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As the Marlins gear up for what many predict will be their worst-performing, least-attended season ever — just one year after opening a taxpayer-funded ballpark — the wolves are howling outside owner Jeffrey Loria’s door. The latest barrage of bad press comes in Sports Illustrated, where former Miami Herald scribe S.L. Price collects a round of quotes straight out of a P.R. flak’s clammiest nightmares.
Take this doozy from Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado: “The residents of Miami were raped. Completely.”
See also:
– Six Lies About the Marlins Stadium
Ooof. It’s just about impossible to criticize the Marlins too harshly at this point, but Regalado manages to eat his foot with a rape comparison.
CBS4 brought him a copy of the article just in case the mayor might want to walk back on that language a bit. Regalado stood by his words. “I think it’s the truth. I think it was a very bad deal,” he tells the station.
Fortunately for stadium critics, Regalado’s not the only one pouring gasoline on the fire in Price’s piece.
County Mayor Carlos Gimenez calls the team “carpetbaggers,” “tone-deaf,” and politically speaking, “the gift that keeps on giving.” He adds, “This is the most despised ownership group I’ve ever seen.”
Norman Braman calls Loria a “jock-sniffer.”
And team President David Samson — the same guy who made fun of Miami taxpayers for being dumb and professed to not care about how many fans watch his team as long as he’s making money — says he would have already unloaded the franchise.
“I would’ve sold it opening night. Just walk on the field, say, ‘Thank you Miami, I love you, this is your ballpark, see you later,'” Samson tells the magazine.
Sports Illustrated doesn’t post feature stories online, so you’ll have to head out to grab a copy of the magazine to read the full piece.
Update: Nope, turns out the story just wasn’t online yet this morning. You can now read it in full at SI.com. Price has written the best profile Riptide has read of Loria and Samson, in addition to nabbing those golden quotes from Regalado and Gimenez.
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