Cody Ross and Jeff Francoeur had a meeting with Lady Luck at the gaming tables in Puerto Rico. Little did they know, she was bestowing more gifts than just table winnings.
When the Florida Marlins and New York Mets went to Puerto Rico for a three-game series at the end of June, the two went to a casino after a game and played blackjack.
"Until about 5 in the morning," Francoeur said. "It was just the two of us."
"Next thing you know," Ross said, "we have stacks of chips in front of us. We couldn't lose. It was one of the most fun times I had."
And now?
"Now we're both here playing in the World Series," Francoeur said. "Maybe that was our lucky night."
Don't really know if the luck carried over, but it is a good story to tell.
I'm guessing when the Marlins play some more home games in Puerto Rico next year... Oh, sure, it is not official but you have to know that the Marlins front office is going to screw the hometown fans and play there again this upcoming season. It is what they do. Of course, the usual crap will be stated about building an international fan base, like the team has already established a strong local fan base and can afford to take games away from the faithful and branch out. The bozos. But I digress.
Given the run of luck Cody and Francoeur had last season in the casino, expect to hear about every Marlins player playing blackjack till 5:00 a.m. next season in Puerto Rico. And who knows, maybe if they do the Marlins will make their third appearance in the World Series in 2011. Now, all we have to do is find out which casino Cody was playing in.