Happy Monday to all. Later in this blog, my reply and answer to Jeffrey Loria’s letter to the Marlins Fans.
The Miami Heat had two difficult games over the weekend to try and keep their winning streak going. They had 12 victories in a row coming in to Friday night’s encounter with the Memphis Grizzlies and Sunday’s matinee against the New York Knicks. Make it 14 in a row for the Heat, after they defeated the Grizzlies 98-91 and the Knicks yesterday 99-93. On Friday, the Heat responded even with LeBron James having an incredibly rare rough night. LeBron’s “bad nights” are better than most humans’ great nights, as he still finished two rebounds shy of a triple double, with 18 points, 10 assists, and eight boards. Dwyane Wade picked up the slack, scoring 22 points, while Shane Battier and Ray Allen scored 14 and 10 respectively off the bench to give Miami the victory. Yesterday afternoon, it was a very different story as Miami fell behind by as many as 16 points, 14 at halftime. LeBron finished with 29 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists as the Heat were able to tie their all-time franchise record with 14 wins in a row. Dwyane Wade scored 20 points and had 8 rebounds and assists. Chris Bosh finished with 16 points, and Shane Battier hit all four of his three-point attempts to finish with 12 points. Quick turnaround, as immediately after the game, the team left for Minneapolis, where they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves. Tipoff tonight is 8:00 pm, and you can watch the Heat try and set a new franchise record for consecutive victories on Sun Sports or on NBA-TV. The Heat then return to Miami to take on the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, and the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: The Heat have the opportunity to extend their winning streak to 15 straight, which would set a franchise record. What is the longest winning ever in the NBA? Tell you later, alligator.
In the NBA yesterday,
Sacramento 119 Charlotte 83
John Salmons had 22 points, Jason Thompson and Marcus Thornton added 18 points each.
Memphis 108 Orlando 82
Tayshaun Prince scores 14 points, Marc Gasol added 12 points and 11 assists. Orlando is just 4-31 since December 20th.
Washington 90 Philadelphia 87
John Wall scored the final six points of the game to give the Wizards the win.
Oklahoma City 108 LA Clippers 104
Big game for Russell Westbrook, who finished with 29 points and ten assists. Kevin Durant led the way with 35 points for the Thunder.
Indiana 97 Chicago 92
David West scored 31 points and pulled down seven rebounds, George Hill added 21 points, six rebounds, and five assists. The Pacers have won seven of their last eight games.
San Antonio 114 Detroit 75
Tim Duncan had 16 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and five blocked shots.
Houston 136 Dallas 103
Chandler Parsons scored 32 points, James Harden added 21.
LA Lakers 99 Atlanta 98
The Lakers are back at .500, with a 30-30 record and are 2 1/2 games behind the Houston Rockets for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.
TONIGHT IN THE NBA:
Miami @ Minnesota 8:00 pm Sun Sports, NBA-TV
New York @ Cleveland 7:00 pm
Utah @ Milwaukee 8:00 pm
Orlando @ New Orleans 8:00 pm
Atlanta @ Denver 9:00 pm
Charlotte @ Portland 10:00 pm
Toronto @ Golden State 10:30 pm
Here is ESPN.com giving valuable space and way too much time to former NBA nut-case Dennis Rodman, who discusses his trip and new-found friendship and admiration for North Korean dictator Kin Jong Un.
In college hoops, the #5 University of Miami Hurricanes battled #3 Duke to the very end, falling to the Blue Devils 79-76. Tough loss for the Canes, but they have to erase that one from their minds very quickly, as they prepare to take on Georgia Tech at the BankUnited Center on Wednesday night. A win over the Yellow Jackets will clinch Miami’s first basketball conference championship in their history.
The FIU Panthers looked flat against Florida Atlantic at Boca Raton, and lost to the Owls in the regular season finale, 77-60. The Panthers will next head to Hot Springs, Arkansas, to take part in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, where they are the #4 seed. They will play Arkansas-Little Rock, the #5 seed, on Saturday, March 9 at 8:00 pm.
In college baseball, FIU was swept by #8 Ole Miss in a three game series here at home. The Panthers fall to 7-5, and will next take on Stetson up in Deland, FL on Wednesday. It gets even harder next weekend when perennial powerhouse Rice comes in for a visit. Meanwhile, the University of Miami lost two out of three against the Gators in Gainesville. The Canes return home for a pair of midweek encounters - Tuesday night against the University of Maine, and Central Florida on Wednesday. First pitch for both those games is 6:00 pm.
THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: The Heat have the opportunity to extend their winning streak to 15 straight, which would set a franchise record. What is the longest winning ever in the NBA?
Miami has a LOOOOONG way to go to catch the Los Angeles Lakers, who won a mind-boggling 33 games in a row during the 1971-1972 season. The Houston Rockets have the second longest streak at 22 games during the 2008 season.
In Major League exhibition baseball, the Marlins beat the New York Mets yesterday 6-4. Casey Kotchman went 3-4 and Adeiny Hechavarria had two hits and drove in two runs. The Fish are off today, and will play the Venezuelan team that will participate in the World Baseball Classic tomorrow at 1:00 pm at Jupiter.
Here are all the scores from yesterday’s spring training games. You can “click” on the box scores and the recap under each individual game’s line score.
The World Baseball Classic is off and running. Here is MLB.com’s coverage of the classic:
In case you haven’t read it yet, here is Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria “Letter to our Fans” that was published in the three South Florida major newspapers last weekend.
As I promised, here is my reply and response to Mr. Loria’s letter:
Mr. Loria:
You are totally and unequivocally to blame for this fiasco you and your minions have created. Spring training is the time of year where most baseball fans have hope for the new season, unless you live in Miami and root for the Marlins. You have sent baseball in South Florida back to the dark ages.
You state in your letter that "Losing is unacceptable to me."
Your team is 877-904 during your ownership, and from 2002 to 2011 your payrolls added up to $410.1 million, THE LOWEST IN BASEBALL. You probably should have stated “Not making money is what is not acceptable to you”. You cried poverty in the years prior to getting the stadium built, kept payroll at the poverty level, and profited quite nicely.
More from your letter:
"It's no secret that last season was not our best – actually it was one of our worst. In large part, our performance on the field stunk and something needed to be done."
REALLY? Your team lost 93 games last season. You went out and overpaid for some players, against the advice of some of your minions, and hired a crazy man as manager, a guy who was in it exclusively for the $$, didn’t really care about this team, and brought nothing but problems, both to the ball club and to the community. Of course, you fired three managers prior to that, all first-class people - Joe Girardi, Fredi Gonzalez, and Edwin Rodriguez. In case you missed it, both Fredi and Girardi had their teams in the playoffs while you and your minions were watching the post season on television. Your knee-jerk response to the season of 2012 was to gut the whole thing and start over. Understandable. The Boston Red Sox just did that as well. However, their management immediately went out and re-spent the money saved into improving the ball club on the field. You, on the other hand, are going to pocket the savings once more.
More quotes from your letter:
“The controversial trade we made with the Toronto Blue Jays was approved by Commissioner Bud Selig and has been almost universally celebrated by baseball experts outside of Miami for its value.”
"In fact, objective experts have credited us with going from the 28th ranked Minor League system in baseball to the 5th best during this period. Of the Top 100 Minor Leaguers rated by MLB Network, we have six."
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to re-stock your minor league system by trading away proven major league stars for prospects. Anyone can do that. The fact is that you and your minions let the minor league system erode to an unacceptable level. Why did your minor league system drop to 28th among all 30 teams? What is the explanation for that? By the way, your minions have misled you if you think you “robbed the Blue Jays” in the trade. In reality, you didn’t get any of the Blue Jays’ top prospects. (Travis d’Arnaud, Aaron Sanchez, Anthony Gose). Hell, you couldn’t even get them to include local product JP Arencibia. You also mentioned that the trade with the Blue Jays was approved by Commissioner Bud Light Seelig. This, sir, is not news. The last time a commissioner of baseball blocked a trade was 1976.
The trades themselves were not the problem. I understood trading Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante and agreed with trading Hanley Ramirez, although the Hanley trade should have been handled differently. You and your minions ended up trading him while his value was the lowest. Trading the oft-injured eternal prospect Josh Johnson, colossal failure John Buck, Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes, and Emilio Bonifacio all to the same team? The reasons that last year’s team lost 93 games were not Johnson, Buehrle, Reyes, and Bonifacio. Buck doesn’t count, and Toronto immediately shipped him off to the Mets after they acquired him. Reyes should have been a cornerstone here along with Giancarlo Stanton. Of course, you telling him to buy a house here a couple of days before trading him was not a nice thing to do. By the way, finding anyone to take back Heath Bell and pay his contract was a feather in the cap of Larry Beinfest and Michael Hill.
"Our plan for the year ahead is to leverage our young talent and create a homegrown roster of long-term players who can win."
I see. Who can forget your trade of Miguel Cabrera for absolutely nothing? Is that what you mean?
The truth of the matter is that you have probably pissed off Giancarlo Stanton to the point where you are going to probably end up having to trade him for much less than what his value is, or sign him for much more than what his worth is. Regardless, if you and your minions had any sense, and if you learned anything from the Cabrera fiasco, you would sign the man-child to a long-term contract extension immediately, even if you have to overpay. You should have brought another hitter to protect him in the lineup immediately. You should have already also invested in at least one veteran quality starter and added some bullpen help.
"The simple fact is that we don't have unlimited funds, nor does any baseball team or business."
The Marlins did, in fact, lose tens of millions of dollars last season. However, in the previous six seasons, according to Forbes magazine figures, the team’s combined profits were $198 million and the value of the franchise grew by over $200 million. The numbers are not completely accurate because, in fact, according to the team’s financial documents, they paid money to Double Play Company, a company run by Mr. Loria and Mr. Samson, a management fee. Basically, in addition to the profits and the increased equity, you were paying yourselves more money just to own the team.
You and your baseball minions could learn a HUGE lesson from the team on the other side of the state of Florida. How do the Tampa Bay Rays manage? They play in a stadium that should be condemned, one that fans hate to go to, yet their players are happy, and their manager is among the best, if not the best, in the business. The Rays’ major league roster is stacked, and their minor league system is the envy of most teams. BTW, can anyone out there name the owner of the Rays?
Unless your name is George Steinbrenner, it isn’t about the owner. Mr. Loria, you are not even a small fraction of what George Steinbrenner was. NOBODY wanted to win more and hated to lose more than the late Yankee owner.
You have unfortunately not lived up to the expectations of Marlins fans and have, once again, kicked us in the face. You have blamed everyone from managers to players to the fans for your failures, and you still fail to see that you and your minions are the problem. How sad is it that you had to go out and hire a new public relations firm to fix your image? (I guess the old one was to blame for your negative image). A public relations firm, regardless of who they are, are only there to take your money and tell you what is wrong with you in words that sound good to you. They do not have enough makeup in their cosmetic bag to fix your image. Bottom line, they will not be able to convince you to run your baseball team in the proper way. They, like you, will look at it strictly as a business.
I was one of the biggest supporters in getting a stadium built and am truly happy that it finally got done, regardless of what the naysayers think. Building Marlins Park was a victory for the entire South Florida community. The unfortunate thing is that you and your minions are the ones that own the team that we want to be able to call our own.
I still believe that the underlying reason you went and cut payroll again is to make it easier to sell the team. I hope that I am correct. I repeat, I was always among your staunchest supporters and was really hoping that you would succeed in making this a winning team. However, you have not acted in the best interests of the team, only to your best interests.
Marlins fans want an owner who wants to win and hates to lose ... championships and games, not just money. The baseball fans in South Florida do not trust you. The community does not believe anything you say and they do not believe that you or any of your minions have the ability, the capacity, or the desire to field a competitive team now and in the future. Unfortunately, history has shown that to be the case. For that, SHAME ON YOU.
Don’t miss my two “Descarga Deportiva” segments (for the Spanish-challenged, “Sports Jam Session”) every day, Monday through Friday, at 9:25 am and 12:15 pm on Radio Esperanza, 1550 AM or on the internet on www.miradioesperanza.com.
The 9:25 am segment on Radio Esperanza is brought to you by the fine folks at La Lechonera Products. The inventors of the original mojo criollo way back in 1970, also offer the BEST naranja agria (sour orange marinade) product on the market, along with the latest additions to the family - the SALSA PICANTE (hot sauces, both HOT and EXTRA HOT), SALSA DE ALITAS (Buffalo Wings Sauce) and the truly incredible SALSA PICANTE con AJO (Garlic Pepper Sauce - Sriracha). Look for all the La Lechonera products at Publix, Winn Dixie, Sedano’s, Presidente, and GFS. If they don’t have it where you shop, ask nicely the first time, then use whatever means necessary to make sure they start offering the complete line of products. Go to www.lalechoneraproducts.com and LIKE them on Facebook. Check out some great recipes!
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Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.
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