The Ultimate Marlins Fan Crashes The MLB Fan Cave: Part 3

Let me tell you a story about a legendary ninja. This mythical ninja can throw a fire ball at super human speed. Some say he is 10 feet tall (he’s actually 6’5), weighing over 1000 pounds (200 lbs), and has ice water running through his veins (okay that one might be true). This Herculean ninja’s name is Steve Cishek! Why is Cishek a ninja? Well welcome to part 3 of my trip to the Fan Cave. Let’s find out why Cishek is a ninja.

After the Marlins players gave me my bag of goodies, they stuck around for a while because Derek Dietrich was stopping by. Oh you could see the wheels turning in Cishek’s head; Cishek asked if there was anywhere he could hide and scare Dietrich. Ben, the Reds Dweller, said that he has a ninja suit upstairs. Cishek was off! I went with Mike Dunn to play off to play some PS3, and halfway through the second inning we see this towering man in a ninja suit come down the stairs. Oh my gosh, it was a sight to see! This 6’5 man in this ninja suit was just a hysterical site.

While we waited for Dietrich to show up we went to the Table Tennis room and played a few games. First up was Ninja Cishek vs Dan Jennings.  The Dwellers and I couldn’t stop laughing over the sight of Ninja Cishek playing this game. Him and his ninja-like reflexes kept Jennings on the ropes, but nothing could take down Jennings. Jennings won and guess who got to face him next? That’s right, me. I loved what he said to me, “Don’t worry I’ll go easy on you.” HA! First serve he hit to me I had no chance of returning. Yea thanks for going easy on me (it was fun though). As Jennings was winning 9-0 in comes Dietrich. Everyone to their spots!

The Dwellers and myself went to the front door to welcome Dietrich, while the players went and hid. When I showed up Dietrich was so happy to see me in my Marlins outfit that he gave me a big bear hug! We talked a little bit and we began his tour of the Fan Cave. First was the dirt bar, then the paintings, followed by The Command Center, the wall filled with signed baseballs, and then to the Table Tennis Room were…… WHAM NINJA CISHEK! Dietrich jumped up and was startled a little, but when he calmed down his first words were “Oh Cishek”. We all had a good laugh and Dietrich was a really good sport. We played a little Table Tennis and the other players left after Cishek got out of the ninja outfit. We said our goodbyes, and it was off to the VIP room for some pastrami with Dietrich.

As we stood around the buffet Dietrich began telling us stories about playing in High School, playing in the minors, how much he appreciates his fans, and that what he does isn’t work. That he loves to wake up every morning and go play a sport he loves. He is a very classy guy. April, the Blue Jays fan, asked Dietrich if it was true that at last year’s Minor League All Star Game he juggled three baseball bats. He said yes it was. We asked what else he juggles. Back upstairs we go!

Feb 22, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; Miami Marlins player Derek Dietrich (72) poses for a picture during photo day at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

While we waited for the Cave workers to find things for him to juggle, he told juggling stories from his past. Did you know that he has juggled razor sharp machete and chainsaw before? How awesome is that! The Cave found some pool balls for him, and the juggling lesson began! Afterwards he showed us some nice tricks and then he juggled 6 pool balls! He is an amazing juggler! After his juggling was done he filmed a few short segments including reading several lines from The Sandlot. When all the filming was done he said his goodbyes to us all. Dietrich is a genuinely nice guy and you could tell he was having so much fun. All four of the Marlins Player were really great guys to be around!

First day is almost over. Join me next time as I talk about the filming for my segment on MLBFanCave.com and what it was to watch 15 tvs playing all the baseball games of the day. Till next time… Let’s Go Marlins.