Best Florida Marlins in History

This is the last season the Flordia Marlins will be playing at their current ballpark. In a few
games they will be playing their final home game at the football stadium they have called home since their existence since 1993. They are inviting former players from their short history including:

"Among others expected to attend are Charlie Hough, who threw the team’s first
pitch; Gary Sheffield(notes), Livan Hernandez(notes), Kevin Brown and Bobby
Bonilla, who played on the 1997 World Series championship team; and Luis
Castillo(notes), Mike Lowell(notes) and Ivan Rodriguez(notes), who played on the
2003 title team".

From the article I learned Mike Piazza played 5 games with the Marlins in 1998. This I did not know.

When I think of Marlin Greats I think of Hanley Ramirz, Dan Uggla, Miguel Cabera, Edgar Rentaria, all still playing. There are a few retired Marlins whom I was surprised are not mentioned as being invited. Even though Mike Lowell, Luis Castillo, Gary Sheffield, and Bobby Bonilla would be the best performers.

The face of the franchise (not of any current Marlins) has to be fan favorite Jeff Conine. He had two tours of duty with the team being one of the first players in franchise history playing from 1993-1997 and again from 2003-2005. He won a World Series rings with both Marlins' championship teams, and is the only player top be on both teams.

Other players they could have invited are Cliff Floyd, Preston Wilson, and Charles Johnson. He may not be a player, but they owe a lot to some guy name Steve Bartmen.

Early Look At DME's Top 60.5 For 2010

If you are like me, you prefer a 12-team mixed Roto league with 3 OF, 1 C and no CI/MI over a 10-team mixed Roto league with the additional player spots. In light of this, one has to play the standard ranking system slightly differently. In light of this, I have created an early top 60 fantasy baseball player ranking to more accurately accommodate the Yahoo! drafting format as opposed to the ESPN standard league. Sixty players represent the first five rounds, in full. Though I reveal my top 60 players, I will not reveal my projections for each -- at least not until after my drafts are complete.

Round 1
01 Hanley Ramirez SS
02 Albert Pujols 1B
03 Chase Utley 2B
04 Ryan Braun OF
05 Alex Rodriguez 3B
06 Matt Kemp OF
07 Carl Crawford OF
08 Tim Lincecum SP
09 Miguel Cabrera 1B
10 Mark Teixeira 1B
11 Ryan Howard 1B
12 Ian Kinsler 2B

Round 2
12.5 Prince Fielder
13 Jimmy Rollins SS
14 Matt Holliday OF
15 Zack Greinke SP
16 David Wright 3B
17 Jose Reyes SS
18 Troy Tulowitzki SS
19 Grady Sizemore OF
20 Manny Ramirez OF
21 Justin Upton OF
22 Ichiro Suzuki OF
23 Roy Halladay SP
24 Felix Hernandez SP

Round 3
25 Justin Verlander SP
26 Carlos Beltran OF
27 Joey Votto 1B
28 Jay Bruce OF
29 Adrian Gonzalez 1B
30 CC Sabathia SP
31 Dan Haren SP
32 Johan Santana SP
33 Curtis Granderson OF
34 Jacoby Ellsbury OF
35 Evan Longoria 3B
36 Joe Mauer C

Round 4
37 Lance Berkman 1B
38 Javier Vasquez SP
39 Brandon Phillips 2B
40 Adam Lind OF
41 Josh Hamilton OF
42 Andre Ethier OF
43 Jayson Werth OF
44 Chris Carpenter OF
45 Brian Roberts 2B
46 Mark Reynolds 1B,3B
47 Justin Morneau 1B
48 Jason Bay OF

Round 5
49 Nick Markakis OF
50 Derek Jeter SS
51 Ryan Zimmerman 3B
52 Robinson Cano 2B
53 Aaron Hill 2B
54 Dustin Pedroia 2B
55 Adam Wainwright SP
56 Adam Dunn OF
57 Victor Martinez C, 1B
58 Kevin Youkilis 1B,3B
59 Carlos Lee OF
60 Nelson Cruz OF

Take note of the lack of closers (even Joe Nathan) in my rankings. Anyone who knows me knows I hate drafting closers early. Which rankings do you agree with? Which do you disagree with? Argue your case in the comments section..

The Marlins know how to celebrate a win

There is so much goodness in this video of the Marlins coming back in the bottom of the 9th to steal another game from 2007 Brad Lidge. First some white dude i've never heard of gets the game winning single. Then another white dude i've never heard of comes dashing out of the dugout with excitement taking out half the team in the process. Then Hanley Ramirez runs toward the first white dude and actually slides to stop instead of just not moving his legs. Thats a true baseball grinder. Someone who slides to stop when doing normal everyday activities like going to the bathroom, walking you dog, or congratulating someone on a win. Hanley then goes NFL superbowl on us and decided to dump a gatorate bucket on said white guy. Too bad no one was in attendance to witness the joy.

Hanley Ramirez Is Pissing Me The Fuck Off

Hanley Ramirez is a first overall pick no matter what. It's a no brainer. He's a perennial 25/30 shortstop with 30+ HR, 50 SB upside. He's also a walking force who is entrenched in the #3 hole of a very offensive lineup, which should retain his R rate and only increase his RBI chances.

BUT SERIOUSLY. WHAT THE FUCK.

Hanley is hitting .241 right now, largely fueled by a BABIP that is 70 points below his lifetime average. Furthermore, Hanley's K rate is actually better than the previous two seasons and his LD% is a full 5% higher than last year. Fucking bad luck is fucking pissing me off right now. HanRam's two CS to his one sucessful SB is incredibly frustrating, as were his struggles against the National's pitching staff last week. I know that Hanley is a lock for a .300/30/30/100 R season just as Carlos Lee is a lock for a .300/30/100 season (fucking Carlos Lee is also struggling with the rest of the Astros right now), but it's still frustrating to see good ratios go unrewarded and ridiculous levels of inconsistency plague my fantasy team. Some combination of Mike Napoi, Joey Votto, Dan Uggla, Hanley Ramirez, Ryan Zimmerman, Denard Span, Manny Ramirez, Carlos Lee and Nelson Cruz are hitting .269 with 18 HR (T-6th in league). May Matt Kemp be my savior (funny story - I traded for Matt Kemp at 3 am and thus wasn't able to use him in my line up the day he hit 2 HR (1 GS)...fuck!).

Sample size, sample size, sample size. FUCK!