The Marlins And Girardi; Lincecum's Hershiser Motion And Gooden Results

• Marlins 11-Nationals 0:

    With each passing game that the Marlins play like they're the same young, hungry group under Fredi Gonzalez that they were two years ago under Joe Girardi; and with the Yankees staggering along trying to incorporate young players into a veteran-laden and high-priced lineup; it becomes clearer and clearer who deserved the credit for the Marlins stunning 78 wins in Girardi's first and only season as the Marlins manager----the Marlins front office.
    Most everyone fell under the same spell this year as they did two years ago when the Marlins had cleared out most of their high-priced veterans and picked them to collapse to the netherworld of 100 losses. Instead, the Marlins are 22-14, in first place in the National League East and, despite not having the personnel to maintain their position, are a pretty good bet to match their overachieving heights of 78 wins this year under Gonzalez as they did in 2006 under Girardi.
    Last season, after the team dropped to 71 wins and Girardi spent the season as the reigning NL Manager of the Year and in the broadcast booth, sifting through his choice of jobs in some pretty decent locations and waiting to see if the Yankees job opened up, Gonzalez was managing the Marlins, dealing with numerous injuries to the 2006 pitching staff, disciplinary problems with his immature stars (Scott Olsen, Hanley Ramirez and Miguel Cabrera) and listening to endless criticism because of what he wasn't (that being Girardi). The implication was that Girardi and Girardi alone could have steered that young Marlins team into surprising contention in 2006 and Gonzalez was severely overmatched despite having far more managing experience in the minor leagues and as a coach than Girardi (pretty much right off the field and into the manager's seat) did. Now with the Yankees at 19-19 and the Marlins in first place, is there still the same image of both men?
    It's early in the season and the overwhelming likelihood is that the Marlins will fall back to reality and probably between 72 and 77 wins and the Yankees will right themselves to make the playoffs, but the Marlins pitching has been above and beyond the call of duty and Gonzalez is a superior strategist to Girardi, running his bullpen well and still coaxing the most out of his players. Most importantly, he's kept the ultra-talented but troubled Olsen in line and been able to get him to pitch about as well as he did under Girardi as a rookie; Olsen's also behaving himself off the field (as far as we know). I was one that felt Gonzalez's hand may have been too soft and Olsen needed to go somewhere where the manager was going to lay down the law, but he's proving himself to be able to control himself on and off the field and is looking like the ace he showed he could be two years ago.
    I certainly don't blame Girardi for the injuries to the Marlins young pitchers last year, but given the parity in the National League in 2006, I also don't think he deserved the amount of credit he received in winning the Manager of the Year and being sent into baseball martyrdom because of differences between himself and upper management. It was easy to dole out the praise on Girardi and nitpick Gonzalez last season, but now they're both in the ring and it's looking more and more like the Marlins success was due to mitigating factors other than the tactics and discipline of Joe Girardi. They're a smart organization that knows talent and lets their young players play and develop without being harassed; that may be more of a factor in their surprising success than any manager would be, no matter who he is and what his personality traits are.

• Giants 8-Phillies 2:

    With his Orel Hershiser style leg kick and head tilt plus an upper 90s fastball, Tim Lincecum is looking like the real deal. Yes, he's small (he's listed at 5'11"; he ain't no 5'11"); and yes, he struggled as the season wore on last year and he appeared to tire; but right now, he's dominating. In fact, I haven't seen a young pitcher come to the big leagues and devastate opposing lineups since Dwight Gooden. And it's not like it's a bunch of stiffs he's pitching to; that was the Phillies he overmatched yesterday with two former MVPs (Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins); the best hitter in baseball (Chase Utley); along with Pat Burrell. If he maintains his stamina throughout the year, Lincecum might be discussed in reverential tones by year's end. After facing him once, the hitters looked defeated and for a second year pitcher to do that to big league hitters really says how vicious Lincecum's stuff truly is.

     Please check out my book The Prince Of New York's 2008 Baseball Guide also available on Amazon.com and BN.com.