A Marlins' fan reawakened

I feel the need to reveal myself. I grew up in West Palm Beach, the northern border of "South Florida" I suppose. When the Marlins were inaugurated into the MLB in '93, I was so excited, just a wee lad. Finally a big league team I can call my own! 4 years later, I was sitting in the stands during Game 5 of an NLCS, and then just a short time later, Game 7 of the World Series. I was "hooked" on the Marlins, there was no doubt. I was proud to say I was there for Opening Day 1993, a 3rd grader with season tickets with my Dad for the first 2 seasons. Oh, how my friends envied me! Then came 1998. The Marlins I knew were gone. No longer did I feel a connection to the team. I didn't know anyone. Just 5 years later, the Fish were back to winning a World Series. I was excited, but it didn't feel the same. I followed the games, I checked box scores the next day, but I didn't really feel a connection. Good thing, too, as the post-World-Series-Championship team, part deux, left a gaping void in the dugout again.

Now here we are in 2008, and I finally find myself excited about Marlins baseball again. Maybe it was the all-day doubleheader. Maybe its that the organization finally signed a young, talented prospect to a long-term deal. It probably helps they're playing good baseball. But even last year, as the Marlins pushed into playoff hunt late into the year, I just wasn't that excited. You just knew that Cabrera and Dontrelle were leaving, management just didn't seem like they were interested in forking out big bucks to keep them around, despite the fan favoritism. But yesterday, watching the game(s) on espn.com GameCast at work (thank you Brighthouse Cable for not carrying Fox Sports Florida...), I was cheering. I was excited. I was nervous watching 3 little flashing dots load the bases down by 2. I fist pumped seeing the 5 replace the 4 on the scoreboard in the bottom of the 9th. It's been a long time, but I'm excited about the Fish.

"Everybody's doing the Fish. Yeah, yeah, yeah." Bring back Muscle-boy.