Memorable moments
Stanton leaves legacy of big hits, but no winning seasons
The ball was still rising when it smashed into the scoreboard high above the concourse in left field at Marlins Park.
Giancarlo Stanton, who always resembled a mythical figure, didn’t need a Hollywood director to turn a mundane weeknight game into a remake of the movie “The Natural.” In this modern version, instead of a shower of sparks raining down, a large panel of the hightech video display simply went dark.
Hoots of surprise spread through the ballpark as the realization set in that Stanton’s Ruthian show of power had turned the power off.
That grand slam off Colorado’s Jamie Moyer in May 2012 is one of many wow moments Stanton leaves behind as he departs to chase the ghost of Babe Ruth in the Bronx.
Stanton’s eight seasons with the Marlins were like watching a recurring fireworks show that elicited many appreciative choruses of “ahh” but often ended with an “ugh” — another loss or debilitating injury.
It wasn’t that he hit a franchiserecord 267 home runs, what stood out was that he routinely hit them with a force and to places that few others can.
“It just seems like every day you almost count on him hitting one. They’re leaving some stuff there to hit and he’s not missing it,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said amid Stanton’s remarkable second-half surge on this way to 59 homers this past season. “It’s fun to watch.”
What Stanton was never able to do was hit enough to turn the Marlins into a winner.
Not only has he never played in a postseason game, not once in Stanton’s eight seasons did they win even one game more than they lost. From the time he made his major league debut on June 8, 2010, the Marlins have gone 559-678 — a combined 119 games under .500.
Sadly, that, along with the massive gallery of awe-inspiring homers, is the legacy of the Stanton era in South Florida.
The Marlins’ previous big-boppers, Gary Sheffield and Miguel Cabrera, were both traded away too soon when their salaries escalated beyond the level the financially strapped franchise could afford. But they each left behind a World Series trophy.
“I want to win,” Stanton said when he signed the outlandish $325 million contract after the 2014 season. “Yeah, I’m financially good for the rest of my life, great, but I’m not trying to come here and get my butt kicked for 10 hours and go home to a lavish lifestyle every day. That’s not fun for me.”
In much the way that the Dolphins wasted the Dan Marino years, so did the Marlins with this once-in-a-generation talent. Marino, at least, played in one Super Bowl and numerous playoff games.
Some years there weren’t enough talented hitters to help Stanton. This past season the lineup was stacked and the pitching flopped.
After the Marlins offloaded their big names and plump contracts in a blockbuster trade with Toronto in a salary purge after the disappointing 2012 season, Stanton tweeted, “Alright, I’m pissed off!!! Plain & Simple.”
The payroll usually was paltry. Then, when former owner Jeffrey Loria elected to spend, on players such as Wei-Yin Chen, Michael Morse, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Edinson Volquez, they got hurt or didn’t perform.
Too often it was injuries to Stanton holding him and the team back.
Unfortunately, one of the indelible images of Stanton as a Marlin was of him on the ground by home plate in Milwaukee with blood pouring from his mouth into the dirt after being hit in the left cheek by a Mike Fiers fastball in September 2014.
It was one of those ugly moments in sports when the game ceases to matter. Teammates stood by in shock as the slugger, suddenly mortal, was loaded onto a stretcher. When a rattled Fiers struck Stanton’s replacement, Reed Johnson, with the next pitch, a near-brawl ensued.
Stanton suffered a facial laceration, multiple facial fractures and dental damage. It also derailed his bid for MVP in the National League in his best season to that point. Though missing the final 17 games, he won the home run title with 37 homers, but finished second in the MVP balloting to pitcher Clayton Kershaw.
Despite the uncertainty of any lingering effects of the beaning, the Marlins signed Stanton to the 13-year mega-contract that November. He had just turned 25, and the forecast was that he would be the face of the franchise and cornerstone for its revival.
Ironically, then-team president David Samson said, “He wanted to be the Derek Jeter of Miami, he wants to be the first face on the Mount Rushmore of the Marlins.”
Now Jeter is the Marlins CEO, and by trading Stanton to New York, the former Yankees shortstop may ensure his former team has more championships in its immediate future.
Stanton’s big deal didn’t make a big difference for the Marlins as they never won more than 79 games in the three seasons since it was signed.
In 2015, Stanton was leading the major leagues with 27 homers and 67 RBI in 74 games when he broke his left hamate bone in his wrist while swinging the bat during a June 26 game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. After surgery, he was expected to miss 4 to 6 weeks, but he was slow to regain strength in his hand and wrist and never returned that season.
The next season, the Marlins were four games over .500 and in wild-card contention in mid-August when Stanton strained a groin and missed nearly a month.
Stanton’s biggest moment in the national spotlight came earlier in 2016 he put on a memorable show in winning the Home Run Derby before the All-Star Game in San Diego, launching a record-61 homers at Petco Park.
He also helped the United States win its first World Baseball Classic title this past March.
With the Marlins, he was never comfortable in the role of vocal leader. As exception was in the aftermath of a series-opening loss to the Mets in New York in early 2015 when Stanton criticized the team’s play as lacking fire.
His remarks didn’t go over well in the clubhouse. The Marlins ended up getting swept in four games, and manager Mike Redmond was fired a few days later.
Stanton was in a grim mood this past July when the Marlins traded away two of their top relief pitchers, his buddy A.J. Ramos and David Phelps, foreseeing another rebuilding phase.
But his bid for 60 home runs escalated after that, and his mood brightened.
“I think he likes hitting homers, that’s what I notice,” Mattingly said. “He’s smiling a lot when he’s hitting homers.
After tying Sheffield’s team record with his 42nd homer, Stanton acknowledged he was having the most fun of his career.
Chants of “M-V-P” began at Marlins Park when he hit No. 50. Although he ended one short of 60, the fans serenaded him after his final at-bat of what would be his MVP season.
“It was fun with the crowd,” Stanton said. “It was great. Sums up my year and the appreciation of the fans, the fans for me.”
As it turned out, that was goodbye, a warm final moment for Stanton and South Florida. Even then, it left everyone wanting something more.