Miami Marlins: Keeping Up With The Embarrassment’s

May 21, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jose Fernandez (16) reacts during the fourth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Growing up as a South Florida sports fan is no easy task. All four major sports teams in South Florida have recently had their fare-share of struggles. Whether it was the 2007 Miami Dolphins who went 1-15, the 2007 Miami Heat who went 15-67, or this year’s Florida Panthers who finished the season 15-27, being a sports fan of the four major teams in South Florida isn’t always a walk in the park. Even though those three teams have had their own problems over the past couple of years, nothing compares to this year’s Miami Marlins baseball team.

When the Florida Marlins switched to the Miami Marlins, hope was restored in the South Florida baseball community. With the move, the fans were not only treated to an absolutely gorgeous new ballpark, but also a complete roster overhaul highlighted by the signings of former MVP Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Heath Bell and former World Series winning manager, Ozzie Guillen. With major pieces already in place, many believed that the Miami Marlins would contend for the World Series. Unfortunately, we all know what happened, and a World Series berth was the furthest thing from what everyone was predicting. The Marlins finished off last season with one of the worst records in all of baseball.

Not only did the team fail on the field, they also were just as miserable off it. Early on in the season the team suspended Guillen for comments that he made towards Dictator Fidel Castro. After epically failing on the field, team owner Jeffrey Loria decided to not only fire Guillen, but basically fire the entire roster. Players such as Jose Reyes, Heath Bell, Josh Johnson, Anibal Sanchez, and Hanley Ramirez were all shipped out of Miami, leaving the team with one lone potential All-Star, Giancarlo Stanton.

This past offseason the Marlins front office did absolutely nothing to prevent another year of futility. Nothing was done to help make the current players happy. When the Marlins and the Toronto Blue Jays made their controversial trade in November, all I remember was Giancarlo Stanton and Logan Morrison’s separate tweets.

Stanton tweeted:

While Morrison’s tweet read:

Clearly, Loria did not care about what his current players thought about the trade. It later came out that he even told Jose Reyes to buy a house because he wasn’t going to be leaving Miami anytime soon.

Fast forward to now…. May 30^th, 2013. The Miami Marlins are the worst team in baseball. What a surprise, right? After everything that has happened in the past two years, the Marlins have managed to find a way to fail literally everyone who has any affiliation to the franchise. Whether it’s a fan, a player, a bat boy or the people who check your tickets, the Marlins have managed to find a way to piss everyone off.

If you look at this team now, what do you see? I see nothing; absolutely nothing. Sure, there have been a couple of bright spots on this team, but what does that mean? To me, it doesn’t mean much. If you look at this roster, all you see is a bunch of young guys who are lacking direction. Other than Joe Espada (who should be the manager), there isn’t much experience on this coaching staff.

It’s hard being a fan of this team. Sure, it’s always an experience going to a ball-game; however, it is really hard to spend money on tickets and merchandise, when the owner himself could care less about the team. Imagine being a young player on this team and going out to take the field and being able to count how many people are in the stands. It must crush their confidence. Now, I’m not an expert on baseball by any means necessary, but something has to be done. It sucks to think that this season isn’t even half way over.

With the team now in the midst of an eight game losing streak, I am continuing to lose faith in everything about this ball-club. Even with that being said, I am still rooting for this team and I hope that they can get out of this era. It’s hard to watch and be a part of. Hopefully Loria fires himself when the season is over, wouldn’t that be nice?

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