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The Show Must Go On

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Before the season started, one of my friends made a remark about the Marlins to me. He said:

“Man Eric, the Marlins look like a circus act or something. With their new colors, that new attraction out in center field, an aquarium. I mean, what are they going to add next? A dunk tank?”

“I would like to dunk Loria,” I sarcastically said. “But you just watch for us this year when we play in October.”

However, unlike my prediction, the Marlins flopped around like a fish out of water. Either I didn’t know it, or I didn’t want to admit it at the time, that’s how the Marlins roll every year:

A circus act.

Yesterday, the show continued with the ringmaster himself, Jeffrey Loria, firing yet another clown whom he had put in charge of his cohorts. Ozzie Guillen has been fired as the Marlins’ skipper.

Guillen brought much anticipation to the season. Finally, the Fish had a manager who had proven he could win. Not to mention, he had many newly acquired great acts around him. There was much anticipation leading into the season.

But the show must go on. 

Even though I had forgotten about it and even denied it, the circus act would prove me wrong yet again. At the beginning of the season, my hopes for the 2012 season were riding high. Higher then any other season in recent memory. However, it would be short lived.

Like a clown sitting at a dunk tank, Guillen had chanted jeers and other obscene things at bystandards. He made a comment about former Cuban leader Fidel Castro that rilled up the south Florida community, as people came to protest outside the stadium. Many demanded that Guillen be fired right then and there, that Guillen had crossed the line.

The circus was in full tilt.

However, Guillen’s job was safe and -with a public apology later- everything went back to baseball. After going a MLB best 21-8 in May, the Marlins looked like a team fans had dreamed of. They looked like the team I had bragged about to my friend. ‘Maybe, just maybe,’ I thought. ‘This time things will be different.’

The joke was on me. 

Like a flower on a clown, I was suckered in and sprayed in the face. The Marlins would philander as they always do every year in recent memory: underachieving, laughable and flat out disappointing. Eventually, the Marlins would finish a forgettable 69-93 (I did have to look up the record), the fourth worst record in franchise history.

Future acts ahead?

With the departure of Guillen, the ringmaster is looking for a new clown to lead the team. The only question is, will he hire someone who will lead the team to better days? Or will he hire someone who will stick to the typical, comedic form Marlins fans are all too familiar with?

Step right up, folks.