Hello everyone, I wanted to let you know about a great promotion that Major League Baseball as well as State Farm Insurance are putting on. State Farm is giving away some great prizes and all you have to do is go to the Offical State Farm Call Your Shot website and register through June 24th. If you are the lucky winner here is what you will receive! Now tell me if that isn’t one of the best prizes for a baseball family!  Make sure you take a few minutes to register, you could be the winner!

• All-expense paid trip for four to the All-Star Game and State Farm Home Run Derby
• First class hotel accommodations in New York
• Tickets to a Broadway show
• $1,000 MasterCard gift card

The grand prize winner will also get the chance to pick a spot to which two of the Home Run Derby players must compete to try to hit a ball. If the first player hits the ball to the called spot, the promotion ends. If either player succeeds, the fan receives a 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid vehicle and a 2009 season-ticket package for any team.

Additionally, 10 fans will win first place prizes consisting of a $300 MLB.com gift card and 25 second place prize winners will receive $100 MLB.com gift cards.

As you can tell, this would be an amazing trip and prize package to win. So what are you waiting for? Go register for a trip of a lifetime!

I’m not going to do the math, but Jamie Moyer probably has more Major League experience than the entire Marlins’ pitching staff combined.  He also has the best record of any pitcher in Major League history.  Well, I suppose that’s easy considering he began pitching before baseball statistics were kept.

Yes, this old man made the young Fish look silly tonight during the Phillies’ 3-0 win.  It was a waste of a stellar effort by Scott Olsen, who pitch six scoreless innings before letting two score on a wild pitch and an errant throw by Matt Treanor.  If it weren’t for that doubly bad play, Scott “Don’t Tase Me Bro” Olsen might have gone neck-and-neck with Moyer until the end.

But, as we all know, the Marlins enjoy having the worst defense (statistically) in the Major Leagues.  They like it because it keeps games interesting.  After tonight’s game, Fredi Gonzalez said, “it’s fun to expect the unexpected.  Perfect defense is like a mundane 9-to-5 job.”

In all seriousness, with Jacques Jones  designated for assignment, the Marlins can no longer blame a voodoo-like bad luck curse.  It’s an even playing field (unless we’re playing in Houston, right?).  The Fish need to improve their defense if they want to remain in contention.

Meanwhile, the Marlins’ scouts need to 1) get fired, or 2) figure out Jamie Moyer.  He is making too many of his fellow AARP members in Florida jealous and needs to come back down to reality.  45-year-old people don’t nearly throw no-hitters, they eat Early Bird specials and slow down traffic.

The Florida Marlins blew their one run lead in the top of the ninth inning but then came back in the bottom of the ninth inning as Dan Uggla hit another walk off home run.  This time it was a walk off grand slam that gave the Marlins a 6-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Before Uggla’s grand slam (his 19th home run of the season), the Marlins other two runs came off the bat of Jorge Cantu who hit solo home runs in the first and seventh innings.  I would have liked to see more production for other guys in the lineup but sometimes that is just how things go in baseball.

Andrew Miller pitched seven innings and gave up four hits and one run as he started the game for the Marlins.  It was a very good outing for the young pitcher even though he got the no decision in the game.  Justin Miller tossed a scoreless eighth inning before Kevin Gregg was called in to close out the game.  However Gregg gave up a run and the game was tied 2-2 heading into the bottom of the inning.  Gregg blew the save, but actually picked up the win as the Marlins scored in the bottom of the inning.

The Marlins will be going for the three game sweep on Thursday night as Scott Olsen will get the start on the mound against the Phillies.

Marlins Blog

Well Marlins faithful, it appears I was right again.  Ryan Tucker pitched five innings and gave up only one earned run during the Marlins’ 9-2 victory over Dusty Baker’s Fish-Eating Reds.  That’s two in a row against a team that beat us in the opponents’ first four games!  Tucker is our D-Train of ‘03, our Livan of ‘97.  “I love you Miami!”

Tucker was tearing up the Southern League with fellow 2005 draftee Chris Volstad.  Lucky for him, Volstad recently endured a minor injury, making the choice for this year’s messiah a no brainer.  Although Tucker did walk 5 batters and seemed a bit nervous, he was without question the giver breath to the Marlins’ offense, who smashed nine runs and played error-less baseball for nine innings.

Am I anointing Tucker too soon?  Perhaps.  But we really need him don’t we?  Burke Badenhop seems to be better suited for long relief — a mop-up reliever, albeit a quality mopper.  The season will tell if Tucker is the real deal or not, but for now, let’s believe in this Mother Tucker.

Kyle Skipworth a catching prospect from Patriot High School in Riverside, California was drafted by the Florida Marlins with the sixth overall pick in the baseball draft today.  Skipworth is actually the 200-7-2008 Gatorade Player of the Year as well.  The Marlins picked up a great player it looks like.

Skipworth hopes to begin his pro career between June 15-20. The Marlins will place him, like just about all their high school choices, in the Gulf Coast League.  He has already agreeded to a contract, but cannot sign that until he graduates from high school on June 11th.

I have the opportunity to conduct a phone interview with Mr. Skipworth if I would like to.  I was wondering if there are any questions that Marlins fans would like to ask the young catcher?  Leave a comment with your question and either I or Andrew who has been writing game recaps will conduct the interview if we get enough questions.

Here are a few stats for you as well that have been emailed to me from the Gatorade Player Of The Year Program.

·         Produced a .543 batting average, 51 runs scored, 47 RBI and 12 home runs, 1.117 slugging percentage and .627 on-base percentage
·         Set a California state record when he put together a streak of 18 straight hits in 18 official at-bats this spring
·         Led 2007 USA Baseball Junior National Team to a bronze medal at the COPABE “AAA” Pan American Junior Championships in Mexico
·         Aflac All-American High School Baseball Classic Selection
·         2007 Area Codes Games Participant
·         Plays for the Angels Elite Scout Team and the ABD Bulldogs Travel Team
·         Maintains a 3.81 GPA

Two homers.  Two walks.  A stolen base.

This team will live and die by Hanley Ramirez.  When he is cold, the fish are cold, like sushi.  When El Nino (the second) is hot, the fish are hot, like fish ‘n chips.

Who are the chips?  How about Mike Rabelo, who’s 2-run homer in the top of the 9th might have single-handedly turned this season around.  If the fish quickly get out of this free fall they will prove to themselves of their resilience, the most important quality in this marathon that is the 162 games baseball schedule.  Rabelo’s homer might have jolted some life back into this sushi plate.

Take Kevin Gregg as an example, notching save number 11.  Yes, the same Kevin Gregg who seem to be a Philadelphia Phillies double agent.  Below the belt?  Maybe, but he’s struggling, with that pitching motion of his, it’s hard not to think he’s literally throwing batting practice.

So, let’s hope this 6-4 win over the Braves is truly the comeback.  Let’s hope Hanley, our #2, is alive and has gotten over the fact that he could buy a new golden toilet seat each time he goes number 2.

And, once more, it’s worth noting that Jacques Jones went 0-for-1 today in this pinch hit performance.   (He struck out for Mark Hendrickson, who’s batting average is nearly double that of Jones).

The hearts of Marlin fans have been breaking too frequently these days.  In such an important road trip we have been teased like New England Patriot fans of this past season.  Okay, maybe the Marlins haven’t quite yet reached the World Series, but South Florida sure has been acting like it.  There is a buzz on the street.  There is excitement.  It least, there was. 

 The Florida Marlins have lost 5 of 6 games.  They are playing like the Yankees.  (Too soon?)

 With the exeption of Mark Hendrickson’s 10 earned runs against the Phillies, there starting pitching has been solid.  During this recent slide, the offense has put up a decent number of runs (3, 6, 3, 7, 5, and 5, respectively).  So who’s too blame?

 The bullpen has been one of the team’s greatest strengths all season.  But lately, especially in the late innings, the bullpen has faultered.

 ”I guess we need to get rid of Jacque Jones,” said closer Kevin Gregg. 

 Okay, Gregg didn’t say that.  But the bullpen needs a scapegoat with it recent performance, and since Jones was placed on the active roster, the Marlins have had bad luck.  Remember the other team Jones played for this year?  Would you say they had “bad luck?”

With that being said, lets hope Jones (and his sub .100 batting average as a Marlin) shakes off this unlucky streak and start putting more games in the win column. 

 It’s been a hard day’s blog, and I’ve sleeping like a Ryan Tucker and Dallas McPherson, who are having monster seasons in the minors.