As you will quickly find out, my fellow blog mates here at Fish Stripes will provide you with fantastic historical, humorous, and stat-analysis pieces. We have got you readers covered on all angles concerning the Marlins.
Where does that leave me? What’s my focus here? What more is there to talk about?
It’s all up in the air, to be honest, and to some extent partially up to you, the reader. You see, the Internet is a hell of a tool. The emergence of social media has really changed the landscape of how fans are able to communicate and interact. These days we have the ability to get information straight from the source without having any semblance of a formal relationship to those sources. We are provided with an unprecedented access to the minds of some of our favorite athletes without having to exert any effort at all (well, beyond clicking). With sites like Twitter, we no longer need to solely rely on the morning paper, our favorite sports sites, or favorite radio shows (not that I don’t love those outlets) to see what our favorite players are saying, thinking, or doing. The powers that social media have bestowed upon the sports fan are much beloved.
My goal here is simple. It’s to have fun, to provide a smorgasbord of all things Marlin by means of the Internet. While twitter will be heavily featured and will be my medium of communication, I am not limiting myself to it, I will also incorporate site like YouTube, any funny/intriguing image that I find or am sent, etc. The point is I wont be relying on those typical sources (beat writers, ESPN, other major sources), that’s what Fish Bites is for. Participation by you the reader is extremely encouraged. For those twitter-holics add me (@MarlinsMR) and lets start putting the #fishstripes hash tag to good use. With the endless amount of amusing tweets, images, videos, etc.; this should be an excellent adventure.
Lastly, before I get fully into the swing of things, this segment wont be a rehashing of what every single Marlins player has said throughout the week. I will be focusing on things that I myself, and hope you the readers will find interesting.
Without Further Ado, It’s The Week in Review
@LoMo Tweet of The Week: Click Me
In honor of the recently passed Halloween I figured I might as well share with the world what Logan Morrison considered as a possibility for his own Halloween costume.
While I do not endorse LoMo’s rationale, I do not hesitate to endorse the actual costume itself. This one is personal, the picture provided goes back to my days as a freshman in college. It gives me great pleasure to have beaten LoMo to the idea. The short-version story goes as follows: it was Halloween, we were going out, I didn’t have a costume, five minutes before leaving my laundry basket was sitting right in front of me, the light bulb went off -- I would be a laundry basket with laundry and all. Now, when given the task of assessing things LoMo and I have in common I can add dressing up as dirty laundry to the list (my guess is he actually didn’t).
Side note: the laundry basket costume proved to be quite handy for the occasion as it was able to hold a good supply of "beverages."
Side note 2: SpongeBob pajama pants optional.
@LoMo Tweet of The Week II: Click Me
I’ll double dip into the LoMo tweets this week. As noted on our weekly Segment "Fish Bites", LoMo and Boni (@Elboni_1) find themselves traveling through Taiwan with the MLB All-Stars for the 2011 Taiwan All Star series. This tweet got me thinking: if I had to share a bunk bed/room with a fellow Marlin, former or current, who would it be? My guess is that most people these days would immediately respond with LoMo as his Twitter persona would lead us all to believe that he knows how to have a good time (I don’t doubt this).
For me, the choice is easy: it would be Alfredo Amezega. If one would look into the dugout during his time spent with the Marlins, one would see Alfredo always buzzing around, always joking and being jovial; he had that off-field swagger you look for in a good bunkmate/roommate (yes I know the link is in Spanish, but I think it makes my point). Additionally, someone capable of making defensive plays like this is automatically a baller in my book. Who would you guys choose of any current or former Marlins to be a bunkmate/roommate?
Fan Tweet(s) of the Week: @ek2MarlinManiac
This tweet is simple, yet ultimately, summarizes what all Marlins fans must be feeling with the beginning of free agency two days ago. As a Marlins fan, we have never really known what It feels like for the team to be active in the free agency market. The intrigue and mistake of the unlimited possibilities that lie ahead have me on the edge of my seat awaiting our first move. Now if we could only hurry that process I’d greatly appreciate it.
Being the first week of this exercise I didn’t expect too many tweets. Remember, anytime you write anything Marlins related on twitter use #fishstripes and your deep thoughts or wit will be put to our attention to be featured here on this weekly segment, so keep 'em coming!
Thanks to @ek2MarlinManiac for being our first featured tweeter. Hopefully we will have many more to come.
Marlins & The World Series
This years World Series was undoubtedly one to remember. Even more so, as was a surprise to me, it had a strong connection to the Marlins. Anytime you get a Wild Card team winning the whole thing, I always think about my Marlins. Upon further review, through statistics and through the involvement of some Marlins people, the connection that this year's World Series has with the Marlins is pretty cool.
A Quick Quiz (Thanks @ESPNStatsInfo to for providing these interesting stats)
1) Edwin Jackson’s 7 walks in game 4 of the 20011 World Series were the most walks by an NL pitcher since _________(Answer)
2) In game 3 of the 2011 World Series 8 pitchers allowed a run. This tied which most recent World Series game number & in what year. (Answer)
3) The last road team to score at least 12 runs in a World Series game was ______ & in what year? (Answer & Boxscore)
4) The Rangers pitching staff by issuing 40 walks passed which other World Series team for most walks in a single World Series. (Answer)
If you were able to answer all four of these questions correctly, consider me impressed. Furthermore upon looking at these stats it amazes me that we actually won. Outside of the Cardinals-like comeback in the 9th in Game 4 of the 1997 World Series, the stats that our Marlins team of 1997 share in common or were passed over in this years World Series are not of the type that one would normally associate with a World Series Winner. But hey, that’s baseball and we all know what happened in 1997!
In addition to sharing some interesting stats, the Marlins found themselves well represented this year at the World Series. Both Eduardo Perez (@PerezEd) and Ozzie Guillen (@OzzieGuillen) participated in ESPN’s coverage of the great October Classic. As a Marlins fan, this is most welcomed. The fact that some of our coaches are on national TV is awesome. Anytime there’s a chance for the Marlins be on the national stage, even if its by virtue of the coaches being on the tube, I’m all for it. For those of you wanting to see the World Series through the eyes of Ozzie Guillen, click here.
So as you can see this year’s version of the World Series had a bit of a Marlins feel to it. Hopefully we will soon be participating in it rather than being loosely associated to it through random stats and participation in its coverage.
Marlins Gift of the Week: Don’t Cry for Me Hanley Ramirez (An Evita Reference in a baseball blog post?!#?!)
With the holiday season right around the corner, I can’t think of a better thing to do than lend a helping hand by pointing out some sweet Marlins merch. This week's offering, while not only useful, will soon find itself viewed under the guise as a collectors item featuring the soon to be extinct old Marlins logo. The Marlins tissue box is the perfect gift for that family member who lives and breathes Marlins baseball, offering one the opportunity to blow one’s nose, clean up a spill (if paper towels are sparse), or cry just like the guys on your favorite major league ball club (they would like you to believe they don’t). One could also save them for a special occasion, possibly to help wipe away tears of joy from the next Marlins World Series victory? Speaking of that family member who lives and breaths marlins baseball, I think I have found the first customer.
On that note, I hope you enjoyed, the first installment. This being my first post I’d like to leave everyone with a video featuring one of my all-time favorite Marlins, Charlie Hough. The reasoning behind this is easy. Because this is my first blog piece ever, why not feature the guy who threw out the first pitch in Marlins history. Though not featured as a Marlin in the video, Charlie and all his knuckleball-goodness are on full display. Lets just say I hope my success as a blogger proves to be better than this guy catching him.
Remember, the point to all this is for it to be interactive & fun, if there is anything you come across that somehow pertains to the Marlins that you would like to share, shoot it my way! I will make sure to provide shout-outs to anyone who helps. As always, suggestion and recommendations welcomed, let me know what you liked, what you didn’t and what I can possibly add. This whole idea is relatively new and I look forward to continue building upon it.
Myself & Charlie via i1102.photobucket.com
