Worst to First - The Sequel

[NYY #23]

The Marlins returned to winning in July, going 15-12 and we've opened up an 8 game lead over the Phillies.

Matt Garza, Prince Fielder, and Robinson Cano were selected to represent the Marlins at the All-Star game.

[NYY #23]

The Marlins opened up a 12 1/2 game lead in the NL East with a 17-11 month and our magic number is now 13. I feel like we're in great position to return to the playoffs this year.

Edgar Renteria picked up his 2000th career hit.

[NYY #23]

The Marlins defense of our World Series championship begins at home as we take on the Houston Astros (93-69) in the first round of the playoffs after we finished 96-66 for the year. We did struggle this year against Houston, going 1-5.

[ShagVT]

In four months as closer, Sabathia only managed 12 saves?

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by ShagVT

In four months as closer, Sabathia only managed 12 saves?

Technically it was only 3, but he didn't really do too well in the closer role. He averaged 4 per month, but my manager gave quite a few opportunities to close out games to Perez and Coffey as well.

It wasn't the best of experiments.

[NYY #23]

I had a bad feeling about this going into this series, and it appears that was well justified after we got swept by the Astros.

Game 1
Houston 5 - Florida 4 (11 innings)
L: Rafael Perez (0-1)
HR: Robinson Cano (1), Nelson Cruz (1)

A good start by Matt Cain was ruined by a poor night by the bullpen, poor defense, and the inability to hit. CC Sabathia couldn't hold the lead in the ninth allowing an unearned run, and Perez surrendered the 5th and final run in the 11th.

Game 2
Houston 3 - Florida 2
L: Matt Garza (0-1)
HR: None

Matt Garza pitched really well tonight, but the Marlins managed only 3 hits today.

Game 3
Houston 2 - Florida 1
L: Yovani Gallardo (0-1)
HR: None

Once again our offense just couldn't get going as we lost another close one despite a great start by Gallardo as the 2008 season comes to a disappointing close.

[NYY #23]

Well, at least the same Houston Astros who defeated us went on to win the World Series, knocking off the Reds 4-3 and the Tigers 4-1 en route to the first World Series Championship.

As we head into the amateur draft the Marlins will be selecting last, and I've decided to go through one more year controlling the Marlins before resigning. Then we'll wrap things up and jump forward to OOTP 15, come out of retirement at some point, and attempt to get those last 8 World Series titles.

With our first round pick we selected SP Brian Matusz. Reliever Matt Daley, reliever Guillermo Moscoso, reliever Justin Berg, and reliever Kevin Mulvey rounded out the draft.

[NYY #23]

With our budget staying the same and our owner taking out $9 million we are in bad shape financially. We did the only thing that we could do, even though I didn't want to do it.

Gone is Pujols and his big contract, along with Nelson Cruz, and SP Taylor Buchholz to the Colorado Rockies. Coming back to Florida is LF Dan Murphy and 3B Mark Teahen.

I wasn't happy making the deal, but we didn't have much choice. It left us a few million to play with after arbitration, and we signed RF Bobby Abreu, SS Edgar Renteria, and C Josh Phelps to 1 year deals, all worth roughly $1 million each.

[NYY #23]

An 0-9 start to the season had me worrying, but we rebounded somewhat to finish 9-13 for the month. We're definitely not the same team we've been the past two years. Scott Moore has taken over as our starting third baseman and is hitting .288 for the year. He spent last year in the minors after coming over in the Tim Hudson trade.

[NYY #23]

The Marlins had a 17-12 month in May and pulled over .500 for the year. Not quite where we want to be, but we are just 3 1/2 games out of first place. We recalled Brian Matusz this month for his first career start and he went 8 innings while allowing just 3 runs to pick up the win. He'll stay in the rotation for now.

[NYY #23]

Another good month for the Marlins as we went 18-10 and have moved into first place with a 3 1/2 game lead over the Phillies and Mets.

Our offense is carrying us this year, especially Prince Fielder who is hitting .331 with 19 home runs and 51 RBI. Of course teammate Dan Murphy leads the league in batting average with his .368 average, and teammate Robinson Cano leads with 57 RBI, and he trails former teammate Nelson Cruz by 1 home run.

[NYY #23]

The Marlins had a losing month going 11-13 and our lead is now just 1 game in the NL East. We lost Bobby Abreu to injury for two months.

The Marlins don't get much respect, with only Prince Fielder selected to the All-Star game.

[NYY #23]

The Marlins keep chugging along, going 15-13 for the month and we now hold a 3 game lead over the Phillies. We've definitely cooled off a little bit, but I feel like the postseason is in our grasp for the third straight year. I'd like to end my little experiment on a high note.

[NYY #23]

The Marlins finished the season 24-7 in September and October, and we are playing our best baseball of the year, at just the right time.

Once again in the Wild Card round we'll be taking on the Houston Astros, who finished 88-74. This is our third straight year taking on Houston in round one.

[NYY #23]

Game 1 -

Matt Cain pitched 8 innings to pick up the win, with Bobby Abreu driving in 3 runs and Josh Baker driving in a pair.

Game 2 -

A 15 inning loss is always tough to swallow, but a 15 inning loss in the playoffs is even worse. Yovani Gallardo was brilliant tonight, going 9 2/3 innings while allowing just 2 hits and striking out 9. Unfortunately our bats were silent tonight, and our pitching staff giving up 2 runs in 15 innings is hardly a bad night.

Game 3 -

It was Matt Garza's night as he pitched 6 1/3 innings for the win and hit a solo home run tonight. Curtis Granderson was 3-5 with 2 RBI

Game 4 -

We closed out the series in a 10 inning 1-0 win, with Edgar Renteria singling home the winning run in the tenth inning. Matt Cain was sharp tonight pitching 7 shutout innings, with Rafael Perez and Ramon Ramirez coming out of the bullpen for three shutout innings.

Up next - the Pittsburgh Pirates, who finished 90-72 in the regular season, and defeated the Giants 3 games to 1.

[NYY #23]

Game 1:

A good start to the series with Matt Cain pitching 8 innings and Curtis Granderson hitting a three run home run in the 3-2 win.

Game 2:

Yovani Gallardo has yet to allow a run in the postseason with 8 innings of 1 hit shutout ball today. Ramon Ramirez picked up his second save in as many days, while Bobby Abreu drove in two runs.

Game 3:

My hopes of a sweep were dashed when Matt Garza had to leave the game in the third inning after giving up 4 runs in the midst of a 58 minute rain delay. 3 of our 4 runs came on a three run homer by Curtis Granderson, his second of the series.

Game 4:

Brian Matusz got the start, and got the win tonight with 6 innings allowing just 2 runs. Bobby Abreu, Matt Kemp, Prince Fielder, and Robinson Cano each drove in a run tonight, with Cano's coming on a solo homer as the Marlins move to within one win of going to the World Series.

Game 5:

Jeff Baker's solo home run accounted for our only run of the night, as Matt Cain picked up the loss.

Game 6:

All good things come to an end, and tonight Yovani Gallardo finally gave up a run in this postseason. In fact he gave up 4, while our bats were quiet and the series is now all tied up.

Game 7:

Matt Garza sends us back to the World Series with an almost complete game shutout in our 3-0 win. He ended up leaving the game with two outs in the ninth, but I can't take anything away from him tonight.

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Over in the AL the A's knocked off the Yankees in 7 games, coming back from a 3-1 series deficit. The A's were 96-66 this season.

[NYY #23]

Game 1 -

The A's walked off winners of Game 1 in the bottom of the eleventh after CJ Wilson loaded the bases, and Steven Pearce singled home the winning run. Matt Cain allowed 2 runs in 6 2/3 innings, while Robinson Cano doubled home both of our runs.

Game2 -

A 7 run seventh put the game out of reach and evened up the series. Prince Fielder and Scott Moore each picked up 4 hits tonight, with Robinson Cano hitting a 3 run homer.

Game 3 -

Our only runs came on a Scott Moore double, with Matt Garza taking the loss.

Game 4 -

Brian Matusz didn't have a great start, allowing 6 runs in 3 2/3 innings. Despite 3 home runs we couldn't outslug the A's and now trail 3-1.

Game 5 -

We needed Matt Cain to come up big, and he allowed just 3 hits in 7 scoreless innings while striking out 10. Our only run come when Josh Phelps came off the bench to pick up the RBI single.

Game 6 -

Yovani Gallardo, Javier Lopez, and CC Sabathia were all terrible tonight as our season came to a crashing end with a 11-3 loss.

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My bonus time with the Marlins is now complete:

Florida Marlins 72-90 (.444) 20 GB
2004 - Florida Marlins 75-87 (.463) 19 GB (Season Score - 30)
2005 - Florida Marlins 79-83 (.488) 6 GB (Season Score - 66)
2006 - Florida Marlins 79-83 (.488) 8 GB (Season Score - 52)
2007 - Florida Marlins 104-58 (.642) - GB (Defeated Houston Astros 3-2 in Wild Card, Defeated San Francisco Giants 4-1 in LCS, Defeated Tampa Bay Devil Rays 4-3, Season Score - 159)
2008 - Florida Marlins 96-66 (.593) - GB (Lost 3-0 to Houston Astros in Wild Card, Season Score - 86)
2009 - Florida Marlins 94-68 (.580) - GM (Defeated Houston Astros 3-1 in Wild Card, Defeated Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 in LCS, Lost to Oakland Athletics 4-2 in World Series, Season Score - 105)

[NYY #23]

First, a post-mortem on the Marlins. They won the NL East with a 90-72 record in 2010, and the Wild Card with an identical 90-72 record, but lost in the first round to the Rockies in 2010, and the Padres in 2011.

The Reds were World Champions in 2010, with the Padres going all the way in 2011.

There are some familiar names on this list, but here is a list of the current Hall of Fame Pitchers using the default settings:





Along with the Hall of Fame Batters:

[NYY #23]

A quick look at the members of the 3000 hit club -

1. Ken Griffey Jr - 3320
2. Alan Trammell - 3280
3. Roberto Alomar - 3209
4. Gary Sheffield - 3199
5. Frank Robinson - 3106
6. Reggie Jefferson - 3099
7. Dick Allen - 3066
8. Don Mattingly - 3043
9. Tony Conigliaro - 3020

Griffey also finished atop the career home run leaders with 801, with Mark McGwire in second with 620, Frank Robinson with 614, and Mike Schmidt 601.

Eight pitchers joined the 300 win club -

1. Jon Matlock - 350
2. Ray Sadecki - 340
3. Eric Hanson - 334
4. Dean Chance - 323
5. Frank Tanana - 321
6. Don Drysdale - 311
7. Ed Halicki - 309
8. Dennis Eckersley - 300

If there are any other questions or anything you want to see let me know, but in the meantime it's time to fast forward to 2013.

[ShagVT]

Funny to see Eck on the 300 won board.