MIAMI – Former major leaguer Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez recently joined the Florida Marlins' small bandwagon, bringing his Little League team to a game, and he snared two foul balls while watching the home team win.
The Marlins' ballpark remains a great place to catch a souvenir because the abundance of elbow room ensures little competition. Fan apathy runs rampant, and few seemed to notice when the Marlins spent 18 hours alone atop the NL East this week.
Nonetheless, the perennially neglected Marlins rank as one of baseball's best surprises.
At 15-8, they've matched their fastest start ever — and this is a franchise with two World Series titles. Florida ended a homestand Wednesday tied for the third-best record in the majors.
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