asica’s profile

"He has balls asking for free land and 100m when he's putting a 15m team on the field. And I totally would expect the Marlins to trade Dontrelle this season too, knocking 5m off that 15." This is amusing to me. Given the awful stadium they are playing in, the constant threat of evening (game time) T-storms in Florida, the Marlins clearly need a new stadium - look at their attendance figures over the last 10 years. It's awful how little support that team gets. They've won TWO recent WS championships (last 10 years), and yet get no support. There is no reason for Loria to continue to lose money year after year when the local community will not help the team succeed. The right move is to get the team out of an area where there is no support for it. Success for this team has NEVER, in the past, translated into increased fan support or a better environment to play (i.e. a much needed stadium)

posted at 12:50 PM on April 12

The Marlins will never succeed in Florida with their current stadium situation; the locals voted it down even after another WS win. At this point, Loria owes the local Florida fans nothing - he has every right to pursue a better situation, and their are localities that would happily help him build a new stadium and support the team.

posted at 12:45 PM on April 12

Ortiz has been visibly great in the clutch (although he's not even in the same stratosphere as Jordan as a player in their respective sports). Reading excerpts from books, like the one referenced above, you get the feeling that these writers and sabermetrics geeks have never watched a game. Look, I love numbers (being in CS/math), but your eyes don't deceive you - when the money's been on the line in the big spots in highly pressurized situations, Ortiz has come through as much as anyone in recent history. Reading these articles, they are clearly playing with the numbers too much - such as attempting to assign standard values to non standard situations. Little credence is given to the quality of the opponent (team and pitcher), the importance of the individual game, the time of year (early summer vs September/October), the divisional ramifications of the game, the emotional impact of the at-bat (don't tell me a single with a runner on 3rd against the yankees by Ortiz excites his teammates and fans as much as a homer in the same situation - and don't tell me it affects the yankees the same way). Point is, clutch is as much - or more - an intangible value than a measurable one.

posted at 09:11 AM on April 06