BAMAPHIN 22
FinHeaven Elite
Joe Girardi is as surprised as anyone.
"I knew we would play better," the Florida Marlins' rookie manager said, "but I did not expect this."
He's surely not alone.
No one could have expected this -- a four-week run where the untried, rebuilding and rookie-loaded Marlins were the hottest team in baseball.
Led by a bunch of relative unknowns, the Marlins are 18-6 in their last 24 games and have climbed out of last place in the National League East. Josh Johnson leads the majors with a 2.01 ERA. Dan Uggla has hit 12 home runs. Scott Olsen has won four consecutive starts.
Who, exactly, are these guys?
They're who the Marlins tout as the team's future.
And right now, that future looks pretty good.
"I just like how, regardless of how we were playing, we were still coming in and working hard and still believing," said left-hander Dontrelle Willis, who finished second in the NL Cy Young Award balloting last season but is off to a 3-6 start in 2006. "Now it's starting to pay off."
Willis and third baseman Miguel Cabrera -- who's among the NL leaders with a .342 average, 83 hits and 23 doubles -- came into this year as the veterans of sorts in the Marlins' clubhouse.
Never mind that Willis is still only 24 and Cabrera just 23, they are the sages on a team that bid adieu to players like Carlos Delgado, Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, Alex Gonzalez, Juan Pierre, Todd Jones and Luis Castillo from last year's team -- slicing $45 million in payroll, down to a major-league-low $15 million in 2006.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/baseball/mlb/06/19/bc.bbn.surprisingmarlin.ap/index.html
"I knew we would play better," the Florida Marlins' rookie manager said, "but I did not expect this."
He's surely not alone.
No one could have expected this -- a four-week run where the untried, rebuilding and rookie-loaded Marlins were the hottest team in baseball.
Led by a bunch of relative unknowns, the Marlins are 18-6 in their last 24 games and have climbed out of last place in the National League East. Josh Johnson leads the majors with a 2.01 ERA. Dan Uggla has hit 12 home runs. Scott Olsen has won four consecutive starts.
Who, exactly, are these guys?
They're who the Marlins tout as the team's future.
And right now, that future looks pretty good.
"I just like how, regardless of how we were playing, we were still coming in and working hard and still believing," said left-hander Dontrelle Willis, who finished second in the NL Cy Young Award balloting last season but is off to a 3-6 start in 2006. "Now it's starting to pay off."
Willis and third baseman Miguel Cabrera -- who's among the NL leaders with a .342 average, 83 hits and 23 doubles -- came into this year as the veterans of sorts in the Marlins' clubhouse.
Never mind that Willis is still only 24 and Cabrera just 23, they are the sages on a team that bid adieu to players like Carlos Delgado, Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, Alex Gonzalez, Juan Pierre, Todd Jones and Luis Castillo from last year's team -- slicing $45 million in payroll, down to a major-league-low $15 million in 2006.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/baseball/mlb/06/19/bc.bbn.surprisingmarlin.ap/index.html
