South Florida sports radio host Andy Slater of 640 AM Sports recently noted on his weekday talk show that the Marlins are currently advertising for a sports handicapper website behind home plate and on television game broadcasts.

The Mag: Let’s talk about gambling. I was watching a Marlins game last year and saw a big ad for a casino on the leftfield wall.

BS: Life has changed. I’m sensitive about this issue, but casino gambling is legal. Any gambling involving baseball, though, is a no-no.

If only Pete Rose had used the “life has changed” defense!

Watch the video.

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Miami media guy Andy Slater tipped me off to this delightful tweet from Florida Marlin Logan Morrison about his team’s new ballpark - which is due to open in 2012.

Have u seen our new ballpark? Max can u earmuff 4 me? We r goin 2 gt so much ass there its goin 2 b sick. Im talkin like crazy boyband ass

Had the Marlins listened to Morrison, surely they wouldn’t have limited seating capacity to a modest 37,000.

Congratulations are also in order for Morrison on his ability elicit a giggle or six with the “boyband” line.

Read more…

Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez, benched by manager Fredi Gonzalez for lack of hustle and a poor attitude, reportedly said Wednesday that he plans to apologize to the team before the Fish face the St. Louis Cardinals today.

(Gonzalez has confirmed Ramirez in lineup for today  - see update below)

In response to the benching and his subsequent comments about Gonzalez, Ramirez told ESPNDeportes.com Wednesday:

“I’m sorry that all this got so ugly. My intent was not to cause a distraction. I’m sorry that things got this heated. The team, the fans don’t deserve it. We are all professionals here and we’re pulling for the same side. I’ll try to close this chapter and focus on playing baseball.”

Ramirez also clarified his comments about Gonzalez having never played in the major leagues. Read more…

Appearing on WQAM-AM in Miami today, Marlins Manager Fredi Gonzalez addressed the playing status of Hanley Ramirez, who was recently benched by Gonzalez for not hustling and making subsequent, incendiary comments about the manager.

Gonzalez: “I would be surprised if … I would be really surprised if he’s not in the lineup (against St. Louis) today. We’ll take care of it, he’ll be in the three hole and playing shortstop and hopefully we’ll be shaking hands (after a win) after the game.”

Gonzalez removed Ramirez from Monday night’s Marlins-Diamondbacks game in Miami because he thought the shortstop didn’t hustle while chasing a ball in the outfield. Ramirez was then benched for Tuesday’s game against Arizona.

The Marlins open a series today in St. Louis against the Cardinals.

Gonzalez, who indicated yesterday to reporters that Ramirez would not play again until he apologized, noted to WQAM today that he had not talked to the shortstop since Tuesday’s game and that he had seen no indication that Ramirez had apologized to any of his teammates. Read more…

The Marlins marched on without Hanley Ramirez Tuesday afternoon, defeating the Diamondbacks 8-0 behind two RBIs from Ramirez replacement Brian Barden and stellar pitching by Josh Johnson.

Ramirez was benched today after not hustling during the Marlins 5-1 loss to Arizona last night and making incendiary remarks about Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez Tuesday morning.

Though Ramirez did not speak to the media after the team’s victory without him today, manager Gonzalez did address Ramirez’s current status with the team following the game. Read more…

Last night Hanley Ramirez was removed from the Marlins-Diamondbacks game by Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez for not hustling on a defensive play. (More on that here, including video of incident.)

(24/7 real time updates from Brooks on Twitter)

As the Marlins have a day game today, Ramirez addressed the media about the incident Tuesday morning:

It’s his (Manager Fredi Gonzalez) team. He does whatever he (expletive) wants. There’s nothing I can do about it. It’s brutal.

That’s OK. He (Gonzalez) doesn’t understand that (playing hurt). He never played in the big leagues.”

Gonzalez responded to Ramirez’s comment about him not understanding the situation because he never played in the big leagues. Read more…

Last night we witnessed the difference between superstar treatment of a MLB player who quit during a game while plagued by a stealth injury, Hanley Ramirez, and handling of LeBron James and Tiger Woods in similar circumstances.

(Video of incident)

Sensing that Ramirez, despite having “smoked” a foul ball off his ankle in a previous plate appearance, was loafing after a booted soft pop, last night Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez ejected his superstar shortstop from the game in the second inning. To make matters more interesting, Gonzalez did the honors in full view of the team in the dugout.

An obviously elbow-impaired LeBron James also recently quit on his team, in Game 5 of the playoff series between the Cavaliers and Celtics. Was James punished or questioned in public by any member of the Cavaliers organization? No.

Same thing with Tiger Woods at Quail Hollow in Charlotte last month. Read more…

Give Oscar Corral credit: he’s got a flair for obscurity. After all, if you were asked to list every single major leaguer who’s been in the league for the last seven years*, you’d give up long before reaching Kiko Calero, a journeyman reliever who’s currently toiling away in Baseball Hell Miami with the Marlins.

(Really, Corral should not have been using this as an ID.)

But perhaps that was the draw for Corral, a suspected illegal immigrant; the whole “I must be Kiko if I say I am, because who would ever make that up?” thing. Even Kiko Calero doesn’t enjoy telling people he’s Kiko Calero.

Read more…

For a lot of us, tonight is like Christmas, your birthday and finding your Dad’s stash of Swank Magazines when you were 12 all rolled into one: college football starts tonight. And unlike most opening week mismatches, tonight’s marquee match-up should be a doozy, with Pac-10 dark horse Oregon braving possible blindness from the Smurf Turf and the color-coordinated fans to America’s underdog, the Boise State Broncos (current listed as a 3.5-point favorite).

But this isn’t just a compelling game between two Top 25 teams with big aspirations. No, these two teams (in my best Jim Ross drawl) Just Plain Don’t Like Each Other, especially after last season’s win by Boise State that featured two Broncos getting ejected and Oregon QB Jeremiah Masoli getting KOed by a cheap shot while attempting his first pass of the game. Here’s some video if you want to judge for yourself:

Read more…

Fun fact about the new Marlins Stadium, for which officials broke ground on Saturday near the old Orange Bowl in Miami: The $515 million ballpark will have the lowest seating capacity in the majors at 37,000, and probably won’t be completely paid for until 2052. By which time baseball will most likely be replaced by some form of mixed martial arts/indoor football hybrid, where Jeff George will still be making an annual plea that he should be allowed to play.

So the Marlins’ 15-year quest for a new, baseball-only home seems to be at an end, and not a moment too soon. They’re renaming their current park almost on a weekly basis — today it’s LandShark Stadium (seriously) — which I’m sure is why attendance is low. The team will move in for the 2012 season, at which time they will be renamed the Miami Marlins of Anaheim. Read more…