Team Breakdown 16/30: Florida Marlins

I've got an idea! Let's put a baseball team that can't be funded by public support and team owners, go through players and managers like water and build a brand new stadium with tax payer dollars and do the same thing five years later in the same state! The Florida Marlins are a strange bunch. Ownership has often taken the approach that a team should only be good for one year. See 1997 and 2003. Otherwise it's a firesale on both players and managers. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Marlins make big moves in the offseason (although they did finally pay Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson) after firing manager Fredi Gonzalez. Just about everybody it seems, has played for the Marlins. Mike Piazza was once traded to Florida played five games before being traded to the Mets. But yet they have more W.S. titles than 11 teams and have as many as the Cubs, Indians and Phillies who have been around for 100 years now.

Team Breakdown

W.S. Titles:1997,2003

Favorite moment: Marlins beat the Yankees in the 2003 W.S.

Least Favorite: As a part time Indians fan thanks to living in Northwest Ohio and really liking Kenny Lofton, the "off Nagy's glove Counsell scores" is still something that sticks with me.

Franchise Player:Hanley Ramirez/Miguel Cabrera/Livan Hernandez

Forgot he played: Bobby Bonilla

Never knew: Trevor Hoffman

Team Breakdown 15/30: Atlanta Braves

Milwaukee (1953-1965)

Boston (1912-1952)

In the beginning, the Boston Red Stockings started in 1871. Then it was the Red Caps(72-86), Beaneaters (87-1906), Doves (07-10), Rustlers (1911) Boston Braves (1912-35), Bees (36-40) back to the Braves in 1941. In 1953 the Braves move to Milwaukee and adopt Chief Wahoo's brother as their offensive mascot. In 1966 Hank Aaron and the boys moved to Atlanta. The Braves in the Mid-90's were the Yankees of the NL, except unlike Jeter and the gang, Bobby and the Chipper's could only take one W.S. title (Indians in 1995) from 1991-1999 despite appearing in five W.S. in that time (losing to the Yankees twice). This year is Bobby Cox's final year and it looked as though the Braves would let him down (Chipper did at least). However, Atlanta is hanging in there and are in contention for a postseason run.

Team breakdown:

W.S. Wins: 3(1914,57,95)

Favorite Moment: Hank Aaron becomes the new home run king with his 715th home run and in my opinion still reamains the true home run king (most of this belief stems from my least favorite Braves moment.)

Least favorite: Where were you when Sid slid? Well I was five and wouldn't have known about this play, except that TBS ran this campaign for one of the Braves seasons and everytime I had watch him slide safely as Barry Bonds fails to throw the ball anywhere near home plate forcing Mike Lavalliere to nearly make a fine play. This is why I hate Bonds, never mind that Jose Lind can't catch or Stan Belinda has a stupid delivery, I hate Bonds.

Franchise Player: Hank Aaron

Forgot He Played:Ron Gant

Never Knew:Jason Schmidt

Team Breakdown 14/30: Texas Rangers

Hey Washington Senators remember when you came back because you moved to Minnesota, how'd that work out? And that's how the Rangers were born. The Rangers with the exception of Nolan Ryan and Kenny Rogers have been all hitting and no pitching. Much like the Mariners, the Rangers have never won a W.S. Series or even appeared in one because they lost to the Yankees. The Rangers are playing some good baseball right now, but odds are they'll fold in the fall.

W.S. Wins: NONE

Favorite moment: Robin Ventura took exception to Nolan Ryan hitting him with one of his Ryan express fastball's. Ryan made sure Ventura never charged the mound again.
Least Favorite:Rangers make A-Rod a very rich man. Rafael Palmeiro endorses Viagra and did not use steroids period.

Franchise Player: Juan Gonzalez

Forgot he played: Julio Franco

Never Knew: Fergie Jenkins

Back to baseball cards: Nolan Ryan and Charlie Hough, both Rangers pitchers at one point, have over 20 cards each in my baseball collection.

Team Breakdown 13/30: Seattle Mariners

The Mariners exist because of Bud Selig. True story. Selig took the Seattle Pilots to Milwaukee where they become the Brewers leaving Seattle without a professional baseball team (something Sonics fans can relate to). The Mariners are only good for one thing, winning a lot of games only to let there fans down in the ALCS. It took unti 1991 (started in 1977) before the M's could get a winning season. The M's were fun to watch in the mid-90's with Griffey, Buhner and Martinez and they won a ML-record 116 games in 2001 with the Yankees taking the AL crown that year.

WS Wins: NONE

Favorite Moment: Griffey Sr. and Griffey Jr. hit back to back HR's to become the first father and son to do so. Griffey Jr. also stole a home run from from that guy in Little Big League which great because the Twins should never win even in fiction.

Least favorite:The fact the Mariner Moose still has a job after reckless op on multiple occassions.(seen here and here watch on mute)

Franchise player: Ken Griffey Jr.

Forgot he played:Jamie Moyer

Never Knew:Dave Burba

Five points if you knew Seattle's manager was Don Wakamatsu

Special shoutout to Ichiro for being awesome.

Take me out to the ball game

Laynce Nix surpries with his average

Magglio is Magg-Nifficent

Edwin Jackson is undefeated

Brendan Donnelly's ERA can't be figured

Jay Bruce must have a hole in his bat

Sometimes going to a baseball game allows you a chance to see some really big names like Manny, Griffey or Pujols. Sometimes these players deliver with great pitching performances and days at the plate while others fizzle out like duds. So here are the top (and not) players who I've seen with my own two eyes.

Best Avg.(min 5 abs)

1.)Laynce Nix-.625 (5-8)

2.) Johnny Damon-.615 (8-13)

3.)Albert Pujols, Pablo Sandoval and Jim Thome-.600 (3/5)

4.) Brennan Boesch(4/8) Chris Dickerson(6/12)-.500

5.) Magglio Ordonez-.484 (15/31)

6.) Carlos Pena-.444 (4/9)

7.)Adam Everett-.417 (5/12)

8.)Ryan Rayburn-.412 (7/17)

9.) Ben Zobrist, Bobby Higginson, Dusty Ryan, Matt Lawton, Nate Schierholtz, Randall Simon and Warren Morris (2/5)-.400

10.) Randy Winn-.375 (3/8)

Worst Avg.(min 5 abs)

1.) 0-Jay Bruce (0/8) Ryan Garko (0/7), Todd Walker, Jermaine Dye (0/6), Shannon Stewart, Milton Bradley, Mike Piazza, Kevin Witt, Eugenio Velez, Donnie Murphy, David Ortiz and Nomar Garciaparra (0/5)

2.) Marcus Thames-.063 (1/16)

3.)Edgar Renteria-.111(1/9)

4.)Jason Varitek-.125(1/8)

5.) Curtis Granderson-.138 (4/29)

6.)Yuniesky Escobar, Paul Janish and Scott Podsednik-.143(1/7)

7.)Gary Sheffield-.154 (2/13)

8.) Gordon Beckham and Cesar Izturis-.167 (1/6)

9.)Rosales, Soriano, McCutchen, Huff, Gardner, Stubbs, Munson, Jaso, Millar, Kotsay, Walbeck, R. Castro, Santiago, Fick, Ludwick, Schumaker, W. Harris-.200 (1/5)

10.) Brandon Inge-.219 (8/36)

Most Doubles-T(2) Pujols, Marco Scutaro, Dickerson, Pena, Laird

Most Triples-1 Torri Hunter, Placido Polanco, Felipe Lopez, Alex Sanchez, Raburn, Hanigan, Andres Torres

Most HRs-Ordonez (5) Raburn(3)

Most Grand Slams-Thome, Wily Mo Pena(1)

Most Strikeouts-Granderson (9) Cabrera and Thames (7)

Most Stolen Bases-Cabrera(3) Austin Jackson (2)

Most Runs Scored-Ordonez(8) Inge and Raburn(6)

Most RBIs-Ordonez (8) Granderson (6) Raburn, Polanco, Thome (5)

Best ERA (Min 5IP)

1.Matt Cain-1.13

2. Aaron Harang, Kenny Rogers and Pedro Martinez-1.29

3.Matt Roney-1.35

4.Paul Maholm-1.50

5.Fausto Carmona, Jeremy Bonderman and Mark Redman-2.57

6.-Kip Wells-2.70

7.-Jered Weaver-2.84

8.-Curt Schilling-3.00

9.-Edwin Jackson-3.18

10.-Zach Miner-3.24

Worst Era

1. Cant Divide By Zero- Brendan Donnelly(1 batter faced=HR), Brian Meadows (2 Runs in 0IP) Erik Sabel (2 Runs in 0IP) and Salomon Torres (1 Run in 0IP)-3 on this list are Pirates

2.Kevin Gregg-54.10

3.Dallas Braden-43.20

4.Casey Fossum, Cla Meredith and Mike Gonzalez-27.00

5.Mitch Talbot-19.30

6.Kiko Calero-13.53

7.Tim Byrdak,Freddy Dolsi and Jamie Walker-13.50

8.Juan Acevedo-11.05

9.Alan Embree, Bob Howry, CC Sabathia, Octavio Dotel and Todd Jones-9.00

10.John Danks-7.20

Most K's

1.Edwin Jackson(16)

2.Justin Verlander and Bronson Arroyo (12)

3.Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez(8)

4.Miner, Wells, Roney, Rogers (7)

5.Nate Robertson and Bonderman (6)

Team Breakdown 12/30: Oakland A's

The Athletics not only have one of the dumbest name in baseball, but are also the nomads of the sport (moving from Philadelphia to Kansas City to Oakland). For some reason I do find the A's uniforms very snazzy (not these unis). The A's are also suprisingly succesful when it comes to W.S. with the second most in the American League with 9 victories in 15 appearances of course well short of the Yankees 27. Also for my money (ball) the A's have had the three best mustaches in baseball Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley and Goose Gossage

Team Breakdown:

W.S. Wins: (Oakland-1989, 74, 73, 72,Philadelphia- 30, 29, 13, 11, 10)

Favorite Moment: Rickey Henderson breaks the stolen base record and will probably hold that title for a very long time.

Least Favorite: Jose Canseco + steroids= baseball's dark ages

Franchise Player: Rickey Henderson

Forgot he played for them: Frank Thomas/Mike Piazza

Never Knew: Kenny Rogers

Great Names: Carney Lansford, Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage

EMU Alum: Bob Welch

Team Breakdown 11/30: California, Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem in the Outfield

The Angels change their name as much as Lady Gaga changes her hair. All they have to show for it is a stadium with some rock formations, a rally monkey. But they do have one World Series and they do have a spot in one of the funniest movie moments. Not this one, this one.

Team Breakdown:

W.S. Win: 2002

Favorite Moment: Angels keep Barry Bonds from winning a W.S...oh and more Naked Gun

Least Favorite: Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart dies after a drunk driver struck the vehicle that Adenhart was in, just hours after he pitched six shutout innings in his first start of the 2009 season.

Franchise Player: Tim Salmon

Forgot He Played for them: Rickey Henderson

Never Knew: Cecil Fielder

Worst spelling of Sean/Shawn: Chone Figgins

Best pitcher with one hand: Jim Abbott

Team Breakdown 10/30: Minnesota Twins

"You won't find a back room in our video stores, unlike some larger sin cities. A.k.a. Minneapolis, St. Paul"-Drop Dead Gorgeous

I have no idea why I used that quote other than I thought it was funny, but there is nothing funny with the baseball in the Twins Cities. A new ball park, the reining AL MVP in Joe Mauer and one of the hottest hitters right now Justin Morneau. The Twins so far have dispelled the myth that they wouldn't be as good outside and I'd say first place is alright. The Twins weren't always in Minnesota as they were once the Washington Senators/Nationals.

Team breakdown:

W.S. Wins: (1991, 1987 and 1924 as the Senators)

Favorite Twins Moment: Twins beat the Braves to win the 1991 W.S Series after Braves defeated Pittsburgh in the NLCS.

Least Favorite: Twins defeat Tigers in a one-game playoff for the Central Crown and lose to the eventual W.S. Champs New York.

Franchise Player: Kirby Puckett

Forgot he played:Jim Thome

Never Knew: Steve Carlton

Great names: Kevin Slowey, Doug Mientkiewicz, Denard Span

Baseball + Movies= Good times

Sports movies are great entertainment. From Remember the Titans to Slap Shot sports movies get the juices flowing and make me want to go out and participate in said sport. Since baseball is my favorite sport, I love baseball movies the most. So here are my favorite baseball classics.

1.) 61*-The best baseball movie, because I care about two Yankees (Thomas Jane's best work as Mickey Mantle and Barry Pepper's portrayal of Roger Maris is just behind his role in Saving Private Ryan and he looks a lot like Maris) and I hate the Yankees. Billy Crystal directs and as Paul Maholm showed him, baseball is no laughing matter.
2.)A League of Their Own-"I haven't got ballplayers, I've got girls." Tom Hanks makes this movie great, Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petty and Rosie O'Donnell are all convincing enough as WWII baseball star's in a women's league. Apparently some girl that graduated with my mom is an extra in this film, but who knows.
3.)Sugar-MLB the Show has a feature called road to the show. This movie is road to the show Dominican style as it follows as Dominican baseball player up the ranks of baseball before his career fizzles out.
4.)Field of Dreams-"If you build it, they will come" Did you know the baseball field from this movie is up for sale? but I digress. Costner returns to baseball and other adventures including kidnapping James Earl Jones.
5.)The Natural-Robert Redford destroys some lights with that sweet swing and it has a hint of film noir to it (not a lot, just a hint) Overall good stuff.
6.)The Bad News Bears (1976)-Walter Matthau is great as a drunk ball coach in charge of a little league team. Also this starts of the career of Jackie Earl Haley.
7.)The Pride of the Yankees-Gary Cooper takes on Gehrig the man and leads us up to that final speech "Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth"
8.)Major League-The most quotable of the baseball films, Major Leauge is comedy gold thanks to Bob Uecker as Harry Doyle-"In case you haven't noticed, and judging by the attendance you haven't, the Indians have managed to win a few here and there, and are threatening to climb out of the cellar."
9.)Bull Durham-It took me a second time to really enjoy this movie. Kevin Costner reminds us the golden rules of baseball. "Stop trying to strike everyone out. Strike outs are fascist, Throw some ground balls, they're more democratic."
10.)Major League 2-"The Indians have a runner, I think I'll wet my pants." Harry Doyle is back, Charlie Sheen is back...Wesley Snipes is not. This movie holds a strange place in my heart, because I actually saw it before the first movie, because I was not allowed to watch R rated movies...sooooooooo
11.)Eight Men Out-The White Sox are cheaters, I just wish that the whole franchise would have been banned from baseball not the eight players.
12.)Cobb-Cobb was an asshole. Tommy Lee Jones made Cobb an even bigger asshole.
13.) Rookie of the Year-I've seen this movie more than any of the movies above combined. I have no reason for this, but I really enjoy this movie.

14.)Beer League*(really about softball)
15.) Fever Pitch (not great)
16.) Bad News Bears (2005) (not as good as the first)
17.)The Fan (De Niro is crazy and I believe Del Torro would make a great baseball player)
18.)Angels in the Outfield (1994) (Is does start at one and you're a jackass)
19.) The Sandlot (This movie suffers because of the corniest ending in the history of sports films. I hate that ending so much it can't break into my favorite baseball films)
20.)The Benchwarmers (stupid)
21.)Mr. 3000 (soooooo stupid)
22.) The Rookie (boring)
23.)Hardball (corny)
24.)The Babe (boring)
25.)Little Big League (I remember nothing about this movie except Night Nurses from New Jersey.)
26.)Mr. Baseball (Tom Selleck reminds me of my dad...Tom Selleck references mustache rides in this film. Therefore my dad references mustache rides in this film...needless to say...disturbing)
27.) Major League III (awful)
28.)The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training-this is bar none the worst baseball movie in the history of baseball movies. Why would anyone want to meet the 1977 Houston Astros? Who would let there kids drive all the way to Texas without at least one other parent chaperone? What happened to half the team. When did Tanner become a softy for Lupus? Who greenlit this movie?

Other notable baseball moments in film
Charlie Brown
Baseketball?
Naked Gun-funniest part of that movie is the last 1/2 hour of that movie.