David Samson and Goliath

According to coolstandings.com, a website devoted to baseball odds, the Florida Marlins have only a 5 percent chance of making the playoffs this year. However, the oddsmakers have been unable to see the emergence of leftfielder Chris Coghlan. The leadoff man ended the month of August with 46 hits, the most by an NL rookie since the Cardinals' Wally Moon collected 52 hits in July 1954. Some would say the odds of any rookie getting that many hits in a month was slim. Some would say the probability of any team making the playoffs drops considerably when it gets swept by the cellar-dwelling Washington Nationals, which the Marlins did a few weeks ago. The Fish hope to keep beating the odds by taking revenge on the Nats this Friday at LandShark Stadium. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 11, 7:10 p.m.; Sat., Sept. 12, 6:10 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 13, 1:10 p.m., 2009