Despite the Series Loss, Fish Are Improving

The month of June has not been kind to the Florida Marlins this year.  Under Edwin Rodriguez, the Marlins had only recorded one win in the month.  The slide prompted the manager to resign from his position.  For the record, I don’t have a problem with Rodriguez resigning from his managerial position.  His voice and leadership style was no longer working for this team.  Even though Beinfest and company were ‘shocked’ by Rodriguez’s decision, it would have only been a matter of time before owner Jeffrey Loria had decided to pull the plug on the manager.

The Marlins front office all agreed that Jack McKeon would be the perfect answer to manage this club for the rest of the season.  In my opinion, this team really liked playing under Edwin Rodriguez.  Rodriguez made all the right moves while he was here and gained the respect of all the players including star shortstop, Hanley Ramirez.  By the way, that’s saying something when we know that it’s difficult for Hanley to get along with his manager.  In any event, at 80 years of age, McKeon brings a no-nonsense, hard-working, and energetic jolt that the Fish have been desperately looking for as of late.  Despite the fact that the team lost the series to the Angels, a lot of positives can be drawn out from the last three games.

In order for this team to be successful, Hanley Ramirez needs to hit and adjust his attitude while he’s at it.  The first thing McKeon did upon his return to the dugout was to sit Hanley.  There were reports that he arrived late to McKeon’s first team meeting on Monday.  Whether or not McKeon’s decision to bench Hanley on Monday sunk in for the All-Star shortstop I don’t know, but since then Hanley has gone 4 for 10 with two runs batted in and a stolen base.  Aside from Hanley’s production in this series, the team has played a lot better.  With the exception of Brian Sanches’ spot start today, Anibal Sanchez and Javier Vazquez combined to allow just one run on 18 hits in 13.1 innings.  The bullpen has been pretty solid during the month of June and did not disappoint in this series.  The bullpen combined to allow four earned runs in seven and two-thirds innings. 

There has definitely been a different feel in South Florida for the last three games.  The rehiring of Jack McKeon can only rekindle shades of the 2003 Florida Marlins.  His return has prompted fans and sports casters alike to draw parallels to that 2003 season.  The bottom line is that the team has to loosen up, have fun, and continue to play hard.  The Fish will now head to Seattle to play three ‘home’ games.  Originally, the series was going to be played here in Miami but was relocated because of a U2 concert this weekend.  The Marlins have played much better on the road so hopefully with their newfound, upbeat attitude and their aforementioned success away from Sun Life Stadium, they can finish off this horrible month of June on a high note.