Miller's camping trip
JUPITER, Fla. -- Big shots now going on five months, wait until you see what some of the world champion Florida Marlins will be wearing on their fingers this season.
No, no, not the jewelry, silly! Even though we're talking what might be the largest World Series rings ever, small appliance-sized ornaments bejeweled not only with the usual dazzling array of diamonds, but with a very rare teal diamond that represents the eye of the Marlin.
What do you think this is, a free advertisement for Intergold, the Canadian company that produced the rings? Forget that.
 | |
| Carl Pavano's breakthrough season led to a breathtaking girlfriend at his side.(AP) |
Wrapped around ace Josh Beckett's fingers will be those of girlfriend Leeann Tweeden, the lingerie model who sometimes dons something a little more for duty on Fox's The Best Damn Sports Show, Period.
Talk about the spoils of victory. Look what's happened to lil' ol' Florida since knocking out the New York Yankees in last fall's World Series.
"Now we've got Hollywood stars running around here," said reliever Chad Fox the other day, chuckling.
You arrived expecting a few more humorous anecdotes about crazy skipper Jack McKeon appearing in the pages of Cigar Aficionado magazine and being honored as one of the AARP's top 10 men of the year?
Sorry.
Not with -- uh, hang on, something's caught my attention, be right back to you -- Tweeden sitting over there in the Marlins' dugout on a 90-degree morning, filming a piece on the Marlins while wearing a top that makes the Sports Illustrated swimsuit models seem positively Amish by comparison.
"That's all happened since winning the World Series, as far as I know," said former Marlins closer Braden Looper from Port St. Lucie, where he now pitches for the Mets (and not in front of anybody this glamorous, by the way, even if it is New York).
Looper sure doesn't remember anything like this from when he was pitching for the Marlins last year.
"For Josh, it's a good thing," Looper continued. "If he was a little lonely, he's got somebody now.
"I guess if you're single, there's always some extra benefits of winning the World Series."
Beckett and Tweeden met at a Super Bowl party in Houston, shortly after the Texas native emerged from October as the latest World Series hero.
"She's a cool girl," Beckett said. "I like hanging out with her.
"I'll leave it at that. I like to keep it private."
Pavano has been similarly charmed following his 12-13, 4.30 ERA season. He and Milano met through a mutual friend in New York during the World Series. It's a romance worth rooting for, if only so the actress' name can become Alyssa Milano Pavano.
(From Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Emily Dickinson, love always has sparked passionate poetry.)
"I definitely get teased," Pavano said. "She's a nice girl. I feel pretty fortunate. She's a pretty popular woman. She's very recognizable. But she's so normal it almost gives you hope that there are actually normal people out there who are in the spotlight."
Normal? Normal is something that was left behind long before their bus rolled into the Yankee Stadium parking lot last October. The spotlight, Hollywood, lingerie models ... this is all new to the Marlins.
 | |
| You could say that Josh Beckett has the 'Best Damn' love life right now.(AP) |
That all changed, of course, with the ascension of McKeon to manager last May 11, and the aftermath.
The entertaining thing this spring is, despite the fact that the Marlins reeled off baseball's best record from last May 11 on (73-49), stormed through San Francisco and Chicago to get to the World Series and then yanked home-field advantage away from the Yankees to win it, a lot of people are looking at them as interlopers who will blow away like tumbleweed.
Maybe a part of that is legitimate. After all, the World Series champs wouldn't pay star catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez's asking price and traded first baseman Derek Lee to the Cubs while rearranging salary to keep their pitching and defense intact.
Those are big holes to fill, no question.
"But of all of the positions where we could lose guys, I think catcher is a strength of ours," third baseman Mike Lowell argued. "I think (Ramon) Castro is ready to show what he can do. He sat on the bench for the past two years, waiting. He's proven he can play. And Mike Redmond can catch, too."
Lowell thinks Lee's loss will be the biggest.
"Derek's numbers got better and better and better," Lowell said. "He might be a 40 (homers) and 120 (RBI) guy in Chicago. If he keeps getting better, it's going to be scary."
As for the rest, the Marlins retained second baseman Luis Castillo, and again will have pesky center fielder Juan Pierre in the leadoff hole, have Miguel Cabrera for an entire season and, hopefully, Lowell's elbow stays sound and he remains on the field all season, too.
The fascinating thing about these Marlins is that their pitching, so dominant during the World Series, could be so much better over the course of an entire season.
Beckett, 23, has yet to throw 200 innings in a season.
Dontrelle Willis, 22, faded down the stretch last season and still tied for the team lead with 14 victories (he was 14-6 with a 3.30 ERA).
Pavano and Brad Penny (14-10, 4.13) are still learning, and A.J. Burnett, who underwent elbow ligament transfer surgery last April, is the guy everyone thought could be the ace of the staff.
"I just want to make 30, 35 starts," said Beckett, who has never made more than 23 in a season before. "I'm tired of making goals. I just want to pitch every (five) days."
Given what he did last October, 35 starts for Beckett is a tantalizing thought to just about everybody other than the Marlins' competition in the NL East.
Certainly, if Beckett is able to do that, and if the rest of the staff steps up -- and if new closer Armando Benitez handles the pressure, which is a big question -- then more than just Beckett and Pavano will become the darlings of the jet set.
Already, of course, McKeon became everybody's favorite grandfather last fall, and it carried into the winter. He did motivational speeches, appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman and, when the Marlins were honored at the White House on Jan. 23, none other than President George W. Bush made a reference to them "hiring this old geezer."
A little while later, Bush mentioned something else about McKeon's age (73).
The manager, beaming, simply handed the president a cigar.
And when Bush was finished speaking, and once he waved to everyone and shook every last hand, he grabbed that cigar and took it into the White House with him.
Still, it isn't as if winning the World Series helped lure McKeon a new girlfriend.
"I've got the same one for 50 years, so I ain't worried about it," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "She's a movie star in my eyes."
As for the Hollywood section of the clubhouse, well, Fox was out to dinner several nights ago with the two power couples, Beckett and Tweeden and Pavano and Milano. Beckett and Pavano, after all, are two of Fox's best friends on the team, so what the heck.
"They're incredible people," Fox said. "You can tell they're girls with very strong heads. They're not just dating ballplayers. It was nice to meet both of them. You get a sense when guys are dating girls just for who they are, and that isn't the case in either one of these."
Fox, who, with Allison, his wife of 11 years, has three daughters, paused.
"I can only imagine being single and trying to date after winning the World Series," he said.
Hmm ... any single Marlin up for trying to date after winning back-to-back World Series?
Miller's previous camping stops: Reds in Sarasota, Indians in Winter Haven | Cardinals in Jupiter | Mets in Port St. Lucie | Dodgers in Vero Beach | Orioles in Fort Lauderdale | Expos in Viera | Braves in Kissimmee | Tigers in Lakeland | Pirates in Bradenton | Devil Rays in St. Petersburg | Blue Jays in Dunedin | Twins in Fort Myers | Red Sox in Fort Myers | Yankees in Tampa | Astros in Kissimmee | Phillies in Clearwater | Red Sox in Fort Myers
