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In defense of respect: the world champion Marlins are eager to show disbelievers—and that means you—that last season was no fluke

Sporting News, The, March 8, 2004 by Kevin Baxter

Is it March already? My, how time flies when you're ringing the bell at the NASDAQ stock exchange, dating lingerie models, receiving blessings from the pope and hanging out with Carson Daly, David Letterman and, of course, President Bush.

The world champion Marlins didn't have much time for work in the offseason. Even baseball lifer manager lack McKeon took the winter off, posing for more magazine covers than a supermodel. When general manager Larry Beinfest called McKeon to review candidates for a coaching position, the conversation was brief.

"You're doing a great job," McKeon told Beinfest. "Go get me some great players. I've got to go do Letterman. Bye."

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It wasn't so long ago that the Marlins were baseball's orphans, unwanted by their first two owners and even by Major League Baseball, which threatened to contract the franchise. But all that changed after a thrilling postseason that ended with Florida stunning the lordly Yankees in a six-game World Series.

"It was good. A lot of exciting things," says pitcher Dontrelle Willis, who likened his winter to a dream.

But now, says just about everyone who wasn't fitted for a ring last fall, it's time for the Marlins to wake up and smell the coffee. In just four short months, Florida has gone from top dog back to underdog. In Las Vegas, the Marlins are 40-to-1 long shots to repeat, behind the Twins, Dodgers and Padres, among others.

Outfielder Jeff Conine says he has mined magazines and the Internet searching for just one expert who has picked the Marlins to win. He's still looking.

But you know what? This is just the way the Marlins like it.

"We thrive on that," third baseman Mike Lowell says of the lack of respect. "I think we're hungrier because not only have we had a taste and want to get back to it, but we want to prove to a lot of people that we can do it again."

World Series MVP Josh Beckett, who spent much of his offseason in the company of lingerie model Leeann Tweeden, is more blunt.

"I don't give a crap," the pitcher says about the preseason predictions. "Baseball's not played on paper. (Writers) don't pick the winners. We've got to go out there and play the games,"

Which means putting the offseason distractions aside. McKeon, last year's National League Manager of the Year as chosen by the writers and the pontiff, says that won't be a concern.

"I don't think the offseason has anything to do with what happens here," he says. "That's history. It's nice to get the attention. You get the attention because you won the World Series.

"(But) what happened during the offseason isn't going to carry over to what happens on that field opening day."

Well, a few things will carry over, like roster moves. The club parted ways with some key players, including catcher and postseason hero Ivan Rodriguez, Gold Glove first baseman Derrek Lee, closers Ugueth Urbina and Braden Looper, pitcher Mark Redman and outfielder Juan Encarnacion.

Still, there wasn't a tire sale like the one that accompanied the Marlins' 1997 rifle, and there's little competition for jobs in this camp. Six of the eight World Series position starters are back, led by center fielder Juan Pierre, second baseman Luis Castillo and Lowell, who led the team with 32 homers and 105 RBIs despite missing a month with a broken bone in his hand.

Beinfest believes full seasons from Conine and right fielder Miguel Cabrera will help make up for some of the lost offense. The team also is banking on big power numbers from catcher Ramon Castro, who will compete with Mike Redmond to fill the spot vacated by Rodriguez, and the likely first base platoon of Hee Seop Choi and Wil Cordero.

The back of the bullpen will be turned over to Armando Benitez, and Redman's spot in the rotation likely will be filled by Darren Oliver until A.J. Burnett recovers from elbow surgery. Burnett then would join Beckett, Brad Penny, Carl Pavano and Willis in a rotation that has an average age of 25.

"It's going to be a challenge," McKeon says. "When you look at the way the whole game of baseball has evolved the last eight, 10, 12 years, with the advent of free agency and arbitration, you're seeing a lot of changes on every team. It's just become so common now that it's going to be hard to repeat."

In fact, only the 1999 and 2000 Yankees have repeated in the past 10 years. The last team before them to do it was the 1993 Blue Jays.

McKeon says his young squad will have to top what it did last year in order to join that group.

"I've told a couple of those guys, and Willis in particular, the record books are full of one-year phenoms," he says. "The way you become a good major league All-Star is to be consistent. This should inspire us, really. If they have any brains and enjoyed it as much as we all did, they will want to go out and have the same kind of fun they had this year.

"It's tougher to play on a winner than a loser. You have to work a little harder."

In defense of respect: the world champion Marlins are eager to show disbelievers—and that means you—that last season was no fluke

Sporting News, The, March 8, 2004 by Kevin Baxter

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