SporTech Matter Thoughts from JD, a rabid South Florida Sports fan and tech junkie. This is D-Wade's house.

You Make the Grade

Since we are winding down on the 2006 Florida Marlins season I thought it would be a cool idea to grade the various area’s of the organization ranging from ownership all the way down to the fans themselves. Grades should be made from a A to F basis using plus or minus where applicable. You can leave your grades in the comment section. I am curious to see what everyone thinks.

Grade on the various aspects of the Marlins in these categories:

1) Ownership (Loria)
2) Leadership (Samson)
3) GM (Beinfest/Hill/Scouting)
4) Skipper (Girardi)
5) Hitting Coach
6) Pitching Coach
7) 3rd Base Coach
Stadium
9) Fans

My grades go as follows:

1) Ownership (Loria) – F
His inability to surround our young pitching staff with quality or semi quality bullpen arms was the downfall of this team from the beginning. He decided his personal riffs with the manager deserved to trump the success that the team was having all year only putting another black eye on an organization that was already having trouble getting back on its feet. He is going to continue to own a team that he can’t afford and push a manager out of town who (as far as I am concerned) is loved by players, media, and fans alike. He gets a big fat F.

2) Leadership (Samson) – F
Another douche who seems to worry more about his image and his personal life then he does about the Florida Marlins. I feel he enjoys rubbing elbows with city officials and hitting on women at nightclubs who can’t stand him more then he does the Florida Marlins. How’s that tri-athalon working out for you? Another F as in Failure.

3) GM (Beinfest/Hill/Scouting) – A+
How can you not grade this guy an A+. He is the reason we are watching quality baseball in September. He got the most value for our players we sent elsewhere while not compromising the Marlins farm system for years to come. Kudos Mr. Beinfest, you truely are one of the greats when it comes to the front office.

4) Skipper (Girardi) – B+
In my mind Joe was put into a situation a manager would normally fail at. He was setup to either look like an amazing manager for taking a team that was expected to lose 100 games to .500 or a manager who lost 100 games and was expected to do so. Amid all the drama surrounding Joe this year I feel he did an admirable job. I am not going to second guess moves he made here or there that Jeffrey Loria is firing him over. Those same moves Trader Jack would have made last year and noone would have second guessed. Joe does seem to stray away from stats and play more with his gut. His choice to use Alfredo against left handers will always baffle me. Overall for a first year manager and what was left on his plate, I would say he did better then most managers who have a team full of seasoned vets. B+ for me.

5) Hitting Coach – B+
It’s pretty hard to grade the hitting coach when it’s not Bill Robinson and “Fire Bill Robinson” hasn’t been yelled by various fans during the season. There were some mini hitting slumps during the year but nothing to complain about. This team will finish statistically better then the 2003 team. B+ from me.

6) Pitching Coach – A
This is really a no-brainer. 3 rookies with 10+ wins. Dontrelle with 10+ wins. A pitcher with a no hitter and a chance to reach the 10 win plateau. His handling of the starters was superb this year and you can’t fault the pitching coach for having young or crappy arms in the bullpen. See Owner on that one. A for Kranny.

7) 3rd Base Coach – A
If I never noticed him he did a good job. A.

Stadium – F
This is laughable I even put it up here. Remarkably there were minimal rain delay’s/outs. The overall joy of going to the game is taken away due to the stadium being for football. Your views down the line suck and your too far away from the field. This is well known stuff and it won’t improve until there is a new stadium.

9) Fans – F
I’m sorry but South Florida fans suck. Hardcore fans are hardcore but these fans that come out expecting to see Dontrelle Willis pitch 5 days a week are just there to be there. I am thankful we have some fans show up but I have a feeling the diehards are at home. You can go to a game anyday of the week and hear some incredible things (that do not make sense when it comes to baseball) being said throughout the bleachers. It’s sad when you need the Mets and Red Sox to come to town to break 10,000.

So those are my grades. They might seem pretty crappy but these grades really didn’t include anything involving players. Amazingly this team played pretty damn well considering all the crap going on behind the scenes (or not going on). It’s just a shame the late season run had to be overshadowed by Jeffrey Loria’s Funhouse.

Leave your grades in the comments.