Q & A with Fish Stripes

So, check this out: jbox and Dex actually trusted me to ask questions on behalf of Gaslamp Ball to another SBNation blog in preparation for the upcoming series. Smart move, right? Hell if I know. You decide.

Michael Jong, manager of Fish Stripes, was kind enough to suffer my foolishness long enough to answer five of my stupid questions. Enjoy.

Padres vs Marlins coverage

• What should Gaslamp Ballers know about the Marlins coming in to this series?
• Gaslamp Ballers should know that the Miami Marlins are coming into this series bereft of wins and fairly empty in terms of good position players. Because so many of the players the team depended on this season have under-performed, the club already looked bad offensively. Now that the team dealt Hanley Ramirez and Omar Infante among their position players, it looks like the Marlins are running out a slew of Triple-A tryouts surrounding Carlos Lee, Logan Morrison, and Jose Reyes to fill in the time before Giancarlo Stanton returns.
  
  
• We've seen the national headlines about the new faces, new look, new ballpark, Guillen, etc. What would you say is the untold story of the Marlins this season?
• The untold story of the Miami Marlins 2012 season is that the home run structure (colloquially known around Fish Stripes as "The Monstrosity") is actually not that bad. Even though its size is daunting, it does not look so ridiculous in action, and there is no accompanying silly music to make the home runs look ridiculous. At this stage, Marlins fans have more or less embraced it. I imagine that, in five years, the Monstrosity will just be another in the long line of home run celebrations.
  Oh, and all of the Marlins are really failing to hit up to their expectations. It's not pretty, but it wasn't expected, and folks that think the Marlins were ridiculous to try their free agent spending spree in order to compete are underestimating just how badly the Marlins have under-performed their projections from the start of the season. Not just one or two guys, but five full-time starters.
  
  
• What's the best food to eat in the new ballpark?
• The best food in the new ballpark is in the Taste of Miami section, and if any Gaslamp Ball readers are heading to a game this weekend, that is the place to go. The Taste of Miami has three local vendors selling food that is uniquely Miami with a kick of Latin American feel. Over at Papo Llega Y Pon, you can pick up their famous pulled pork sandwiches for just $7, which is a deal as far as stadium food is concerned. The Latin American Grill offers Cuban sandwiches and a host of other foods, while Don Camaron boasts shrimp burgers as their featured product. A stadium visit is not complete without one of those stops for food.
  
  
• The Marlins have shifted squarely into Fire Sale Mode; what are you doing as a fan to get through the remainder of the season? (I just close my eyes and drink beer faster)
• The Marlins have not shifted into Fire Sale mode. In fact, all the team has done is make two smart baseball decisions, but due to the nature of Jeffrey Loria and the team's ownership, outsiders immediately jump to the wrong conclusions. If anything, this reasoning is exactly what I would use to get through the rest of 2012: the Marlins are not tearing down their team, they are simply making baseball decisions aimed at trimming the fat and re-appropriating salary for 2013. If the savings the team has acquired from trading Ramirez are not used towards legitimate, baseball moves for next season, then the team can be blamed for bad business.
  
  
• How's Heath Bell worked out? Is he okay? Does he ever mention us? (just for the record, we ended it; it wasn't mutual)
• Heath Bell seems pretty down about the break-up, because he has absolutely horrible this year. Maybe it was because you guys were too harsh on him when you broke up with him, but things just have not been the same. His location has been way off, leading to a career-high 11.9 percent walk rate. He has completely lost all of his swings and misses, leading to a career-low 18.9 percent strikeout rate. He has blown six saves and been removed from the closer role.
  So yeah, send him some chocolates. Tell him you guys can have coffee while you're in town, you know, catch up on old times. Because he seems like he's heartbroken. Or just terrible. You know, whichever.