Game Day Three-Pack: “I’m this close to venturing outside with a Yankees hat just so I can feel alive.”

As no one ever says, “It’s Marlins time!”  And no one doesn’t say it louder than Fish Stripes writer and friend of the site, Michael Jong (@MRJManiac).  We got the chance to pick Michael’s brain on all fish-related matters, and the following should serve as an excellent appetizer to horrifying feast of apathy that will be this three-game whatever.  Series.

Be sure to read my answers to his three questions on Fish Stripes.

You recently said in a private email to me, “…no one wants to talk to me because I’m with the Marlins.” How does complete isolation from society affect your social skills, and do you blame your favorite baseball team for ruining your life?

Yes and no. My natural shyness and social anxiety tend to like being alone, but I’m starting to feel a pang in my chest for the company of anyone other than my computer and the Miami Marlins players that appear on the screen to play baseball in the evenings.

It has not been easy, and I’m this close to venturing into the outside world with a Yankees hat just so I can feel that I’m alive.

This recently became a contract year for inspirational story Adam Greenberg. What will he have to do in the course of his one-day deal with the Marlins to get that extension?

Greenberg has a long way to go. He has almost no history with the team, and he won’t be starting in his only game. His best bet is to hit a home run and run as fast as possible around the bases to impress the ownership with his hustle.

But seriously, this is a good story in terms of giving Greenberg an opportunity to get his one at-bat and for the Marlins to not only get some goodwill and publicity, but also so that they can offer him something after one their very own pitchers took so much potentially away from him.

Whose side did you take in the Heath Bell vs. Ozzie Guillen Thing That No One Cared About? Will Ozzie Guillen be fired? Have the Marlins called about getting you to fire him yet? Was that Greenberg question classless? I couldn’t decide and I ran out of time.

Based on my coverage of the Bell-Guillen kerfuffle, I fall very clearly on Guillen’s side. Bell ran his mouth to the media and essentially said that he did not respect his manager. For him to afterwards claim that it was the media’s twisting of his quote and the context around it was classic of Bell, who has been blaming multiple parties via the media throughout the season.

As for Guillen, he defended himself to the media and ripped into Bell, which is fair given that he did not start the mess. I think the way the Marlins handled it was a little odd, but given how little I know of how clubhouses police their own, who am I to judge them? It did seem a little passive-aggressive though.