Some people have asked me why I don’t cover my own local major league baseball team, the Miami Marlins, with the same devotion that I give to a team 1,500 miles away; the Detroit Tigers.  First, I grew up with the Tigers, listening to them on the radio and occasionally going to their games at the legendary Tiger Stadium.  And second, I can’t imagine them doing something like this:

The Marlins, playing in a publicly funded playground for less than one year, just shipped away almost all of their stars in what feels like an act of betrayal, figuring there are cheaper ways to finish in last place. They run their business with little regard for customers or public relations or decency. The players/employees are cattle. The customers are suckers. And the checks keep cashing, now more than ever.

That might be the most galling thing about this transaction. Buffoon owner Jeffrey Loria profits from being meddlesome, greedy, incompetent and despicable. He is being rewarded once you get past all the angry noise, with an ATM we helped him build in Little Havana. Loria, who is George Steinbrenner without the money, has never been worth more than he is worth today … because tax dollars and that new ballpark increased the value of his team so much, a team that now doesn’t have that many expenses.

This isn’t the first time the team has pulled this stunt.  After the then-Florida Marlins won the World Series in 1997, they had a fire sale and dumped most of their players.  The next season, they had one of the worst records in baseball.

It’s hard to keep a fan base when you have no respect for the fans.

Go Tigers.