No Manny, No Problem.

Instead of attempting to lead a young ballclub near his home in Weston, Manny Ramirez becomes outfielder No. 5 in the "city of Angels" tonight. And even though the national media, as well as Philllies' and Mets' fans, will never miss a beat in reminding us we could have had that slugger with an IQ of around 58 on our team, all is well in Fishtown.

Bitterness? Maybe. Misinformation? Never. Looking deep into it, there was no need for a second Ramirez, he would have been nothing more than a luxury. As a Marlin fan ever since I became interested in the sport, its pretty obvious that things are never quite that easy around here. During both years pictured on that banner in deep left field at Dolphin Stadium, we've done it the hard way, winning the Wild Card, and finishing up with a ring.

In case you haven't noticed, the Marlins are only 2 games out of said Wild Card after the shellacking Milwaukee recieved from the Cubbies(who we were a Van Den Hurk away from winning a series against). And remember, this all occuring during periods of time where we saw guys like Mark Hendrickson on a regular basis.

I won't say its all coming together, because, frankly, I have no idea. The Fish have been all over the place this year, leaving me thrilled one day, and kicking myself the next. Theres been times where I've begged to sign guys like Uggla and Hermida to extensions, and wanted to throw knives at them some days later. But through it all, I love this team as it is, even though I'm welcoming Mr. Rhodes with open arms(any guy who does well with every team, then stinks it up with the Phillies is fine by me).

I'm probably blinded by the return of Anibal, followed by a 12-2 win against the Rockies(I guess they brough Coors Field with them?), but hey, maybe that's just Alan being Alan.Yes, I was willing to divulge my name for the purpose of this mindblowing story.