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The End is Near (UPDATED)
For the Florida Marlins in 2005, that is. Our hometown fishballers got swept by Atlanta over the weekend, and are 2 games away from elimination with 6 games left.
For those who have followed the team all season, this weekend was a microcosm of their entire season: failure to drive in runs with men in scoring position, terrible relief pitching, bad defense in the clutch, and plain ol' bad luck.
Another problem has been lack of consistent production from some of their better players. These include Juan Pierre, Mike Lowell, and A.J. Burnett.
Let's talk about Burnett a little. Here's a guy with great stuff, has thrown a no-hitter in his career, and at one point this season won 7 games in a row. His problem is that he's not very bright, in my opinion. For all his great stuff, he's only 12-12 this season (49-50 career), and has lost his last 6 games, games that the Marlins needed to win. The most frustrating loss was a couple of weeks back against Roger Clemens and the Houston Astros when he walked the eighth and ninth hitters back-to-back with the bases loaded.
A.J. lashed out at the team after his loss yesterday, saying "We played scared. We managed scared. We coached scared. I'm sick of it, man".
As far as I'm concerned, Burnett has no ground to stand on. He's lost 6 straight games down the home stretch. He needs to look in the mirror before he starts criticizing the team.
There are few things more frustrating in life than an underachiever criticizing everyone else but himself. A.J. is an outspoken kind of guy and occasionally spurts out stupid things to the media, but this latest outburst takes the cake. If it would have been Dontrelle Willis or Carlos Delgado making similar comments, I would've respected them more because they have basically carried this team all year. But Burnett?
Sorry, he hasn't earned his right to whine.
UPDATE - While the Marlins were getting beat 4-0 by Washington tonight, Burnett has been sent home for the rest of the season. Looks like we've seen the last of him in a Marlins uniform.
For those who have followed the team all season, this weekend was a microcosm of their entire season: failure to drive in runs with men in scoring position, terrible relief pitching, bad defense in the clutch, and plain ol' bad luck.
Another problem has been lack of consistent production from some of their better players. These include Juan Pierre, Mike Lowell, and A.J. Burnett.
Let's talk about Burnett a little. Here's a guy with great stuff, has thrown a no-hitter in his career, and at one point this season won 7 games in a row. His problem is that he's not very bright, in my opinion. For all his great stuff, he's only 12-12 this season (49-50 career), and has lost his last 6 games, games that the Marlins needed to win. The most frustrating loss was a couple of weeks back against Roger Clemens and the Houston Astros when he walked the eighth and ninth hitters back-to-back with the bases loaded.
A.J. lashed out at the team after his loss yesterday, saying "We played scared. We managed scared. We coached scared. I'm sick of it, man".
As far as I'm concerned, Burnett has no ground to stand on. He's lost 6 straight games down the home stretch. He needs to look in the mirror before he starts criticizing the team.
There are few things more frustrating in life than an underachiever criticizing everyone else but himself. A.J. is an outspoken kind of guy and occasionally spurts out stupid things to the media, but this latest outburst takes the cake. If it would have been Dontrelle Willis or Carlos Delgado making similar comments, I would've respected them more because they have basically carried this team all year. But Burnett?
Sorry, he hasn't earned his right to whine.
UPDATE - While the Marlins were getting beat 4-0 by Washington tonight, Burnett has been sent home for the rest of the season. Looks like we've seen the last of him in a Marlins uniform.
posted by Robert at 7:53 PM
2 Comments:
Robert,
As you know I'm a big marlin fan. I even have a blog about the marlins called "Fish or Cut Bait" at http://www.floridafishfan.blogspot.com.
Your are dead on about Burnett. George, he's a free agent so the Marlins won't be sending him down anywhere but they will get compensatory picks in the next draft for losing him. Some team like the Yankees or the Mets will overpay for him like they did for Pavano. That's fine. The bigger the Yankee payroll the more money the Marlins get in terms of luxury tax money. Burnett could be a dominating pitcher if he didn't have shit for brains. Too bad for him.
Oh and by the way I hate those spam comments. I always delete them.
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