Ditto the Panthers where, in an eerie twist, they upset heavily favored conference foes only to lose in the Stanley Cup finals to the Golden Knights in – you guessed it – five games. Next on the sports calendar were supposed to be the Dolphins, whose off-season moves and past-season success certainly suggested more was in the offing this coming year. Division title? Yes. Conference championship appearance? Why not. Super Bowl? Who knows? Except someone forgot to tell baseball’s Miami Marlins, the perennial red-headed stepchild of the South Florida sports landscape.
For years the Marlins toiled in whatever’s beyond obscurity, in no one’s mind except for two magic years when they won World Series titles, despite not even winning their own division. New owner? No difference. New stadium? Nobody cared. Exciting new players were brought to the major league level, and that development was almost always met with a collective yawn. Not anymore. Perhaps piggybacking on the success of their two regional competitors, the Marlins got hot in mid-May and have yet to cool off. As of the date of this writing, and with the All-Star break upon us, your local ballers have the second-best record in the National League – and I mean the whole league. They are in solid position to gain a wild card berth, and maybe even host a series. True, they do trail division rival Atlanta by 8.5 games, but there is a lot of baseball still to be played. Meanwhile, ticket sales have jumped (even for the non-glamor opponents), enthusiasm among fans remains high, and the buzz around town was: hey, this baseball team of ours is pretty good!
So what happened? Well, for starters – it’s the starters. As in starting pitching. As in what is the engine of any successful, playoff-caliber baseball team? Beginning with reigning Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantera, now rounding into form after a decidedly mediocre start to his season. Number two starter Jesus Luzardo, a sure-fire ace on any other staff (and local high school product) has been very effective, despite less-than-overwhelming statistics. Completing the staff are Braxton Garrett, Edward Cabrera and rookie phenom Eury Perez; A.J. Puk and Tanner Scott have done an admirable job of holding down the bullpen. Offensively, always a question mark for this team, the lead story continues to be to be Luis Arraez.
Acquired from Minnesota in an off-season deal, Arraez has people reaching for the record books as he flirts with hitting .400, something not seen in 82 years! The muscle is supplied by Jorge Soler, a disappointment last year, but now a hitter who’s found his power stroke and leads the team with 23 home runs. Mix in a group of veterans and talented young players, astutely managed by rookie skipper Skip Schumaker, and you have the makings of a terrific sports story.
My late friend Jorge Vinas used to say about attending a baseball game, “it’s a sweet crowd” – meaning it’s not the rough and tumble of an NFL, or even NBA contest. Check it out for yourselves: it’s fun, exciting, meaningful – and come October – it may even be titleworthy.
Play ball!
