Marlins Fan Extraordinaire: Baseball Tales with Abel Rostran

When a lifelong Miami Marlins supporter and a devoted Yankees fan cross paths at LoanDepot Park, baseball magic happens. Abel Restrain radiates pure passion for America's pastime, captivating everyone around him with his infectious energy and encyclopedic knowledge of the game.

Abel's journey from Nicaragua—where baseball reigns supreme—to becoming Miami's most enthusiastic Marlins fan offers a fascinating glimpse into how baseball creates identity and community. His vivid storytelling transports us through Marlins history, from their inaugural 1993 season through their World Series triumphs to today's promising young squad. With particular delight, Abel celebrates the Marlins' distinction as the only MLB team with a winning all-time record against the mighty Yankees.

What truly shines is Abel's commitment to passing baseball traditions to future generations. His daughters haven't missed an Opening Day since birth, creating a visual timeline with annual photos in the same stadium location. As he awaits the arrival of his son, Abel reflects on baseball's power to unite families across generations.

The conversation weaves through fascinating territory—from the pioneering women in the Marlins' front office to the electric atmosphere of the World Baseball Classic, where Abel witnessed his native Nicaragua compete on the international stage. His firsthand accounts of South Florida's rich baseball culture reveal why the region consistently produces exceptional talent.

Abel's "Mount Rushmore" of Marlins legends—Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, and Josh Johnson—becomes a heartfelt tribute to players who brought joy beyond mere statistics. His honorable mention of José Fernández reminds us of baseball's capacity to inspire both celebration and profound connection.

Whether you're a dedicated Marlins fan, a baseball historian, or simply someone who appreciates authentic passion, this episode captures why baseball remains America's most storied sport—a game that transcends rivalries and connects us to something larger than ourselves.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Thanks for tuning in to the Joy of Baseball podcast.
It's all about baseball, fromthe sandlots to the big leagues
and everything in between.
I'll share my joy for the gamewith you and whether you're a
fan of baseball or goodstorytelling, you'll be
entertained and each episodewill bring a little joy to your
day To grab you some peanuts andcrackerjacks.
Let's talk baseball how wedoing baseball fans.

(00:30):
I got a good one for you today.
I'm talking to my friend, abelRestrain.
He's a Miami Marlins fanaticwho I met at Lone Depot Park
when his Miami Marlins weretaking on my New York Yankees.
We don't agree on the same team, but we do agree.
There's nothing like baseball.
Welcome to the show, bell.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Hey how you doing.
Joy, you know it's a pleasureto have met you last weekend on
Saturday for the Yankees atMarlins game.
I always love going to gamesand I love meeting opposing fans
, except Mets fans.
That's the only fans that Iwould not interact with, but
everybody else, and the Bravesand the Phillies and the
Nationals, so the entire NLEs,but anybody else Royals, you

(01:10):
know Houston, I was out there onTuesday against the Astros.
I have no problem with anybody.
They're great fans and I cantalk baseball all day, all night
.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
Well, you have such a good energy.
My nephew Clay and I had gottento the game a little bit early
we're taking in all the pregamefestivities and you and your boy
Momo walked in and before yousat down, you, like, looked at
the field, raised your arms and,like, let's go, marlins.
And started clapping, took itall in around you.

(01:39):
Let everybody know you wasthere for the Marlins and that
energy was contagious.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
You know it's funny because as a Marlins and that
energy was contagious.
You know, it's funny because,as a Marlins fan, when we go to
games, especially when the bigtime, big time teams come to
town, right.
So when the Yankees come, it'sa big series, as you saw.
I think the Marlins had over101,000 fans in the three games
that the Yankees were here thispast weekend.
Um, when the Red Sox you knowthe big name, uh, big fan base,

(02:06):
the C Cubs, they always do greatdown here.
So, because Miami is a townthat we didn't have the Marlins
until 1993.
Right, so, people that that arelongtime baseball fans out here
they grew up watching the Cubs,the Braves and the Super
Station the Cubs because theyhad WGN from Chicago that would
broadcast down here,superstation the Cubs, because
they had WGN from Chicago thatwould broadcast down here.

(02:29):
And obviously everybody grows upwatching the Yankees or the Red
Sox because you had a favoriteplayer growing up or something
like that.
So I know, going into that game, that I'm going to be severely
outnumbered, which I was,because I don't know if you
remember, but around us me andMomo were the only Marlins fans.
I think we had two people onthe side and then a couple of
people in front of us, but inthose seats and we had great
seats, by the way in thoseparticular seats that we were at

(02:50):
, it was mostly, I would say,100% Yankee fans, and you guys
were loud for the players introbut not so loud afterwards.
I'm not going to bring that up.
I don't know if you're ready totalk about that.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
Yeah, I'm going to give you your flowers, so to
speak, because I was going tosay the last time I saw you was
at the end of game two.
The Marners have beat theYankees 2-0, a shutout, even
though it sounded like 2-0, itwas a close game.
It was never close.
Your boys handled business andyou were celebrating that
victory, you and Momo, there inthe stands.

(03:22):
Then game three the Marnins goon to win easily 7-3.
Again, the Yankees were neverreally in it.
So the Marnins swept the seriesagainst the Yankees the first
time that the Marnins have sweptthe Yankees, but certainly not
the first time that the Marninshave won, because I later found
out, my nephew was telling methe Marnins are the only team

(03:45):
with a winning record againstthe Yankees.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
I was waiting for you to bring that up.
So that game, heading into gameon Sunday, which it was, you
know, going for the sweep, theMarlins and the Yankees all time
, and we've only met in theplayoffs once in the 2003 World
Series, an instant classic, sixgame Josh Beckett, you know,
complete game, jack McKeon, whowas honored this weekend, by the

(04:09):
way, inducted into the Hall ofFame with the Marlins Players
Hall of Fame, and so all timeleading right.
So you know, it wasn't until acouple of years ago that
baseball started doing thiswhole league where you play
every team basically every year,right?
So this year the Yankees werehere, next year we go to Yankee
Stadium, and so on.
Before you would have to gofive, six years before the

(04:32):
Yankees would play the Marlins,right, and I don't believe the
interleague play didn't startuntil the mid-'90s, right, when
you started having the subwayseries and the Marlins got tied
up with the Rays, you know, asour interleague opponents, but
the Yankees and the Marlins hadmet 20, the record was 23 and 23
all time heading into Sunday.

(04:54):
So that game, for us Marlinsfans it meant so much.
Why?
Because now we can actuallytalk about hey, guess what?
Who's the only team currently,right now, until next year when
we play the Yankees in YankeeStadium who's the only team that
has an all-time winningpercentage over the most

(05:15):
historic franchise and I saythis without no hesitation the
most historic franchise in NorthAmerican sports.
Because I will include Canada, Iwill include the Montreal
Canadiens, who have won 23 or 24Stanley Cups, all of them
before the 1950s, by the way.
So I'm not taking a shot oranything.
But if you guys want to claimyour championships from when

(05:36):
Columbus was arriving in America, but the only team that has
respected and is the winningestfranchise 27 times world
champion, and I gave them theirflowers it's the New York
Yankees.
That is, the representations ofsports excellence
professionally in this country,in this whole North America.

(05:57):
So the fact that we Marlinsfans, a team with a payroll of
$58 million can go around andsay, hey, the Mar, the Marlins,
you guys train everybody, youguys don't have any fans, you
guys don't do this, but you knowwhat we do have we have the
all-time winning percentageagainst the New York Yankees for
at least 300 days, which,whenever we decide, I hope MLB

(06:18):
decides to schedule us in August, so I can have this for a full
year to talk about.

Speaker 1 (06:28):
It's a great icebreaker, hey, and I think
Major League Baseball needs torecognize the rivalry that has
become the Marlins and theYankees.
It may not go back as far asthe Red Sox.
The Marlins have the Yankeesnumber.
So much so that the last time Isaw you before we said goodbye.
You and Momo were celebrating,taking pictures, high-fiving
everybody, and you were doing aJohn Sterling impression.

(06:51):
John Sterling now retired, butthe famed sportscaster for the
New York Yankees, and you weredoing his impression.
You want to do it.

Speaker 2 (07:01):
I mean John Sterling as a baseball fan.
I'm a baseball junkie, baseballfanatic.
So I'm also big on the radio.
I love listening to radio callsof games because you know they
just do such a wonderful jobdescribing the scene.
It gets your imaginationflowing.
You're imagining yourself inWrigley, in Fenway, in Dodger
Stadium, in Bush Stadium.

(07:22):
So I always enjoy, you know,listening to those 1 o'clock, 4
o'clock games.
I'm at work, I'll put myheadphones on and, boom, I'll
listen to a Rockies.
You know it's just to me, Ijust love it.
So of course I know who JohnSterling is.
I mean, the man is a legend.
He signifies so much for NewYork baseball that even if you
don't like the Yankees, thateven if you don't like the

(07:42):
Yankees, you respect the man.
He's at that Harry Carey typeof level.
He's at that all-time greatplay-by-plays that you just know
that guy is associated with aspecial team.
So to me I always respect them.
But a few years ago I don'tknow if you remember John
Sterling was playing.
I think it was the Blue Jays.
It was a Blue Jays game andthere was a pop out that it went

(08:06):
up in the air and it was comingtowards him and he's doing the
play by play and I remember hewas like you know, the ball was
coming and you know he said oh,the pop out is coming right at
me, Right in the press box.
And it went inside the press boxand you hear him he's a ow, ow,
ow.
So I remember that that momentwent viral and you felt bad for
him because you know he's anolder man and you know it would

(08:29):
hurt for anybody.
So two years ago the Yankeescame here and I remember that we
won that series 2-1.
I don't bring that up but I'llbring it up.
And I was leaving the stadiumand all the Yankees fans, you
know, because that's what I loveabout these big games with the
Yankees and the Marlins there'sso much banter going on and it's
so, you know, emotion and youget all riled up.
So I'm leaving there and Iremember I was.

(08:53):
You know the famous JohnSterling call is every time they
win is the Yankees win, theYankees win, right?
So what I started doing walkingout of that stadium that year
was the Yankees lose, theYankees lose.
And then I added a little bitof what had happened to them a
few weeks ago and I go imitatinghow it happened.

(09:16):
Man, the Yankee fans some ofthem were a little upset.
My wife at the time she waspregnant and she was like you
need to calm down because weneed to get back to the car and
you know I was, just like youknow, having a good time.
But that's an iconic call, right?
You know?
It's just like the the chrisburman at the home run derby,
back, back, back, back, back,back back.
It's just something that youjust know and associate with a

(09:38):
call, you know.
So I, I love that call and Iand I, anytime I can do the
Yankees lose, yankees lose.
To me it's fun and I mean it inall good you know, for fun,
because at the end of the day,sports is meant to be fun.
It's a form of entertainment.
We're here to just joke andhave a good time.
We all got to go to work.
Our lives continue.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
Now your energy is contagious.
You know, I say the joy ofbaseball and I'm watching you
for five minutes into the gameand I tap my nephew Clay on the
leg and I'm like I got to gethim on the podcast because
that's what it's all about.
And of course we're losing thewhole game never any but I'm
having a blast nonethelesswatching you enjoy the game and

(10:22):
then at the end, when I see youdo the John Sterling, I'm like
this is too good and yourappreciation for baseball is
apparent.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
I love baseball.
I mean, I've grown up lovingbaseball.
I was born in Nicaragua, inCentral America.
We are a baseball-lovingcountry.
That is our number one sport,that is our rey de porte, our
king sport, right as we say it.
So growing up over there, youwatch a lot of MLB.
Mlb is there every day.

(10:54):
You watch every team, believeit or not.
When I was a kid over there, Icame to this great country when
I was eight years old.
So I came here in the year 2000.
The Marlins were already here.
So that's obviously the teamthat I'm going to adopt because
that's the game that I can go to.
But growing up as a kid, mygrandfather was a huge believe
it or not New York Yankees fan.
So I remember those 98 WorldSeries, that 99 World Series

(11:20):
against.
I believe 99 was the Braves and98 was San Diego.
You know, I remember the SubwaySeries of the year 2000.
I knew El Duque Hernandez, thepitcher for the New York Yankees
, from those early 2000 teams.
His uncle was friends with mygrandmother and I remember going
to his house and during thetime of the 2000-2001 teams when

(11:43):
he was pitching for New York, Iremember the old One World
Series, seven-game instantclassic against Arizona.
So I remember growing up as akid and I knew the Yankees and
to a certain extent I liked theYankees Again.
That's why I do not hesitatesaying I respect the heck out of
them, because that's just afranchise that everybody should
model to be.

(12:03):
I would love to be that type,but you know what?
I love my Marlins.
So right now we're okay.
But that's how I grew up,learning the game and loving the
game.
I wish I would have beenphysically able to play the game
.
I mean, there wasn't that manygood sports genes.
So I decided to transfer thosegenes to my brain and become a
baseball fanatic and I just lovethe history of the game.

(12:27):
It's just the most historicsport.
We can go back so many years.
Fall playoffs is justabsolutely the best.
I play this game where I'malways thinking about I can name
you the 94 World Series, orthere was no World Series in 94.
I can name you the 95 WorldSeries when the Yankees beat the
Cleveland team.
I can name you the Blue Jaysback-to-back World Series.

(12:48):
Right, I love playing that gameof like who was in that World
Series and my wife's like go tosleep and I'm like who was in
the 2006 World Series, right?
Tell me it was the Cardinals,right, it wasn't the Cardinals.
And she's like I don't that'sgood stuff.

Speaker 1 (13:07):
You mentioned your family already, so I'm gonna I'm
gonna jump ahead and ask you'rea father?

Speaker 2 (13:12):
yeah, yeah.
So I'm a I'm a happy father ofuh two little girls.
Uh, my oldest, uh, she's almostsix, she's a huge believe it or
not, a huge baseball fan I wasgonna ask you are you gonna
raise?
them.
They have not missed an openingday since she was born.
The only one that she missedwas 2020.
For obvious reasons, we did nothave a baseball season.

(13:33):
The little one, the middle oneshe is almost two years old, so
her first opening day was thispast year against the Pirates.
So she's already experiencingthat and I go to this little
site by the kids' playgroundarea at Marlins Park that I've
been taking a picture of herevery opening day in the same
location because I'm buildinglike a little collage right.

(13:54):
So like year one, year two,year three, so eventually,
hopefully, to me, opening day islike a family holiday.
I take the day off from work, mywife takes the day off, we go
with the kids and it's just afull day of we know baseball's
back, and my wife is currentlypregnant again, so she's about
she's doing like three weeks.
So congratulations, thank you,thank you.

(14:15):
We're getting the boy now, sohe'll definitely be a baseball
fan, but to me it doesn't matterboy or girls.
It's all about the love of thegame and I wanted to make sure
that my daughters love the gameor at least I presented to them
for them to have the option tolove the game as much as I love
it, and they enjoy going to theMarlins game.
They do a great job for thekids.

(14:35):
Sunday fun day you get to runthe bases, billy the Marlin,
they paint your face balloonsand that's what the Marlins have
to do.
We don't have the history ofthe Yankees where you've had
already you're going in fivegenerations of Yankee fans,
meaning you've had agreat-great-grandfather that
could have been a Yankee fanwhen the team was founded and
you had a grandfather, and thenthe father, and now the sons and

(14:56):
those kids are having.
We are basically at our secondgeneration of fanhood.
So the kids that were fans ofthe Yankees when the Marlins
started in 93, we're now havingkids.
So now it's our turn to bringthat passion over and having
kids.
So now it's our turn to bringthat passion over, and it's
going to take time to build it.
So that's why people forget.
Even though we've won two WorldSeries, we're still a fairly
young team.

Speaker 1 (15:17):
So you were talking about your daughters being fans
of baseball.
I can appreciate that.
One of the things you pointedout was the president of
baseball operations.

Speaker 2 (15:27):
Yeah, so Caroline O'Connor.
She's been with us for aboutfour years.
She's the president of baseballoperations.
Yeah, so Caroline O'Connor,she's been with us for about
four, four years.
She's the president of businessoperations.
So she's basically she is notthe president of baseball
operations.
That would be Peter Bendix,who's been.
This is his second year.
He came over from the Tampa BayRays.
But Caroline O'Connor, she hascome in and I believe she's one

(15:50):
of the, if not the first or theonly, female team president.
As far as the business sidewhich is a huge deal, because
they are the ones making that,are part of the budgeting, and
she's the one that's doing thebusiness development for the
franchise Since she's come in,we've seen the increase in
sponsorship.
They're doing a great job.
With the branding, the ballparkhas taken some major upgrades.

(16:14):
You can see it on the displayand it's just.
I'm very proud to be a fan ofthat because, as a girl dad, you
know I want my daughters tohave those opportunities as well
.
Right, because we need to breakthose barriers of them just
being jobs specifically for men.
No, those are jobs specificallyfor the best person possible
for the job.
It shouldn't matter if it's afemale or a male.

(16:35):
As long as you are capable ofdoing that job, that's all we
want, right?
So we're very proud of that.
That.
She's doing a great job and Idon't know if you saw the game
experience Everything.
Operations run smoothly there.
Concession stands for a bigcrowd which we're not used to.
On Saturday when we saw eachother it was 34,000.
At Stadium Hall it's 37.

(16:56):
So we see that in the baseballclassic Serie del Caribe, which,
when we had that last year,we're attracting a lot of that.
So it's very positive direction.
So I'm very proud to be aMarlins fan just for that as
well.
She's great.
By the way, you see her on theconcourse.
She'll stop by, she'll say hito you.

(17:16):
She's down in the PNC club,she's everywhere and she's very
accessible, which is veryrefreshing.

Speaker 1 (17:23):
Yeah, I really appreciated that you pointed her
out.
Me as a female sports fan, Ireally appreciated that and when
I was younger, growing up, youdidn't see women in sports.
There were some, but not withthe popularity that's happening
now and not to bring the Yankeesback up again, but when Derek
Jeter was in the front office heactually brought her and Kim

(17:46):
Ang in.
They were in differentpositions Then.
Kim Ang was the first female GM.
So definitely a lot of respectfor the Martin's front office
over the years empowering womenin these big positions, and I
really like the fact that you,as a fan you know, recognized
her and showed pride.

Speaker 2 (18:06):
Kim Ang also.
I mean, she came in during thattime.
She was the first female GM.
We didn't have a president ofbaseball operations at the time
and when she left, after the2023 season, which is a year, we
made it to the playoffs for thefirst time in a full season
since 2003.
We made it in 2020, but it wasa short season, but for the

(18:26):
first time since 2003, we madeit to the playoffs under her
leadership and obviously, youknow, had some uh difference of
opinions or I would say shedidn't want a baseball president
operation in there.
I don't really know the details, nobody really knows but she
decided you know her and theowner decided to part ways and
she's doing great now.
I believe she is thecommissioner of the women

(18:48):
baseball leagueball League, ifI'm not mistaken.
Yeah, the AUSL, the AthletesUnlimited Softball League, yeah
so she's doing great and I thinkthat's going to be great and I
believe we're going to havesoftball back in the Olympics in
2028.
So we're seeing a lot ofpositive things.
You know, caroline is doinggreat.
I mean I'm very happy with allthe progress that we're seeing.

(19:12):
It's a young team.
We're building something.
They want some sustainability,which is something that we
really want down here, becausethat's how we're going to grow.
That's how we're going to getthe fans back out there.
I'm very excited about thefuture with that.

Speaker 1 (19:26):
You mentioned the World Baseball Classic and I had
that down as a question for you.
Did you attend any?

Speaker 2 (19:32):
of them.

Speaker 1 (19:32):
Absolutely Okay tell me a little bit about that,
because I want to go.
I think it's next year.
You gotta go.

Speaker 2 (19:39):
You gotta go.
So the World Baseball Classicgets held every four years.
I've been to the 2017 one, the2013 edition.
Miami is the only host citythat has been.
Them and Tokyo have been theonly cities that have held
competition for the WorldBaseball Classic since it
started.
Back in 2006, the inauguralWorld Baseball Classic, which

(20:02):
was won by Japan.
They beat Cuba that year.
Then in 2009, japan repeated inWBC 2013, had Dominican
Republic, went undefeated andthey won their first ever World
Baseball Classic.
And in 2017, finally, the USgot on the board and we got our
first World Baseball Classictitle.

(20:24):
And then it was supposed tohappen in 21, but obviously
COVID delayed it a little bit,so they brought it back in 2023.
Miami Long Depot Park wasactually a host for the first
round quarter semis and then thefinal.
I was lucky enough to have gonein 2023.
My home country, nicaragua,actually qualified for the first

(20:46):
time in our country's historyto Classic.
So I went to all the gamesexcept the opening one against
Puerto Rico.
I was there against Israel, butwe lost three.
A brutal game.
That was the only one that wereally had a shot.
Then we lost 9-1 to theDominicans and then the
Venezuela game, which was afive-something game.
I also went to the semifinalthat year, which was Mexico

(21:06):
against Japan.
Instant Classic Otani was withagainst Japan.
Instant classic Otani was withTeam Japan.
They were loaded against Mexicowith Randy Orozarena and that
game ended up in a walk-off inthe ninth inning in the
semifinal.
And then I went to the final,which was the US against Japan,
that famous Shohei Otani versusMike Trout.

(21:27):
Last pitch of the game, twoouts.
The US only needed a run andOtani struck him out.
And I watched the Team Japanwhich, by the way, amazing fans,
amazing media, those peoplewere just super friendly and
they won their World BaseballClassic title there.
And next year we're back here.
Nicaragua made it back to theWorld Baseball Classic, so you

(21:49):
got to go.
It's an experience that.
It's something that, unlessyou're there, you don't see the
love and the passion that theLatin community has for those
teams.
Right, venezuela has a hugeVenezuelan population.
Down here in South Florida theycome out, the Dominicans.
I mean you think, oh, it's justthe locals.

(22:09):
No, people were traveling.
I was speaking to people fromNew York, orlando, atlanta,
houston who were coming in fromthese games.
Puerto Rico, the same thing.
Japan.
I'm going to send you somepictures that I took of Japan.
They had a guy there banging adrum right in the outfield of

(22:29):
the Budweiser the entire game.
They were just there, you know,doing their chants.
So as a baseball fan you don'tget to experience that right.
We all hear about the JapaneseBaseball League, how great it is
the Nippon Baseball League andhow the fans go into the game.
It's completely different fromAmerica, right?
But you want to experience that.
You want to feel that.
You want to feel that.
So next year is going to be fun, the game start.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
Mark six down here that you got to get yourself at
least to one of those weekendgames I'm planning on it, me and
clay will have to do anotherroad trip, he said, to tell you
hello.
By the way, clay was the man,clay was the man thank you, we
will, um, we'll be there.
I've been looking at it alreadyand when you mentioned your
background from Nicaragua andeverything, I was like wait a
minute.

(23:12):
I definitely got to find outabout that.

Speaker 2 (23:14):
Yeah, we made it.
We made it.
We have remember.
Our greatest athlete we've everhad is the pitcher by the name
of Dennis Martinez.
Dennis Martinez El Presidente,latin American-born pitcher to
pitch one of the three perfectgames in MLB history in 1993.
He did it with the MontrealExpos against the LA Dodgers in

(23:36):
something like two hours.
The other day I was looking atthe game logs.
It was insane because it waslike the 34-year anniversary.
He was the first Latin pitcherto do it.
No Latin pitcher to that timehad pitched a perfect game.
There's only been 23 of them.
It's something very rare.
Right to see a perfect game.
So to us, dennis Martinez isour goat.
He's our legend and we alwayslove Dennis Martinez.

Speaker 1 (23:58):
As you should.
So, speaking of South Florida,the high school baseball
programs in the Miami FortLauderdale area are legit.
I'm a big high school baseballfan here in Key West.
Do you follow any of the highschool teams?

Speaker 2 (24:14):
So I'm a huge Miami Hurricanes baseball fan, miami
Hurricanes football fan.
Basketball, I'm a huge.
It's all about the U baby, it'sall about the U right.
So, of course, knowing that youhave to love baseball down here
because it's just part of ourfabric, you know we have so much
talent that leaves thetri-county area that goes on to
MLB it's insane, right.

(24:35):
And they all have a start here.
You know you have yourpowerhouses, you have your
private schools, you have yourlocal schools.
You go to Broward, art, bishop,stoneman Douglas those are
powerhouse teams that areproducing MLB talent and
sometimes even ready right outof high school.
So it's a very strongfoundation, especially in.

(24:57):
You're seeing that growth inBroward.
You've always had it in PalmBeach, but Broward has stepped
up their game and obviouslyMiami-Dade has always produced
top talent Kids that are goingto play in the big conferences
in college baseball the SEC, theBig 10, Big 12, acc, and now
some of them are getting drafted.
I mean, we see that all thetime and you're starting to see

(25:20):
those generational kids startingto come out of here, right, our
Manny Machados of the world,miami local kid right.
You see a lot of those kidsthat you're thinking the pitcher
for the Yankees was born inMiami the one that pitched on
Friday, he is from Miami andthen he moved to North Carolina
and he went to NC State.
But, originally he's Cubanbackground, parents were Cuban.

(25:41):
He's a Miami kid, so you'd besurprised how many of those kids
.
And not only that, the trainingit's next level.
Here, you know, you have sometop-notch professional coaches
that are teaching at the highschool level, which is very good
and it's very healthy for thewhole game.

Speaker 1 (25:59):
Yeah, if you want to see good baseball in South
Florida, from little leagues tothe high schools, college and
now with the Marlins.
The Marlins are hot right now,so they're sitting in third
place place about little lessthan 50 games left in the season
.
What do you want to see out ofyour boys for the next?

(26:20):
You know, third, the last thirdof the season to end up in the
wild card spot so.

Speaker 2 (26:25):
So the marlins this year uh, obviously, last year we
kind of had a rebuild, the 2023team that made it to the wild
card.
I believe we qualified and youmight have to check me on this,
but I believe that they made theplayoffs that year with the
worst run differential ever inMLB history for a playoff team.
We were negative 40-something.

(26:47):
We were negative 40-something.
I mean we were just scrappingby a bunch of 3-1, 3-2 games,
close games, and then we gotblown up a couple of times.
So they realized that that teamhad kind of peaked and the best
we could do was a wild card.
Right, we're a smart marketteam, meaning you cannot take
many chances on free agentsbecause it's going to cripple

(27:09):
your franchise, it's going tocripple your dollars.
It's going to cripple yourdollars.
So last year they got rid ofLuis Arias, we got rid of Trevor
Rogers, we got rid of JakeBerger.
A lot of people really left theteam and we got a lot of young
talent that came in.
Jazz Chisholm went to theYankees and then this year
coming in, I thought, okay,maybe this team.

(27:30):
Many of the riders, many of theexperts were saying this was a
64 to 65 win team.
You know a little bit betterfrom last year last and the fact
that this team they started alittle rough, but come June,
after we got swept by theRockies, by the way, the Rockies
did something at Long DepotPark that the Yankees could not

(27:53):
do and that was to sweep theMarlins.
We got swept by the Rockies atthe beginning of June.
Nobody was paying attentionbecause the Panthers were in the
Stanley Cup playoffs and wewere all focused on that, but
that did happen.
It was a Monday throughWednesday series.
I'll never forget and I thoughtokay, maybe this team is just
not there yet.
A lot of young talent, A lot ofkids aren't ready there.

(28:14):
Then we got called up AgustinRamirez, the guy who pitched two
home runs against the Yankeeson Saturday.
Yeah, I was there, I saw.
I don't I don't mean to keepreminding you he decided to come
.
You know we caught him up andthe kid has been killing it.
He was the centerpiece of thejazz chism trade.
Kyle Stowers, our all-starrepresentative, who was part of

(28:37):
that home run derby to decidethe all-star game, which was
amazing, by the way, they needto bring that.
I loved it.
I loved it.
I mean, mean, I thought it wasgreat.
I have some, I have some ideasfor that.
I think you should do like.
You should have two regularplayers and then each manager
can say let me get the parkingattendant against the lady who's

(28:59):
selling arepas, right and letthem go at it to have a little
bit of spice.
You know, you heard it herefirst.
Hey, I'm just saying.
But so this team was young,energetic, and then mid-June we
just went on a hot streak andstarted.
It all started when we went tothe West Coast.
We swept the Giants, who at thetime had just traded for Rafael

(29:19):
Devers and they were lookinggood, and we swept them in
Oracle Park beautiful park, bythe way, one of my favorite
parks I've ever been to and weswept also the Arizona
Diamondbacks who two years agowon the World Series.
They were a contending team,they were ahead of us in the
wildcard and they just got onthis roll that they kept winning
series and series.

(29:40):
So as a Vardens fan, I'm justalready.
To me it's already a winBecause the fact that we're
seeing this young, talented teamdevelop.
We're the youngest team in themajors.
We have the youngest coachingstaff in the majors and the fact
that we're seeing progress,because that's all we can ask
for.
We're not there yet at theDodgers level.
We're not there yet at thoseteams that are expected to

(30:03):
contend this year, but what we,a fan base, should be happy
about is that we're seeingprogress.
We're seeing Kyle Stowers,we're seeing Marcy, who just got
called up and is killing itright now.
We're seeing Troy Johnson,we're seeing all these kids and
the pitching depth is gettingaround pitching a lot better.
So, to me, even if we don't makethe playoffs because it's going

(30:23):
to be very difficult, I have tobe realistic.
There's a lot of teams ahead ofus, teams that were buyers at
the trade deadline.
We were not, we stayed idle.
But the fact that if we aresomehow able to continue and
just keep progressing andgetting better, and if we can
get to 75 wins this year, to mea 10, 15 game you know that's

(30:44):
what it's all about and if wesomehow magically get to 82 and
80, I mean we should just do theparade even if we didn't win a
championship, because that'salready something that you built
for next year, right?
So to me, as long and myfavorite part is, every game has
been fun.
I go out to the ballpark andevery game is a closed game.

(31:05):
We're in it, we're in it, we'rein it.
In the seventh day this is aone run game, two run game.
Here.
Those days of gettingcompletely blown out are gone.
That's what we were dealingwith last year.
So I just want to see this teamget better and better and let's
just continue to build for thefuture.

Speaker 1 (31:21):
And you have such good talent.
You mentioned Kyle Stauer.
He was the National LeaguePlayer of the Month.
Yes, you know, you mentioned hewas an all-star and he just
backed that up with Player ofthe Month for July, first time
since Stanton.

Speaker 2 (31:36):
First time since Mike Stanton in 2017, when he had
that magical NL MVP season, thathe had 59 home runs, so you're
still calling Mike, I'm stillhim Mike, because Mike came up
as a Mike and he will go down asa Mike in my eyes.
I bought a jersey that saidMike Stanton, even though it
didn't have his first name, butin my eyes it did.

Speaker 1 (31:57):
I just call him the Big G.
The Martins and the Yankeeshave a history of trading
players.
You mentioned Jazz Chisholm, sothe Yankees have a history of
trading players.
You mentioned Jazz Chisholm, sothe Yankees get Jazz Chisholm
for a couple of prospects, oneof which is Augustine Ramirez.
I think you guys call him thebus.

Speaker 2 (32:18):
Yes, the Augustine bus, Gus the bus, gus the bus.

Speaker 1 (32:22):
He does this thing here.
That's his thing, and he showedup and showed out.
So game one of the series endedup being a dramatic extra
innings walk-off win, and he gotthat little dribbling to the
pitcher's mound that ends upscoring the run 12-13.
Yeah, and the next day he comesup and hits two home runs, of

(32:43):
which I never saw the ball landbecause you're sitting in front
of me and as soon as it went offthe bat, you stood up.
So the best I could do was seebetween your hands.
Have you got any video of that?

Speaker 2 (32:58):
I don't think I got a video of Augustine Ramirez,
because as soon as he hit thoselasers, I mean they were out of
there.
Those exit belos must have beenabove a hundred something,
because they were so quick thatit's just the kid is ridiculous,
you know, and that's what wewant, right?
And he's so young and they'reso disciplined at the plate,

(33:20):
which is so rare for youngplayers to come in and get
called up and not have strikeoutissues.
These kids are taking theirtime.
That's veteran leadership rightthere.
So I mean, I don't think it wasa bad trade for the yankees.
You guys got jazz chisholm yeah,he's a superstar.
He's a superstar that he was inthe cover mlb the mlb the show
in 2023.

(33:40):
I mean we used to have a thingback in 2023 that it was called
the Jazz Band and Jazz used tocome out and he was playing
center fielder that year for usbecause we wanted to try him out
there and we used to be in theoutfield.
It was called the Jazz Section.
Oh, it was great.
I mean he was always great withthe fans and Jazz always has a

(34:03):
special place in our heartbecause he played the game the
way it was and he was very fieryagainst the Braves, which I
love, because I don't like theBraves.
So every time that somebody can, you know, fight the Braves,
you know with his, you know, geta little aggressive, I love
that.
I love that.
That's what rivalries are for.
And he has a great life storytoo.
You know he comes from theBahamas he talks about.

(34:25):
They asked him one time who'sthe best baseball player you
ever saw.
He goes my grandmother.
He used to play baseball withhis grandmother.
He says that she used to takegrounders from him and she
taught him the game.
Because baseball is not big inthe Bahamas, right?
People think that, oh, it's aCaribbean country.
They're more into soccer, right, that's more into soccer.
Right, that's more into asoccer.
The cricket is huge there.

(34:45):
So baseball is not the numberone sport.
So the fact that you have asuperstar, basically a guy
that's on mob the show, which isso big for young kids to have
somebody like that, that'salready saying a lot about him.

Speaker 1 (34:59):
So you always root for a guy like the other big one
you mentioned, mike MikeStanton, giancarlo Stanton, that
was a big trade, no.

Speaker 2 (35:06):
I mean that was that year that Jeter took over after
the team sold to Bruce Shermanfrom our previous owner, jeffrey
Loria, and at that time I thinkthe team was kind of wanting to
go a different route.
Mike Stanton did say he didn'treally want to be part of a
rebuild.
I mean he had been with arebuild already.
Part of a rebuild.

(35:27):
I mean he had been with arebuild already.
People forget that Marlins, in2016, had an outfield that
consisted of Mike Stanton,marcelo Zuna and Christian
Yelich.
We forget about that.
Like that.
If you look at it, if you lookat the careers of those players,
that is a Hall of Famer a guythat has been consistently a
power hitter in Marcelo Zuna anda guy that has been the NL MVP

(35:48):
in 28 Christian Yelich I meanthat was the alpha that the
Marlins had.
So he got traded and you know Ilove Mike Stanton.
To me, he will always be MikeStanton.
He got called up here in 2010.
He was the face of thefranchise when we opened up that
ballpark which I was there, bythe way opening day in 2012,
april 4th 2012.

(36:09):
I was there with my thengirlfriend.
We only had standing room onlytickets, because the tickets
were super expensive and I wasonly making 12 bucks an hour so
I couldn't afford real tickets.
So I told her hey, listen,they're going to have standing
room only tickets for 25 bucks.
Are you down to go?
And she's like, yeah, so we go,I buy the tickets.
But then I forgot to mention toher that I wanted to be there

(36:32):
at 2.30, even though the gamewas at 7, because I really
wanted a good spot at thestanding room.
So when I call her at noon, I'mlike, hey, are you ready?
She's like the game's not until7.
I'm like, hey, are you ready?
She's like the game's not until7.
I'm like, no, no, we got to gonow.
So I was one of the firstpersons to enter in the outfield
, with a little stair section bycenter field there, and Stanton

(36:52):
was always the face of thefranchise.
Stanton was the man.
He is the liver for us 2016,.
We were so close to making itto the playoffs for the Jose
Fernandez unfortunate accidentthat took his life and Stanton
took a ball to the face andpeople forget about that.
The Marlins were a wild cardteam.

(37:12):
The Marlins were a wild cardteam in Milwaukee and we were
only two games back on the wildcard and Stanton was killing it.
He was probably going to winthe NL MVP that year too.
He had just won the home runderby that year.
You know people forget that andhe got hit in the face.
Unfortunately.
I think it fractured hisorbicle and it was just a nasty,

(37:35):
nasty injury and thatcompletely derailed our season.
And then, obviously, the Joseaccident that happened later
that month in September.
So Stanton always was anawesome guy, you know, great to
the fans, and he just if youstill go out there, go to the
outfield you still see, theystill have the ball that he hit

(37:56):
the longest ball at thatballpark.
If it wasn't for those windowsthat were out at the outfield,
some of those balls would haveleft the ballpark because he was
just I mean mid-2010s.
Mike Stanton was different.

Speaker 1 (38:10):
He is special and of all the players for the Yankees,
I was so excited to see them inperson.
We had great seats, as you know, and all the players I saw
seeing him I got the most youknow the butterflies and my
heart was racing, just a monster, you know.
I was hollering at him that Iloved him and I always loved him

(38:31):
.
You know he didn't even lookback at me, but I think he heard
me yeah.

Speaker 2 (38:34):
I know he's just a monster, he's just a great guy.
And hey, who was the only onethat truly showed up in the
World Series last year?

Speaker 1 (38:43):
That's it, that's it, that's it.
That's what I'm talking about.

Speaker 2 (38:45):
That's all I want to say he was a former Marlin,
that's why he showed up.

Speaker 1 (38:49):
So, speaking of former Marlins, Yankees and
World Series, the other trade Iwas going to mention to you that
the Marlins got from theYankees that I think favored the
Marlins was Mike Lowe.

Speaker 2 (39:02):
Mike Lowe, one of my all-time favorite Marlins Mine
too.
He is the definition of what anamazing player he was in that
2013.
Right, I mean, he just he wasthat leadership that that team
needed.
He went on to have a greatcareer.
Then he got, you know, he leftto the Red Sox and he won a

(39:23):
World Series with the Red Sox in2000.
He was part of that JonathanPopobon team that went all the
way, and I believe Josh Beckettwas part of that team as well.
But Mike Lowell is just, I meaneverything.
He is a local guy.
He's just amazing.
I love Mike Lowell.
He's up there with one of myall-time favorite Marlins and,
believe it or not, I believethere is a future Marlins Hall

(39:46):
of Fame calling Mike Lowell.

Speaker 1 (39:50):
Hey, I agree and I will be there for that one.
It was nice to see Conine in it, obviously.
And then Jack, we were able tobe at the game on Sunday.
The skipper was inducted, helooked great.

Speaker 2 (40:03):
By the way, he looked great 93 years old and he
looked amazing.
I mean he threw that ballperfectly down.
I mean I want to look like thatwhen I'm 60, not 93.
I mean the guy looked amazingand he still spoke sharp.
I mean he still has it.
He was 78 years old when he wonthe World Series.

Speaker 1 (40:24):
Yeah, with his cigar right.

Speaker 2 (40:26):
Yeah, the cigar.
The famous Jack McKinnon, jimLeland is also part of the
Marlins Hall of Fame.
This is the inaugural classthat they started this year.
I don't know if you got tocheck it out, but it's actually
in the 200-level section of thestadium.
You can get up there very quick.
Right outside the suites theyhave a nice little hallway.
They have now the littleplaques they've already inducted

(40:52):
.
I was there for the conan oneon opening weekend that sunday.
Jim was a couple of weeks ago,jack mckeon was this past sunday
and we have one more part ofthis 225 class which is a.

Speaker 1 (40:58):
Luis castillo was going in there this year yeah, I
didn't get to see the hall offame.
We kept asking.
I got to see the bobbleheadcollection, which was pretty
cool, but it wasn't what I waslooking for you got to go up
their second floor and you'llsee.

Speaker 2 (41:13):
They actually even have the world series trophies
lined up 97 2003.
They have a nice little wall offame of all the players that
won rookie of the year, cy,young's, all those type of
individual awards as well I.

Speaker 1 (41:25):
I definitely want to go back and you were talking
about that earlier the ballpark,the fan experience was
wonderful.
Nothing but compliments.
I went to plenty of games whenthey were at Joe Robbie and that
was torturous watching baseballin the baseball stadium.

Speaker 2 (41:40):
Talk about a heat stroke.
Don't talk to me about a Sunday110 at Joe Robbie Pro Player
Dolphin Stadium in the middle ofthe summer.
Those bright orange seats Imean you needed to buy a
Gatorade just so you could pourit on your seat so you wouldn't
burn your butt when you wouldsit there.
I mean it was just.

(42:00):
I don't regret that.
I do miss my Super Saturdays.
They used to have, they used tohave concerts out there.
I mean it was just a fun time,I mean, and I wish they would
have built the stadium more in acentral location.
I think that really does hurt,unfortunately, the Broward fan
base, the Palm Beach fan base,and that's why, you see, the
crowds are much better onSaturday and Sunday compared to

(42:22):
a regular weekday because it'sreally hard to get down to
Little Havana.
It's a great stadium and Ithink it's great for the
community.
But if you would have built itwhere Dolphin, where Hard Rock
Stadium is, somewhere in themiddle, where you could have
tracked that Broward and PalmBeach crowd, that maybe they can
go out on a Friday night or aMonday, tuesday game against the
Astros, to me it would havebeen better.

(42:42):
But hey, it's already builtthere.
Let's hope that we can getgreat crowds on the weekends, as
we've been doing the lastcouple of weeks.

Speaker 1 (42:51):
Well, I'll definitely go back.
I'm only three and a half hoursaway and the fact that I
haven't been there.
I still call it the new stadiumand it's been there.
What 12, 13?

Speaker 2 (43:01):
It opened up April 4, 2012.
So this is already their 13thseason, which is crazy.
Which is crazy because it feelslike it was yesterday that we
were building that stadium.
The Orange Bowl was there.
It feels like it was yesterday.

Speaker 1 (43:16):
I will definitely go back.
Let me ask you, because wetalked a little bit about this
already.
The Marlin ownershiphistorically is known for the
big trades and turning the teamfire cells and everything just
when you fall in love, they,they rebuild, and that whole
thing played for years and yearsin a stadium that wasn't a
baseball stadium.

(43:37):
What is it about the marlinsthat have kept your loyalty and
earned your loyalty over theyears?

Speaker 2 (43:43):
So I'm a baseball fanatic.
Baseball lover, I meansometimes my wife's, like you
need to go to sleep because I'mwatching the A's play the Giants
, because it's a robbery game ona Wednesday at 1 am, right Like
I just love watching baseball.

Speaker 1 (44:01):
West Coast games.
You even watch West Coast games.

Speaker 2 (44:19):
I'll watch West Coast games, teams that I just built
as a fan, as a kid, I mean in2003,.
I was only 11 years old, right.
So I remember that team.
That was like my first truelove championship team.
What a fun experience.
So that has kept me.
I've always loved going toMarlins game.
I think it's a great experience, even when we were at Joe
Robbie.
So to me it's never been anissue.

(44:40):
Do I get my heart breaking?
Absolutely.
I mean it happened because,unfortunately, I do also
understand that baseball is abusiness, right, and we just
simply are not the big market,big spending team.
We will never be.
Why?
Because we don't have thecorporate support that teams in

(45:01):
New York or Boston, thosehistoric franchises, big
corporations that are willing tospend money into it.
Our local TV deal here,compared to the Dodgers making
$250 million a year, we'remaking maybe $60 to $75.
So, yes, do I wish we had anowner that would spend more,

(45:23):
absolutely.
But then again, I understandit's a business and the fans
aren't showing up, so it's kindof like the chicken or the egg
type of thing.
Do we spend the money and buildthe championship team, but then
people say, well, they're onlygoing to do it for a year and
then they're going to tradeeverybody, like we did in 2012.
But then that team was alsobadly constructed, so I

(45:43):
understood why we did it Right.
So I just think we had to find amedian to see OK, we need to
find a budget that isrespectable at MLB levels,
somewhere in the one to oneforty million dollar range, but
then we also need the communityto support it a little bit
better.
But you know it's also, youcan't expect people to spend

(46:05):
money, because everybody hasdifferent situations.
Right, not everybody can affordtickets all the time, so it's a
little bit complicated.
But I think the way thatthey're doing it right now, I
think that's the tampa bay way.
Right, teams that build players.
You unfortunately have to getrid of them, right, when your
trade value is up and but aslong as you keep that consistent

(46:26):
winning product, consistentlycompeting for the division.
This team has never won adivision title ever.
We've won two World Series andwe have never won a division
title, which is crazy.
Right, you had the 90 Bravesthat won 15 or 16 in a row.
Then you had the Phillies inthe mid-2000s, the Mets going to
the World Series in 2015against the Royals, then you had

(46:49):
the Braves again.
So it's always been.
That's just not who we are, andwe are also in a division with
the New York Mets highestpayroll in baseball, the
Phillies top 10, the Braves top15.
Even the Nationals have moneythat they spend on.

Speaker 1 (47:06):
So I just think it's you have to love it that you're
above the Braves and theNationals.
That's right.

Speaker 2 (47:12):
You're competing.

Speaker 1 (47:13):
But, yeah, a tough challenge with the Phillies and
the Mets.

Speaker 2 (47:17):
You're never going to be able to compete with them,
and unless you get an owner likeUncle Stevie that's willing to
just, you know, have so muchmoney in the world that to them
it's just a hobby.
You know maybe, but is thatproven to be a winning solution?
I don't think so, because lasttime I checked, the Mets and the
Marlins have the same amount ofWorld Series.

(47:39):
Just saying Just saying andactually we've won two World
Series.
This is the last one of theWorld Series in 1986.
All thanks to Bill Buckner.
Just saying I don't want tostir it up or anything.

Speaker 1 (47:54):
And I'll just add to it they never going to win it
with Juan Soto, because now theycursed.

Speaker 2 (48:00):
He cursed Enjoy it, enjoy it.
Kyle Stowers has better numbersthan Juan Soto.

Speaker 1 (48:06):
He's doing it up.
It's for the love of the game.
At the end of the day, why dowe keep going back?
The Yankees haven't won achampionship in a very long time
.
But it's for the love of thegame, right, that's right, I
mean you've won.

Speaker 2 (48:18):
09 was the last time the Yankees won a World Series
against the Phillies.
I think it was a.
That wasn't a rematch.
Then they went to the WorldSeries again last year, and
before that it had been a minute.

Speaker 1 (48:31):
Yeah, yeah, we even missed the playoffs the year
before too.
The year before.

Speaker 2 (48:35):
Yeah, which is super rare.
That just doesn't happen we'respoiled for sure.

Speaker 1 (48:43):
You know, we can talk forever and I'd love to have
you back.
Right, I'd love to have youback, we can talk playoffs,
playoffs, maybe playoffs.
That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (48:53):
Playoffs.
My little Dennis impersonationPlayoffs.

Speaker 1 (48:59):
Yeah, if by chance the Marlins and the Yankees get
in, we'll have you back, or evenif not, because obviously you
know the game.

Speaker 2 (49:08):
We can talk playoff previews.
We can talk down the line wildcard.
You know, I love baseball.
I love talking baseball.
I mean, my wife is probablyhappy that I'm out here talking
baseball, so she doesn't have tohear me talking baseball.
You know, I'm already going toplay a game when she's in labor.
I'm going to tell her.
I'll be like, hey, name me the2006 World Series, give me your

(49:31):
2013.
Who's the only team that wonback-to-back-to-back World
Series in even years?
Oh, the 2010, 2012, and 2014San Francisco Giants.
You know that type of nonsense.
Let's see if she remembers that.

Speaker 1 (49:46):
Yeah, I don't know if she'd appreciate that or not.
We'll give it a shot.
We'll give it a shot.
Just stay far enough that shecan't reach out and grab you,
that's right, that's right, I'dlike to end the episode with a
segment that I call For theCycle and I ask you four
questions and, just likecompleting a cycle in baseball,

(50:09):
it gets harder as it goes.
Okay, you ready for?

Speaker 2 (50:11):
it.
I'm ready, I was born ready.

Speaker 1 (50:14):
All right, let's go.
Question number one what wouldyour walk-up song?

Speaker 2 (50:17):
be Take Me Out to the Ballgame by Luke Combs that
song's been on my playlistlately.
It's a great song.

Speaker 1 (50:24):
I don't know if I've heard that, bro it's a great
song.

Speaker 2 (50:28):
It came out in his album from two years ago last
year, fathers and Son.
It's called Take Me Out to theBallgame.
It hits you when you have kids.
You're like, oh, stop it.
Luke.

Speaker 1 (50:36):
All right, the next question what's your favorite
baseball movie?
I?

Speaker 2 (50:41):
mean love the rookie.
I love field of dreams, but Ilike, I'm gonna say the rookie
very good.

Speaker 1 (50:49):
I haven't heard that one yet.

Speaker 2 (50:50):
I love the rookie that movie is so good with his
arm just snap I remember I wastrying to injure my arm to see
if it would like magicallyappear I could become an mlb
pitcher when I was 12.
I could become an MLB pitcherwhen I was 12.

Speaker 1 (51:05):
That's a classic.
And I just watched Field ofDreams two nights ago, okay, and
I watched a perfect game lastnight.

Speaker 2 (51:13):
There's one that came out a few years ago I think it
was with Dennis Quaid that hemakes it to the MLB as like he
was, like a former teacher I'mtrying to think of the name of
it- it was with the.
Rangers with the rangers movie.
It was a disney movie and hemade it to to the like, he was a
pitcher he and something hadhappened and then he was already

(51:35):
like a high school teacher,like in some small town in iowa.
And I remember, like you know,he goes to the major, to the
minors and his wife's, like youknow, follow your dream and his
kid, and then he gets, he goesto the major, to the minors and
his wife's, like you know,follow your dream and his kid,
and then he gets called up tothe majors, right, and that
scene when he I mean I cry likea baby when his son's like
that's dad, that's my dad, andhe's oh, my God, that's a great

(51:59):
movie.
I'm going to find we got tofind out the name of that movie.

Speaker 1 (52:02):
Yeah it, we got to find out the name of that movie.

Speaker 2 (52:03):
Yeah, it was a great movie.

Speaker 1 (52:04):
I'll find out.
I'll put it up when I do theedit.
I'll put it up there.
But yeah, look it up, becauseI'm going to ask you two more
and they get a little bit harder.
I got to have your undividedattention, but while you're
looking it up, Sandlot, is thatone there?

Speaker 2 (52:21):
That's my favorite All the time, the Bambino.

Speaker 1 (52:27):
So many good baseball movies.

Speaker 2 (52:30):
I think baseball has produced the best sports movies
out of all the sports Football.
You have some good ones, butbaseball just has that emotional
.
You can go comedic with MajorLeague, for example, or you go
with something emotional thattouches your it's.
I found the name, by the way,of the movie, the Dennis Quaid
movie.
It's called the Rookie.
The Rookie, the one I wastelling you about, is Rookie of

(52:52):
the Year, is the one that wewere talking about, but this one
is called the Rookie and itcame out in 2002.

Speaker 1 (53:00):
All right, very good, I'm glad you looked it up.
I'm going to pull both of thoseup and watch them again because
I haven't seen them in a reallylong time and nobody has
brought those up.
So good on you for pullingsomething that will pull at
everybody's heartstrings.
Get your Kleenex ready, Allright.
The third question what's oneplayer that the Marlins have

(53:23):
traded away that it still hurts,that you wish would have
retired and finished his careeras a Marlin?

Speaker 2 (53:32):
So to me that's a tough question because most of
our players I mean we had Conantwho came back, part of the 0-3
team but most of our playersthat have left kind of like gone
.
But there was one that I mean Ijust love this man.
He was so good and then he wentto the Braves, that was Dan
Ugla.
I mean Dan the man Ugla.

(53:54):
Those mid-2000 years when hewas with Hanley Ramirez, I mean
hitting jacks, second baseman,the kid was just all muscle and
he was just a beast, even thoughhe had an error in the all-star
game that year.
I remember, yeah, let's, let'snot bring that up.
Yeah, I mean, it's just, danugla was just awesome.

(54:15):
I love dan ugla and when heleft and he went to the braves
and that didn't work out, so hiscareer kind of didn't end the
way I thought it would have.
But I always felt, man, if hewould have way, I thought it
would have.
But I always felt, man, if hewould have stayed with us he
would have been a generationalplayer, right, and obviously the
one that to this day it stillpains me.
It's not that he got traded,but when we lost Jose Fernandez,

(54:37):
I mean the, the toll it took on.
The community was just, it was.

Speaker 1 (54:41):
it was rough yeah, that that was.
That was really touching.
So I think I told you at thegame that I was all in on the
marlins for 17 years did I tellyou that.
No, you didn't tell me that yeah, so maybe I was telling the guy
on sunday.
So because I grew up here insouth florida when what you were
talking about earlier, when we,we didn't have a team, no, no,

(55:03):
you adopted.
So when the marlins came aboutit, I was all in fan club the
whole thing.
I still got a you know, hat thewhole thing.
But after they traded dan uglato the braves, that was it for
me I had to cut him off.
I couldn't.
And that was 17 years, if youlook it up, you know, when I

(55:25):
tell people 17 years, that wasthe trade broke my heart and um,
it's funny that you, you saythat.
See, I think me and you mightbe brothers or sisters or
something, man, man, when yousay that I was like were your
parents in nicaragua around the90s?

Speaker 2 (55:41):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (55:42):
No right, I'm just saying but no, that was one.
He was just such a great player.

Speaker 2 (55:50):
He's just a regular guy.
You know dead ugly, you feellike you would see him.
You know at Home Depot pickingup stuff to go work on his
backyard.
Or you know just a regular guythat I would see at a parent's
PTA meeting.
Right, just nothing out of it.
That's why the fan loved him.
Maybe he's listening, hey, dan.

(56:11):
I'm taking an autograph, let'sgo Dan the man, dan the man.

Speaker 1 (56:17):
All right.
The last question, and thisone's going to be a tough one.
I don't really like to dotrendy things, but this is kind
of a trendy question.
You see on the internet what'syour Mount Rushmore of Marlin
players?
So you got four guys.
Who's on that mountain?

Speaker 2 (56:37):
See people think it's like, oh the Marlins, they've
lost so much.
No, no, there's a lot ofall-time greats that have gone
through this organization.
I would have to say I mean, wehave to.
It's tough, right, because youhave some guys that did some
great things while they werewith the Marlins and then you
had some guys that were Marlinsand then they became great
things right.
So it's kind of like somewherein between, as far as, like my

(57:01):
Mount Rushmore players that Ipersonally love that wore the
Marlins colors right.

Speaker 1 (57:08):
Who brought joy to the game.
All time your guys.

Speaker 2 (57:12):
First one, giancarlo Mike Stanton.
I mean, he carried us from thattime he got called up in 2010,
all the way till you he left in2017.
He was the face of thefranchise.
He gave me one of my favoritemoments mother's day 2012.
I took my mom out to see thethe marlins against the mets

(57:34):
walk off grand slam, bottom ofthe ninth, to send us home.
I mean, he's just.
To me, mike stanton was justamazing.
The home runs that we saw.
We may never see a guy withthat much power ever wear a
Marlins uniform in our lifetime.
So to me, you cannot saygreatest Marlins of all time
without Mike Stanton.
Simple, basically, that's justhow it is.

(57:57):
Number two Miguel Cabrera.
Miguel Cabrera, I mean Miggy.
The man came in in 2003.
Rookie just dominatedeverything.
I mean the guy was just killing.
It had a home run of the RocketRoger Clemens in the World
Series.
I mean as a 19-year-old,against Roger Clemens, who was

(58:20):
at the end of his career but hadbeen pitching since the 80s,
still the best, who was stillthrowing 100 miles per hour, and
you hit a home run off him inthe World Series.
I mean, how can Miggy not be?
And you know, we traded him toDetroit in 2007.
But he just the definite, ofcourse, triple crown winner

(58:42):
All-time.
You know, just a legend, thelatin community as far as
all-time great number two,miguel cabrera.
Number three I'm gonna have togo a picture here.
I gotta go with a picture herebecause I need to show some love
to a picture now.
I'm between sandy who's, whowon in 2022, and he's just been
the face of the franchise.
He's a workhorse.

(59:02):
How can I not go with a manthat brought so much joy to the
city?
Dontrell D-Train Willis I meanthe D-Train, the D-Train.
He took baseball over with thatinstinct, just that passion,
that love.
The kid from Oakland that justwas out there just dominating

(59:23):
little sideweight hat, just thecoolness, you know.
Super great to the fans andthat delivery, that high leg up
there.
You know he'd get up there,just throw you that.
You know that 2004 seasonPeople forget 2003,.
He won the World Series, but2004,.
I mean the guy who should havewon the Cy Young in 2004.
I mean that's just ridiculous.

(59:45):
Just one of the greatest of alltime.
You know his numbers or hisstats might not say he's a one,
but in the heart of Marlins fansI mean Dontrell D-Train.
I mean just amazing.
And my favorite.
I'm going to have to go withanother pitcher because people
forget about him, but thoseyears he is probably the most

(01:00:07):
underrated pitcher we've everhad.
Injuries kind of took a toll onhim, but those couple of years
he was the best pitcher inbaseball.
Josh Johnson People don't talkenough about JJ.
I mean Josh Johnson in 2010,2011,.
I mean Josh Johnson in 2010,2011, when he went toe-to-toe
with Roy Holiday in 2010,.

(01:00:28):
That Roy Holiday you know.
Rest in peace, roy Holiday, whothrew a perfect game in 2010.
I mean, and Josh Johnson wasthe other pitcher and he only
allowed one run and it was on anerror, like people of 2020.

(01:00:48):
And Josh Johnson was dominating.
I mean, he opened up thatstadium in 2012 against adam
wainwright and and he was theface of the franchise and, just
you know, injuries took a tollon him.
He wasn't like mr personality,so a lot of people, but all time
greats, you know there and you,honorable mention, can't leave
Jose out, because Jose justbrought so much joy to the game

(01:01:09):
and he was just fun when he tookthat mound.
He hit a home run against theBraves in 2013, his last game,
because they were shutting himdown and I was there at that
stadium and Brian McCann I callhim the Pope of baseball got so
mad because Jose Fernandez wasrunning the bases super excited
rookie hitting a home run.
He's a pitcher back whenpitchers used to bat and he got

(01:01:32):
so mad and got in his face and Iwas ready to go on the field
myself.
Man, you're bringing backmemories.

Speaker 1 (01:01:39):
It's good stuff and your love for the Marlins, your
love, love for baseball exudes.
I'm so glad that our pathscrossed that day and I hope we
keep each other's number.
I knew you were gonna be goodon this show.
I appreciate you.
Please tell Momo I said hi ifyou see him.
Good luck with the baby comingaround the corner.
Thank you, thank you and let'sgo, baseball's go.

(01:02:02):
I'm Joy Nulish and I appreciateyou tuning into my podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode,drop a review, share and
subscribe, because there's a lotof good stuff on tap.
You can find more joyfulcontent on YouTube, the socials
or check my website atjoynulishcom.
Now go, surround yourself withthe things that bring joy to
your world.
Until next time, much love.