Ricky Nolasco is the last man standing…who knew…
Let me preface my comments by saying I am a Met fan first and foremost and still hate the Marlins as a division rival. Now that that’s out of the way, ARE YOU F’ING KIDDING ME! As a fan of Major League Baseball second, this is a disgrace and an embarrassment. Feel how you want to feel about Jose Reyes taking his talents to South Beach, feel how you want to feel about Giancarlo Stanton’s veneers (cmon, there is nobody you know with teeth THAT straight AND white) but to literally hustle the city of Miami to fund a new state of the art stadium and build all kinds of expectation to then BLOW IT ALL UP ONE YEAR LATER is downright gutless.
People have said for years that baseball wouldn’t work in Florida and for years they were proved right with the consistently low draw of both Florida teams. The Marlins have won two World Series since they started in 1993, only to sell off the team the very next year. Every town loves a winner but instead of building momentum on winning a championship they settle for the poor sight of empty stadiums and being generally an afterthought in baseball conversations. Last year was supposed to be different, last year was supposed to be the official coming out party for baseball in Florida. My fiancee is Cuban from Miami and let me tell you, these people LOVE baseball. They live, breathe, and argue baseball in Cuba. It’s no secret that Miami hosts a LARGE population of Cubans that come directly from Cuba and that enthusiasm they have for the game was a primary factor in re-naming the team. The point I’m making is that branding a baseball team to a city where the majority of its population loves the sport and identifies primarily with it was the right thing to do. Unfortunately what transpired after that decision is borderline criminal in my opinion, not so much legally as it is morally criminal.
Lost in all the hoopla and excitement for the new stadium was the raw deal this owner gave to the city of Miami. Sort of like buying a brand new car and fixating on how it would improve your social life while ignoring the “devil in the details.” Here are the facts of this deal:
1. The county of Miami-Dade and the city of Miami paid a total of $370 million dollars of taxpayer money to fund the construction of the new stadium. The total cost of this stadium is projected to be 2 billion dollars.
2. The owner of the Marlins Jeffrey Loria posted $155 million for the new stadium and the team gets to keep ALL the revenue from the stadium itself.
(Thanks to FieldofSchemes for the breakdown)
Loria’s argument for funding roughly one-quarter of the new stadium was that he needed money on hand to purchase top flight talent to open the new stadium. On that regard, he did just that. In an unprecedented move (for the Marlins), they went out and spent a boatload on new talent (approximately $200 million). Everyone in the media crowned the Marlins as the frontrunner in the division, they had their show on Showtime and had a stand-alone date all to themselves to open the season. It didn’t take long though before the team started to show its cracks. It started with Ozzie pulling an Ozzie and the team just went downhill from there. I thought the trading away of Hanley Ramirez was the biggest significant gesture that the Marlins were waving the white flag and the experiment had failed. Boy was I wrong! By now you may have been informed by various news outlets that the Marlins traded Jose Reyes, Marke Buehrle, Josh Johnson…basically anyone making over a million dollars to the Blue Jays in exchange for Yunel Escobar and a bunch of prospects. From July ’till now, the Marlins have shed $236 million dollars in future salary obligations and are looking at an opening day payroll in the neighborhood of $20-30 million! They traded away the faces of the Marlins for the last few years in Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson, decided not to bring back fan favorite Cody Ross, dumped EVERY SINGLE NAME PLAYER outside of Giancarlo Stanton (who by the way is pretty pissed off and has every right to be) and for what….ONE sellout game in its inaugural season?! The city of Miami got shafted…plain and simple!
To most hardcore Marlin fans, fire sales are nothing new. The Marlins win a World Series against all odds, then trade away everyone who got them there. It’s no secret that the Lorias keep payroll down to collect and pocket shared revenue distribution from the league. What really grinds my gears is that this time, he made his scheme and profits literally off the backs of hard working people. Is it Loria’s fault that the officials of Miami were stupid enough to agree to such a one sided deal? Absolutely not. Is it Loria’s fault that the team underperformed the way it did? Again, absolutely not. What is Loria’s fault is the unwavering greed displayed in sucking as much money out of this franchise as possible at the expense of taxpayers. The Marlin franchise value increased by about $90 million according to Forbes. Do you think for one second the taxpayers who paid for roughly three quarters of a new stadium that helped increase that value will see a single cent from Loria? Don’t hold your breath. As a Met fan, not having to deal with all those guys that have been traded is nothing but good news. As a baseball fan, the Lorias are the scum of the Earth and I hope they sell the team. They made their money and based on the reactions to this deal, people are waking up to the scam they are running. I think baseball as a whole loses in this deal, plain and simple. People will be looking to Bud Selig to shut down this deal as he has the final say on this but I don’t think he will, as he is no David Stern. This will just be another cloud in the sky as he rides off into the sunset while the people of Miami get stuck with the rain…at least they have a retractable roof.
48 comments
Stickguy
11/14/2012-1:28pm at 1:28 pm (UTC -4)
must have been serious to flush Dirty out of the woodwork.
I saw something elsewhere (no idea how accurate) that 2015 is the year that Loria can sell without incurring big financial penalties related to the stadium deal. Not sure if that means the team can be moved then, but it seems like it must, but it was just a comment from someone not links to details.
I have to think this was the game plan all along. Make the killing, screw everyone, then cash out and disappear. I honestly have no clue how he can expect to stay there now.
oh, and the idea of Bud stepping up in the interests for the game itself is laughable. Maybe in a few years when Sandy takes over?
TX
11/14/2012-1:47pm at 1:47 pm (UTC -4)
Well, if that is the case, all these prospects will be hitting their prime, he’ll add some vets, make a run at the world series, sell high and go on to ruin other industries…
Mr North Jersey
11/14/2012-1:47pm at 1:47 pm (UTC -4)
“must have been serious to flush Dirty out of the woodwork.”
I was thinking the same thing.
gategem
11/15/2012-12:52am at 12:52 am (UTC -4)
I was under the impression that Dirty was abducted by a UFO or he piloted one or something to that effect.
Over the years owners have carpet bagged teams. Let us not forget the best player in baseball history was sold from Boston to New York to finance “No No Nannette.“
kingman 26
11/14/2012-1:36pm at 1:36 pm (UTC -4)
This posits a really good argument that Loria basically screwed Miami, its fans, its taxpayers, etc. That he basically double-crossed them. It was fair for fans and taxpayers to believe that the team would maintain a high payroll after all of the funds spent on the new stadium.
I have to agree–especially if they do not spend some money on new players and/or trade some prospects for established players.
And Dirty, this is a VERY well-written piece sir!
gategem
11/15/2012-12:56am at 12:56 am (UTC -4)
And there you go postulating once more.
SaltyGary
11/14/2012-1:43pm at 1:43 pm (UTC -4)
What really gets my goat still is Loria had the gall to wheel out Mohammed Ali onto the field for opening day.
wanny
11/14/2012-1:55pm at 1:55 pm (UTC -4)
Castro wasn’t available.
kingman 26
11/14/2012-2:24pm at 2:24 pm (UTC -4)
Are we comparing Ali to Castro here and suggesting he is not fit for any sort of adulation by Americans?
Just want to be 100% certain.
TRS86
11/14/2012-2:36pm at 2:36 pm (UTC -4)
I am assuming that’s a dig at their former manager and the fiasco that was.
kingman 26
11/14/2012-2:57pm at 2:57 pm (UTC -4)
Ah, sorry, maybe I misunderstood…maybe Gary is criticizing Loria for using Ali…OK; I hope that is what he meant.
Wouldn’t want to chase any new folks away with politics!
SaltyGary
11/14/2012-3:53pm at 3:53 pm (UTC -4)
Yea that is all I was talking about. That ticked me off. Loria is scum and Ali is King and it sucked to see him get exploited in that fashion (even though I imagine he agreed to get exploited in that fashion). It just made no since except to bloat Loria’s ego.
Here’s a pic if you’ve never seen it.
http://abcnews.go.com/meta/search/imageDetail?format=plain&source=http://abcnews.go.com/images/Sports/d05b2d1606974d009ca26c3fa26365a0
kingman 26
11/14/2012-4:01pm at 4:01 pm (UTC -4)
Wow, I am sorry; I totally misunderstood.
And I agree Gary!
gategem
11/15/2012-1:01am at 1:01 am (UTC -4)
It could have been far worse. He could have brought out Ted Williams frozen head (assuming it’s still cryogenically frozen).
Prismo
11/14/2012-1:55pm at 1:55 pm (UTC -4)
I don’t know, this could be a GENIUS move.
Think about it – sign all the top free agents to huge backloaded deals. Trade them after their first season for a bunch of high level prospects.
Do this 5 years in a row and you have like 30 high level prospects and a $25MM payroll.
You just have to find stupid teams like the Dodgers and Blue Jays every season.
kingman 26
11/14/2012-2:26pm at 2:26 pm (UTC -4)
Wow, this is genius Prismo! Damn, what an idea!
Prismo
11/14/2012-2:56pm at 2:56 pm (UTC -4)
Thank you for recognizing my superior intellect.
kingman 26
11/14/2012-2:59pm at 2:59 pm (UTC -4)
Sh*t, I recognized that LONG ago.
After all, you frequently agree with me!
Prismo
11/14/2012-3:03pm at 3:03 pm (UTC -4)
No I don’t.
kingman 26
11/14/2012-3:12pm at 3:12 pm (UTC -4)
Well, that damages your superior intellect right there.
Mr North Jersey
11/14/2012-2:17pm at 2:17 pm (UTC -4)
I’ve been listening to the Marlins radio 790 The Ticket and I have been reading articles to reactions on this trade and one thing keeps being resonated time and time again.
Betrayal.
There is not a Marlins fan I have heard or read yet say that they see this as anything positive.
Loria defended the move by saying “We finished in last place. Figure it out,” but this move to me is like chopping your hand off because you had a cut that required stitches on one of your fingers.
How is this better than keeping Reyes, Buehrle, Johnson, Stanton and retooling around them this off season?
Also IF you are saying that the decision and strategy this past off season were clearly wrong then HOW does Bienfest still keep his job?
They fired Ozzie and I don’t recall if a specific reason was cited but I am thinking it was because they felt he should of done better with the talent he was provided. So then if that was indeed one of the reasons how does that fit with what they just did? If the team’s performance was blamed somewhat on Ozzie than the players were not the problem and if they were then why fire Ozzie?
Maybe they trade for AROD and sign Hamilton and BJ Upton and they remain true to their statements of this being the new Miami Marlins but right now it doesn’t look like that will be the case.
The best article I read that made me just laugh was one that said the Marlins were taking a page from the Billy Beane playbook.
Here is an excerpt.
” So they followed the Billy Beane model. He’s one of the few executives in baseball who has had the guts to look at his roster and see it as it actually is instead of how he’d like it to be.
Beane has been ripped through the years for getting rid of guys too quickly. On the other hand, his A’s have been to the playoffs six times despite having one of the lowest payrolls in baseball.
The Marlins are dumping a massive amount of salary, around $164 million in all, and this isn’t sitting well with some people, because it comes seven months after the opening of that new ballpark that was supposed to allow them to spend enough to at least compete with the mid-revenue teams.”
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121114&content_id=40281810&vkey=news_mia&c_id=mia&partnerId=rss_mia
This was the only positive article I could find. I think Olney has one as well but you have to have an ESPN Insider account to access it.
The following is what I have mostly read and all site how the new stadium has to do with the anger toward this.
Time to ship Loria out of town, too
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-marlins/fl-dave-hyde-commentary-1114-20121113,0,4348183.column?track=rss
“Loria broke the public covenant of a new stadium and dropped napalm on the sport in South Florida by trading five Marlins regulars with expensive contracts to Toronto for a minor-league roster to be named later.
He betrayed your trust. So you’ll betray him now. He sold off his team. So you won’t buy what he’s selling anymore.”
**************************
Dave George: Miami Marlins betray their fans yet again
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/sports/baseball/dave-george-miami-marlins-insult-their-fans-yet-ag/nS535/
“It makes it impossible to like this team, much less love it.
It makes Miami and Miami-Dade politicians look like fools for throwing precious recession-era millions at a company that has just exported its top-quality products to Canada and is perfectly happy offering up seconds to the locals.
Josh Johnson is gone to the Toronto Blue Jays, just four months after Hanley Ramirez was traded to the Dodgers. Can’t draw up a better in-your-face to fans than to ship off the two supposed faces of the franchise, the same players who were advertised as the cornerstones of a grand new Marlins legacy in a brand new ballpark.
Kiss Jose Reyes goodbye, too, as if he were the reason that the Marlins stunk it up so badly last season. No matter what else was happening, Jose always brought a smile and a jolt of energy to the clubhouse. Those commodities would only have increased in value in the years to come, if and when Miami ever displayed the patience to build momentum rather than feeding it through the payroll shredder.”
**************************
It’s time for Bud Selig to force Jeffrey Loria out of MLB
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/11/13/its-time-for-bud-selig-to-force-jeffrey-loria-out-of-mlb/
“What’s left is a shell of a franchise, one that will almost certainly have the lowest payroll in baseball. More importantly, it will have no credibility in the eyes of its employees or fans. It’s lone remaining star, Giancarlo Stanton, has already expressed his anger. It’s hard to imagine him ever signing a long-term deal with the club, which could mean he’ll be the big name to go next winter.
Loria has now entered two markets and all but wrecked baseball for both of them. It’s in the best interests of the game that he exit for good. Commissioner Bud Selig should step in and apply as much pressure as he legally can in order to get Loria to sell. Otherwise, Loria and the deal that allowed him to trade the Montreal Expos for the Marlins will go down as black marks on Selig’s legacy.”
**************************
The joke is on us: Jeffrey Loria has his stadium and dumps his star players
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/14/3095948/the-joke-is-on-us-jeffrey-loria.html
” Shooting down the Dolphin Expressway a couple of weeks ago, I glanced over at Marlins Park. It seemed to be laughing.
I couldn’t exactly determine the type of mirth in those brief few seconds.
Now, as the Marlins deal pitchers Josh Johnson, Mark Buerhle and their best position player, Jose Reyes, to finish a roster cutdown that began at midseason, I can identify it as the sinister belly laugh of a sentient Death Star-like construct.
“My master, Lord Loria, merely dangled a few promises before you to fool you into helping to create me! Now, the mighty tractor beam of my debt will suck the money from your present and future pockets as you slave while I make Lord Loria ever richer and more powerful! BWAAAA-HA-HA-HA!”
Whichever, the joke stays on us.”
**************************
Nightengale: Marlins pull off Ponzi scheme
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/marlins/2012/11/13/marlins-con-fans-who-built-their-new-stadium/1703665/
“These guys conned taxpayers into paying $409 million for their retractable-roof stadium, and there’s a cool $2.4 billion service debt. They told their public they would be the New York Yankees of the South, only to become the same ol’ Marlins. The dollars they’ve committed beyond 2013? Zero.
Really, there’s only one act left for these clowns to pull their ultimate Barnum and Bailey encore: Alex Rodriguez, rocking that cute rainbow-colored uniform next year.”
**************************
Rounding Third: Time for MLB to pull the plug on Loria
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/11/14/3096655/rounding-third-time-for-mlb-to.html
“Forget the fact that the Marlins made the trade. That’s a part of baseball. Nobody seemed to bat an eye last summer when Boston Red Sox took a blowtorch to their roster.
The difference here and the vitriol that is being directed Loria’s way is how he duped taxpayers into building his team a new stadium. Overall, Marlins Park cost Miami and Dade County over $500 million. However, counting debt and interest payments, the cost will in the end amount to $2.4 billion.”
**************************
Marlins trade is a baseball tragedy, and Bud Selig deserves his share of blame
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/marlins-trade-a-baseball-tragedy-bud-selig-deserves-blame.html
“By now, in the fallout of a trade nuclear even by Marlins standards, Samson and Loria have been marked radioactive. To dump $181 million in salary like they did Tuesday – to trade Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, John Buck and Emilio Bonifacio to Toronto for a few prospects, a bad-attitude shortstop and a backup catcher – was galling even by their standards. And these were two men who for years lied about their finances, lied about their intentions, lied all to get Miami to build them a $634 million ballpark that was supposed to end this wretched cycle of turning a major league franchise into a swap meet.
And yet all this time, throughout the lies, the SEC investigation, the embarrassing payrolls, the pocketing of revenue-sharing dollars, the cries from the players’ union and the gem of a stadium with all those empty seats, not a word from the commissioner.”
**************************
Marlins’ owner rips team, and city, apart with despicable trade and must be stopped
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/story/20972787/marlins-owner-rips-team-and-city-apart-with-despicable-trade-and-must-be-stopped
” Loria’s Marlins soaked the taxpayers for some 80 percent of the cost of new Marlins Park. By the time it opened in 2012, some $2.4 billion in debt service was strapped onto the backs of taxpayers. Talk about publicly funded.
It was one thing when this band of liars the players’ union once slapped for pocketing revenue sharing money and not spending enough on, you know, players, promised to change its ways once the new park was in place.
It was one thing when Loria and his little henchman David Samson swaggered into that New York tavern at 12:01 a.m. last November on the first day clubs could negotiate with free agents and made a big show for Jose Reyes.
It is quite another thing when one year later Loria and Co. are shipping Reyes — and everyone else they signed last winter — across international borders in some sort of twisted joke that even the World Trade Organization surely will condemn in coming days. ”
**************************
Coutinho: Miami Taxpayers Biggest Losers In Loria’s Shell Game
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/11/14/coutinho-miami-taxpayers-biggest-losers-in-lorias-shell-game/
“Enter Jeffrey Loria, who insisted his new stadium would set the scene for the “New Marlins.” He even changed the team’s logo, and then went out and signed every free agent who would agree to leave out a no-trade clause for insane money. The city of Miami went along with it, not only giving Loria a new stadium, but also handing him all kinds of secondary benefits.
Now what do the people of Miami have? A brand-new shiny stadium with the same Marlins team they have seen before — totally stripped down, a shell of their former selves.”
**************************
Marlins Pull the Plug Again
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/sports/baseball/in-multiplayer-trade-with-blue-jays-marlins-pull-the-plug-again.html?smid=tw-nytimessports&seid=auto&_r=0
“Now, one failed season in a new stadium has caused the Marlins to scurry back to payroll slashing. The only reasonable conclusion is that ownership will never have the patience to pay for a sustained winner.
“When I was there, you could see the passion that Jeffrey Loria has; he does want to win,” said the former Marlins reliever Randy Choate, who was traded with Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers in July. He added: “But it’s just unexplainable. I don’t think any of those guys would have signed there if they thought they’d get traded one year later. Obviously, they don’t give any no-trade clauses, and now you see why.”
As news of the trade spread, Choate said, he followed along on his computer as more and more names kept being added to the deal. Choate said a friend compared it to a fantasy football trade that would be nixed by the league manager.
But this, of course, is not a fantasy, and Commissioner Bud Selig has no plans to veto the deal. It is not part of Selig’s job to dictate personnel strategy to teams. This is how the Marlins choose to operate, and in theory — someday — the deal could help them win.
For now, the Marlins have almost no chance to win. There is no new fan experience, as Loria promised last December, only the same, tired act. “
kingman 26
11/14/2012-2:29pm at 2:29 pm (UTC -4)
Wow, thank you for taking the time to bring all of this to us Mr. N!!
Mr North Jersey
11/14/2012-2:43pm at 2:43 pm (UTC -4)
You welcome. As I started to notice the trend I decided to make note of them for a possible post and I may still but when I saw Dirty write this post I felt like sharing it in a comment instead.
kingman 26
11/14/2012-3:01pm at 3:01 pm (UTC -4)
It is probably worthy of a post on its own.
This is just an amazing compilation, from excellent sources, and as it involves Jose and our division, I think loads of readers would love it as a post of its own.
Regardless, really, really outstanding job which I sincerely appreciate.
I love reading all this and never would have found it all on my own.
srt
11/14/2012-2:49pm at 2:49 pm (UTC -4)
Wow, add me to the ‘thanks for taking the time’, Jerz.
Read through all these articles.
My favorite though so far was Rosenthal’s from early this morning:
‘Owner Loria should just sell Marlins’
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/miami-marlins-jeffrey-loria-blockbuster-deal-with-toronto-blue-jays-cannot-justify-trade-should-sell-team-111312
Hard to argue with any of the points made in these articles.
TRS86
11/14/2012-2:37pm at 2:37 pm (UTC -4)
GREAT JOB DIRTY, and YES I AM YELLING IT!
srt
11/14/2012-2:43pm at 2:43 pm (UTC -4)
Great article, Dirty.
You won’t get any arguments from me on all your points.
If Selig had any guts he’d force Loria to sell. I don’t care how Loria tries to spin this it’s just bad for baseball, bad for the Miami fans and strips any kind of Marlin ‘brand’ that team might have had.
He’s sure one arrogant SOB, isn’t he?
TX
11/14/2012-2:46pm at 2:46 pm (UTC -4)
LoMo is on the block too… He’s no Stanton, but not many people are.
srt
11/14/2012-2:51pm at 2:51 pm (UTC -4)
Almost unbelievable. Then again, this is Loria we’re talking about.
I can only imagine one of the first phone calls he got this morning was from Stanton’s agent saying something like: ‘my client wants to be traded and sooner rather than later.’
TX
11/14/2012-2:55pm at 2:55 pm (UTC -4)
Throw everything but Wheeler at them! Flores, Familia, Mejia, Murphy, Tapia, Santana (with us picking up the entire salary), Pill, and even Fulmer to boot. Get us some Stanton, Sandy!
Prismo
11/14/2012-3:06pm at 3:06 pm (UTC -4)
Hahaha everything but the kitchen sink! If they’re trading LoMo I’m not sure why they wouldn’t just trade Stanton too. Both are on the same arbitration schedule (control for 4 more years before FA). It’s not like they can realistically compete in that span if the only player on their team is Stanton. And based on his tweet last night, something tells me he’s not looking for an extension.
TX
11/14/2012-3:51pm at 3:51 pm (UTC -4)
The more I think about it, Wheeler, Familia and Flores for Stanton. I wouldn’t let what Wheeler may be stand in the way of what Stanton is!
TX
11/14/2012-3:54pm at 3:54 pm (UTC -4)
Hell, add in whomever else after that.
Prismo
11/14/2012-2:55pm at 2:55 pm (UTC -4)
I wonder if LoMo can play right field. He never has, and his defense isn’t superb.
Because you know, we’ve got that stud Duda in LF.
Hazmet
11/14/2012-2:50pm at 2:50 pm (UTC -4)
Francessa just commenting on Reyes as such:
“Reyes is not going to like Canada”
duh ya think,
“From the turf, the economic impact, the social aspects, he wants no part of Canada”
lol
Prismo
11/14/2012-2:53pm at 2:53 pm (UTC -4)
Too bad.
Funny thing is, if he had a magic wand and could declare free agency right now…I promise you he’d still pick a deal without a no-trade clause rather than a deal with a no-trade clause, but for $20MM less.
Hazmet
11/14/2012-3:37pm at 3:37 pm (UTC -4)
Totally agree.
Francessa’s follow up 2 minutes ago:
“I’d like to get the over/under going on Reyes next year”
“If this doesn’t have 60 game season written all over it for Reyes next year I don’t know what does”.
srt
11/14/2012-3:45pm at 3:45 pm (UTC -4)
Well you get what you pay for, right?
Only in this case, getting more money with waiving the no trade protection clause is taking a chance.
Sometimes, you roll the dice and it comes up craps.
kingman 26
11/14/2012-2:54pm at 2:54 pm (UTC -4)
Maybe so, but I swear, Toronto rocks. And it has great nightlife too.
Hazmet
11/14/2012-3:40pm at 3:40 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah it’s got a good thing going on. Yes Toronto, Never big on Muntreal as Fran Healy used to call it.
kingman 26
11/14/2012-4:02pm at 4:02 pm (UTC -4)
Agree 100%–and Vancouver rocks too….used to go play gigs there in the 1990s when I lived in Seattle…a great city.
TX
11/14/2012-4:09pm at 4:09 pm (UTC -4)
I’ll be there tomorrow evening. Any places to specifically check out?
Hazmet
11/14/2012-4:12pm at 4:12 pm (UTC -4)
My sister lives on a boat docked in Seattle, actually used to be docked at one owned by John Elway but that’s a different story, she and her hubby cruise up to Vancouver a couple of times a year for exactly that reason.
gategem
11/15/2012-1:30am at 1:30 am (UTC -4)
One of my closest friends lives in Vancouver (although I haven’t been there for a number of years) but I remember it to be a friendly and warm city to visitors. He was born in South Castlegar, BC and the temperature differential between Vancouver and South Castlegar is extreme.
gategem
11/15/2012-1:22am at 1:22 am (UTC -4)
One of my ex-wives was from Montreal and I just love French Canadian Women.
Mr North Jersey
11/14/2012-4:05pm at 4:05 pm (UTC -4)
Jeff Passan wrote an article last November about Loria that if things remain as they appear looks almost Nostredamus like.
Here is an excerpt,
The Marlins have already conned politicians. Now they’re trying to do the same to build a fan base. Look at this shiny Pujols. Behold this beautiful Reyes. Covet this glimmering Cespedes. We’re trying. We really are.
What they don’t say: Come back in three years and see what we look like.
Because by then, unless people from Broward and Palm Beach counties really want to travel to Little Havana through brutal traffic – and all indications are they don’t – the Marlins are going to be exactly where they were: sunk by an indifferent fan base and ownership that carries itself like it knows what it’s doing.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AiG9GkRWKWiGZvkOEo.mmYARvLYF?slug=jp-passan_marlins_new_stadium_free_agents_111111
Mr North Jersey
11/14/2012-4:13pm at 4:13 pm (UTC -4)
Looks like even former Met Mike Cameron had something to say about what happened yesterday.
“It just kind of [ticked] me off the way [the Marlins are] doing things and baseball is kind of allowing it. That’s ridiculous. Basically, they lied to the people, they lied to everybody. You get a new stadium and then this happens? That’s not good for baseball.”
“I got a lot of buddies that played down there. That ain’t how you do people, and that’s not how you really do the business. But then again, there are people that are like that. So I guess you have to expect that.”
“A lot of guys would want to be there but not now. Any player looking around, they’re not going to want to be in a situation like that. That’s for sure.”
http://www.csnne.com/baseball-boston-redsox/redsox-talk/Cameron-dismayed-at-upheaval-in-Miami?blockID=801769&feedID=3352
gategem
11/15/2012-1:37am at 1:37 am (UTC -4)
Has anyone else noticed that Loria looks like Dick Morris (a political adviser to the Clinton White House).