The Miami Marlins’ season has come to a brief halt. According to multiple reports, their surging lead in the National League East is over before it started. Many media members, including Ken Rosenthal from The Athletic, are reporting that Major League Baseball is postponing Miami’s scheduled games through Sunday.
MLB statement… pic.twitter.com/zJ681SwLsp
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 28, 2020
Your NL East division leaders will now have to wait until next week to to get back into the tide. Does this really come as a surprise?
For starters, they reside in state where bath salts became a delicacy. Add to that, the widely-speculated handling of coronavirus by the state’s Governor, Rick DeSantis. Reports today indicate a total of over 6,000 deaths related to the virus within the state, according to NBC News.
Also, thanks to the ever-trusty Twitter.com, whispers of party-rocking seem to be surrounding the Marlins. Miami played two exhibition games against the Atlanta Braves last week as a conclusion to Summer Camp. Could they have channeled their inner Lou Williams and left The Dirty in style?
Rumor mill: multiple Marlins players visted a strip club in ATL after the Braves exhibition game. This is probably what kickstarted the case train in the lockerroom.
— Ry Jones (@RyryJones) July 28, 2020
So far, there is no chatter coming from Magic City. Also, no Yelp reviews have surfaced regarding Marlins players and any potential analysis of the wings, thighs or breasts in the I-285 hot-spot.
But one has to remain curious. How did Miami become virus-ridden all of a sudden? Out of all the other 29 teams in MLB, they are the only ones to reveal positive tests since Friday, per Rosenthal. For now, MLB has suspended play of the toxic Fish.
On Monday, commissioner Rob Manfred stated that pausing the whole league would require “a team losing a number of players that rendered it completely non-competitive.” I guess the next question now is: what defines competitive in this context?
Miami hasn’t had a winning season since 2010. They have finished fourth or worse in six of those seasons. The Marlins lost 105 games in 2019, the second-most in franchise history.
Is this a proverbial Red Tide for the Fish? Will they rot on the shores, or will the current pull them back in?
When, and if, the Marlins do resume play, don’t expect too much hype. The commissioner might deem the league more competitive without them.
