Sunday, September 25, 2022

Homestead Miami Speedway And Marlins Unique Doubleheader

 BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

On Tuesday, September 20, 2022, I had one of my longest days of the year at about 15 hours between travel time and covering two sporting events.

I left my home at 7:30 AM from Deerfield Beach, FL to take the 60 mile trek to Homestead-Miami Speedway which took longer than the 1:09 as a result of traffic. 

There was a Media Availability for select drivers to test out the new Next-Gen Car as well as talk about the NASCAR Playoff Race Weekend that will take place on October 22-23.

I had a productive day at the track as I had the opportunity to talk to Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe, Chase Elliot along with the President of the Homestead-Miami Speedway Al Garcia. 

I will be writing a separate story on this at a later date.

I left the speedway at 1 PM and then took a 34 minute (33.3) mile drive to LoanDepot Park where the Miami Marlins were hosting the Chicago Cubs. I always look forward to seeing these squads face each other every year.

Prior to the game, Manager Don Mattingly had his pre-game availability in the dugout.

Pablo Lopez (9-10) was on the hill for Miami and he was one of the many topics the skipper talked about.

During the Marlins 2-1 loss on this night, Lopez didn’t disappoint as he hurled 6.2 innings, yielded five hits, one run, amassed six strikeouts and zero walks. His only run was a solo homer by David Bote in the seventh inning.

Bote would get the winning RBI which gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead in the Chicago eight inning off losing pitcher Steven Okert (5-4).

I had an opportunity to ask the manager three questions.

We talked about Miami’s future prospects, Sandy Alcantara’s chances of winning the Cy Young Award and how much he looks forward to facing the Cubs.

Check out the video in this story to see what Mattingly’s thoughts of these subjects and much more.

On Saturday Night, Alcantara bolstered his Cy Young Award chances by pitching eight innings and striking out 11, yielding one walk, three hits  as the Marlins topped the visiting Washington Nationals at LoanDepot Park Saturday Night to improve his record to 14-8.

When the game was over on Tuesday Night, I had one last piece of business to take care of.

I joined JB Ellis on his podcast Cubfidential to give him my take on the Marlins/Cubs Game. 

I took the one hour drive and made it home at 10:45 just in time to make it for a segment at 11 PM.

The South Florida Tribune has a great working relationship with Sideline Sports as Ellis and I are always looking for projects to make both platforms stronger.

But what a day. 

The most “Unique Doubleheader” imaginable by starting off with NASCAR and ending with MLB

Yet, these are sports that I’m very passionate about which is why I have been covering them for many years. 

These 15 hour days are fruitful when so much gets accomplished.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter @TribuneSouth.

To see his broadcasts, they are located on the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel and if you already haven’t subscribed, please do so.

No comments:

Canes Blazing Trail Towards College Football Playoff

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH As the 2024 season continues to progress, Coach Mario Cristobal continues to eliminate ghosts out of his closet and lead...