Mets’ Jason Bay.  The deal would be a benefit for both clubs, and both Bell and Buck are thought to be likely to clear waivers. It remains to be seen if Beinfest and Alderson can come to terms.

Jose Reyes extended his streak to 23 games, and Giancarlo Stanton is still slated to return from the DL on Tuesday.  It appears that as the starting rotation heads into a slump, the slumping bats are waking up and delivering the base hits that have thus far been AWOL.

Sunday’s matinee game features Ricky Nolasco facing Stephen Strasburg.  This will be the third time the Marlins have faced Strasburg this season, and we have yet to score a run on him.  Let’s hope today breaks that streak.

Prediction: Marlins by two in an upset.