ayrdaomei | you said you'd take it as long as i could (i could not erase that)

So. This almost made me cry. I guess the tears will come tomorrow. Loria and several key members of his front office are Jewish, so no "business" was to be conducted today. (It's Yom Kippur.) They're having a meeting with Joe in the morning, which is when they will undoubtedly fire him. Good job, Loria. Angelos had 9 years to make me hate him, and I hate you as much if not more, and it only took you 3 months.

"I refuse to allow myself to think about it," left fielder Josh Willingham said, "because I want him to come back so bad."

Other Marlins said they want Girardi, who has two years left on his contract, to come back.

"A lot, a lot, a lot!" third baseman Miguel Cabrera said. "He brings confidence, he brings everything for us. We'd love to have him back."

"No doubt," shortstop Hanley Ramirez said. "I can say he is the best man in the world." - Girardi makes poignant speech after final game.

This is insane, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria and General Manager Larry Beinfest. Extend to your rookie manager the same patience you showed a roster of rookie players this season.

Enroll the three of you in conflict resolution classes if you must. Take a wilderness retreat and practice falling backward and letting Girardi catch you.

Anything. But don't can your National League Manager of the Year candidate. - It's not too late to make amends.

Late Sunday afternoon, long after the crowd had filtered out, after the Marlins players were gone and the clubhouse had emptied, as work crews were turning the baseball diamond back into a football field, Girardi stood on the right-field grass, pitching underhanded tosses to his young son, Dante.

It was a family affair.

Girardi's daughter, Serena, skipped about on the grass. And Girardi's wife, Kim, was out there, too, pushing a stroller containing their newborn daughter.

Hardly anyone noticed the family, enjoying itself in the lengthening shadows of an empty stadium. - An emotional finale.

Sigh.

Scott Olsen on the Marlins season - mpg, 5mbs

Miguel Cabrera on the Marlins season - mpg, 9mbs

Dontrelle Willis on the Marlins season - mpg, 13mbs

Joe...looking and sounding so very tired :( - mpg, 10mbs

The big hitter hadn't gotten the batting title. The No. 1 pitcher, by career if not for this season, hadn't lasted two innings. But the remaining fans, larger than the crowds at games that mattered, gave their third standing ovation of the day to a team that finished six games under .500. They felt something akin to what starting pitcher Dontrelle Willis, who got the first of those ovations, felt.

"I think it's a big success," Willis said of the Marlins' 2006 season. "I don't think anybody who had a sub-.500 season could say they were more successful than us. It's kind of an oxymoron, but to me, this is the funnest season I've ever had in baseball, at any level." - Fans made it feel like it mattered.

I miss them already.