Marlins and Giants Make Things Interesting

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

There have always been some interesting moments when the Miami Marlins and San Francisco Giants square off through the years.

In 2003, I attended the Marlins clinching victory when the Florida Marlins defeated the Giants 7-6 in the fourth game to win the series 3-1. But the play that will always be remembered was when J.T. Snow was in scoring position with two men on. 

He tried to score on a single to left by Jeffrey Hammond. Jeff Connie’s throw was on target, and Ivan Rodriguez tagged snow at the plate as Snow barreled into him. Rodriguez fell backwards, and, as he rose, showed that he had held on to the ball, preserving the Marlins win. 

Miami would defeat the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS and went on to win the World Series.

Since that game, I’ve always tried to see these squads face each other and these series’ have always been entertaining. But every time I see these teams, the memories always stand out in my mind watching Barry Bonds lose in the post-season and I was in the Marlins clubhouse getting doused by champagne.

I had no interest in dealing with Bonds because of his arrogant demeanor, plus at the time my Gastonia Rangers colleague Wayne Rosenthal was Miami’s pitching coach and we proceeded to have a blast hanging out.

Earlier this month, we saw a pair of games with these two teams.

On May 31, 2025, a guy, who I interviewed at the All-Star Game in Miami, Robbie Ray, who pitched for the Seattle Mariners at the time, was on the hill for the Giants. 

He entered the game with a 7-0 record with a 2.56 ERA. He faced Edward Cabrera (1-1, 4.73 ERA).

Before the game, I asked Marlins Manager Clayton McCullough his thoughts about facing a hurler who has overcome Tommy John Surgery and is pitching outstanding. 

You can hear that interview in this story, in addition to the fact that the skipper also answered a question that I presented about future Hall of Fame pitcher Justin Verlander.

This contest turned out to be a pitchers duel as Cabrera pitched 5.2 innings of scoreless baseball. The Marlins scored the only run of the game in the second to win the contest 1-0. The bullpen kept to Giants off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

Ray was tremendous as he pitched seven innings, allowed just two hits, walked three and stuck out nine. He is currently 8-2 with a 2.68 ERA with 97 strikeouts.

On Sunday, June 1, the Giants bounced back and won the game 4-2. They scored four runs off of Miami starter and loser Ryan Weathers, who hurled six innings and yielded four runs.

But the bright spot for Miami was the play of Marlins second baseman Xavier Edwards. He had a franchise record setting afternoon by going 5-5 with five hits. He’s just an amazing player and it seems like every time I see him, he plays spectacular. 

When I saw him play last year in Milwaukee, he recorded the first cycle in team history.

Hayden Birdsong earned the win for the Giants and his record improved to 3-1 while Camilo Doval notched his seventh save.

The Marlins lost the first game of the series as Cal Quantrill, the author of a game that we attended when a pitched “The Immaculate Inning” was on the wrong end of a 2-0 decision. He pitched five innings, gave up eight hits, two runs but amassed seven strikeouts with just one walk.

The Giants won the series 2-1.

Since this series, the Giants swung a trade with the Boston Red Sox and acquired Rafael Devers to bolster their offense. 

We talked about this on Monday Night’s Edition of 108 Stitches, Baseball Talk which is included in the story.

To date, the Giants record is 41-32 and they’re 3.5 games back in second place behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Western Division.

Meanwhile, Miami is 29-42 and is in fifth place in the National League East, 15 games behind division leader the New York Mets.

McCullough was named as a coach to the National League All-Star Game in Atlanta joining Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts. Before taking the Miami job, McCullough earned a World Series title with Roberts.

The game will take place on July 15 at Atlanta’s Truist Park.

My next trip to Miami will be the weekend of July 19-20, one of those games as the Fish host the Kansas City Royals. Former Florida Gator Jac Caglianone comes to town. He was the No.6 overall player in the 2024 MLB Draft.

Baseball Expert Harold Reynold describes him “as a player that we’re going to be talking about this guy for years to come.”

I’ll be taking my first trip across the Big Pond, with stops in London, England, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway and Iceland.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com. You can follow him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth. To see his broadcasts, there is no charge to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

Finally, Scott wrote a book, “Lessons From The Microphone” which talks about Old School Media Vs New School Media. It’s a good read for everyone especially for students looking to get into the industry. This can be purchased at Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble.

Are The Mets Ready To Seize The Big Apple?

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

Could there be another Subway Series in the Fall Classic in October?

The way things are going right now, it’s hard to bet against it.

During the off-season, the Mets landed former Yankee Juan Soto in free agency. 

He’s the latest to play for both New York clubs. 

He’s joins Darryl Strawberry, Gary Sheffield, Rickey Henderson, Curtis Granderson, Doc Gooden, David Cone, Robinson Cano, Bartolo Colon, Yogi Berra, and Carlos Beltran. 

This is quite a list.

There are so many intriguing parts of the Soto signing. 

His 2025 Salary of $61.9 Million is larger than the Miami Marlins Opening Day Payroll of $47.9 Million.

The perks in his 15-year deal worth $765 Million include the following:

1. No.22 Jersey

2. Luxury Suite at Citi-Field

3. Four Premium Seats Per-Game.

4. Award Bonuses.

5. Security For Family.

There is one perk which is missing. 

There is no Yankees slugger Aaron Judge for line-up protection.

On May 20, Juan Soto thought he homered so he stood in the batters box to watch it. 

The play ended up being a long single. 

After the game, Mendoza wasn’t happy with the effort. “You gotta get out of the box. We’ll discuss that..” Mendoza was alluding that Soto didn’t hustle out of the box.

Let’s face the reality, the New York Mets are going to have an eventful year as they battle for the front pages with the New York Yankees. 

The Soto signing is going to add to the intrigue.

On last week’s edition of 108 Stitches, Baseball Talk, My crew included: Eric Katz, George Eichorn, Trent Clark and longtime New York Mets fan Stuart Hack.

The title of the show was “Biting Into Big Apple Baseball” as we talked about should be Hall of Famers on both sides, each team’s revenue sources as well as values, clips from Mets Sports Writer Tim Healy, as well as other storylines. All the videos are in this story.

Clark is a Baseball Lifer that’s worked with the LA Angels, Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians. He’s a regular panelist on our show that airs at 8:30 PM ET Monday Night’s on You Tube. 

The one thing that he said which stood out is the length of Soto’s contract which as we mentioned is 15-years. 

The length is always a concern these days when signing a mega super star. 

We’ll find out down the road if that comes to fruition with Soto. We’ve seen this happen with Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols.

This is why owners are reluctant to had out deals much longer than eight years. 

The smaller markets could do it in order to keep a player in their market for a long time and make them the face of the franchise.

At the moment, Soto is ———————————————————————————. 

The Mets are currently in first place with a record of ———- —- games ahead of second place ——————. 

Time will tell whether Soto was worth the investment or whether he’ll be traded before the end of the contract. 

His signing is another development in the Subway Series and he joins the list mentioned above that has worn both sets of pinstripes.

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

To see all of his broadcast, there is no cost to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

He also wrote a book “Lessons From The Microphone” which can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble. It’s mainly Old School Media vs New School and is a great read for those learning about the industry or can serve as a hand book for others in the industry.

The Magnitude Of Head Trauma

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

If there is anybody that knows about the damaging effect about head injuries, it’s myself.

During the past three years, I’ve had four concussions. 

I wouldn’t even begin to count how many more that I’ve had throughout the years. 

I sustained my latest concussion during Easter Weekend and was in the hospital for four days.

Unfortunately, my diagnosis has led to Alzheimer’s Disease. It’s a condition that I know that I will succumb to in the next few years. 

I’m currently taking a lot of medication prescribed by my doctors and staying active by writing, covering sporting events, doing podcasts and plan to write a pair of books in the next 12 months. 

My doctors are telling me the more activity the better and they don’t even mind me drinking a lot of caffeine to keep me stimulated. 

In fact, I schedule my appointments on late Friday afternoons, and one of the nurses subscribed to my You Tube Channel loves when I come in. 

I’m so wired with caffeine that I really make her laugh by firing one-liners faster than Indy Cars race around a track. 

She laughs real hard especially when she has patients that are down in the dumps which makes her feel sad. When I’m there it’s a much higher octane energy level!

She uses my shows at home when she needs a good laugh to keep her upbeat.

It’s safe to say that my sleep pattern is totally unpredictable.

When I went to the Super Bowl in New Orleans, I attended a couple of interesting events. 

First, I went to the NFLPA Press Conference and one of the topics the players discussed was whether they would approve of an 18-game season which would reduce the pre-season down to two contests. During this meeting, the players were totally against it due to safety concerns.

After the meeting, I did an interview with Chicago Bears backup QB Case Keenum and we talked about that very subject and helmets. Our interview is in this story, in addition to the NFLPA meeting. Check them out. I know you will learn something from them.

The next event I attended was the day before the Super Bowl. 

It was Super Agent Leigh Steinberg’s annual party. 

It was interesting to see the different vendors and I met a doctor who talked about a jaw protection product called Neurogard +. I actually did an interview with him as well. This is also included in the story.

Player safety has been a concern for years and there was a recent settlement that was handed out to players due to their head injuries and other ailments. These injuries have led to ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), CTE, Parkinson’s Disease, and Dementia among others.

But the reality of the situation is the players can balk at the 18-game season all they want. 

It will eventually get negotiated into the new collective bargaining agreement. 

What will end up happening is there will be an extra bye week, increased roster sizes and the owners will increase their revenue streams. The extra game will end up being an international contest which we know the NFL is working diligently to market the game globally. We all know with extra games, there will be more practice time which also adds hits. The players will make more money per-year.

During the press conference it was very interesting to hear the different viewpoints on these head injuries including one from Washington Commanders running back Austin Ekeler. If there is anyone prone to get hit high, it’s running backs. 

During the Miami Hurricanes Spring Practice, I noticed the team wearing Guardian Caps. I wasted no time asking Hurricanes Coach Mario Cristobal whether we would see the team wearing Guardian Caps in the Fall. That interview is also included in the story.

This is a subject that will continually be analyzed on all levels from youth, college, professional football as well as all the medical people analyzing the data.

Dealing with Brain Trauma first hand gives me first hand experience as to what these players are facing from migraines to short term memory and maintaining balance when walking with the fear of falling. 

My toughest challenges about head injuries stem from lack of stability in my body, short term memory loss and now I tend to make simple mistakes on the road such as forgetting my location or even missing exits on the highways. 

I struggle going to places with lots of noise and it’s increasingly difficult to be around loud children which sets off my migraine headaches.

I’ve driven over four million miles in my lifetime and I enjoy being on the road to meditate by listening to music. 

Now I spend 24 hours at home working remotely from my computer unless I go out for a quick networking meeting or a restaurant, sporting event with my wife.

In early August, I leased a Honda Odyssey and have 50,000 miles included in my package, and on Memorial Day, I finally surpassed the 1,000 mile mark.

I struggle dealing with this all of the time. I can’t drive more than 15 minutes without my wife and these days, she drives the majority of the time. 

This is the part that’s killing me inside!

Now I have to find other ways to meditate and miss those drives on the ocean looking at the Atlantic Ocean and beaches. Being a resident in Florida, there are tons of beaches on the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.

My recent concussion led to a broken left thumb and being in the protocol took me off the road for six weeks.

One of my closest friends is named Jennifer Lee-Cobb. 

She is a former St. Louis Rams Cheerleader and Jennifer has been on my podcast a few times. She’s dealt with head injuries living through it with family members. She’s currently leading the fight against Parkinson’s Disease.

Legendary fighter Muhammad Ali died of this disease. One of my colleagues former UCLA Broadcaster Chris Roberts recently passed away. 

Actor Michael J. Fox, former Hockey Coach Barry Melrose are also dealing with Parkinson’s Syndrome.

LA Times columnist and former Around The Horn panelist Bill Plaschke reveals he’s been battling Parkinson’s Disease for the last four years.

Former Bears Hall of Famer Steve McMichael recently lost his battler with ALS. The only thing we can be thankful for is he was inducted into the HOF in 2024.

Jennifer and I are very close and although we haven’t met in person yet, she keeps tabs on all of my activity especially content I produce. She’ll appear in the chat room from time to time and she’s also in my book, “Lessons From The Microphone” because of what she does and how we connected. I’m very confident that we will meet down the road.

I know you’ll enjoy her story that’s included in this article. 

Head injuries are about education through all kinds of sources. 

I’m hoping to talk to more players, coaches and medical professionals in the future as I aim to educate others while going through my own battles.

In the end, the next time you watch any heavy contact sport such as Football, Hockey, Boxing, MMA, Wrestling and Bareknuckle Fighting, we have to be conscious of the head gear as well as the impact of the contact for which the blows the head is subjected to.

But no matter what we find out, we must understand that while head injuries are common in sports, anyone can be subjected to them. When they’re subjected to them, the focus then gets placed on the caregivers. It’s a domino effect. 

As I get ready to embark on my first trip overseas which will take my wife and I to London, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway and Iceland, I’ve prioritized my bucket list now so when the time comes and I need more advanced care, I’ll appreciate the things I want to do while I can enjoy them. All of these places will be on a cruise ship.

If my health holds up, the target is to hit Paris, France., Barcelona, Spain., Rome, Switzerland, Portugal and if I’m ambitious, my wife and I will get to Germany. Realistically, I’m not holding my breath on Germany. But if we do this land trip, another book will follow.

The amazing part about my diagnosis is my doctor that told me about this didn’t think I would be able to write another book sighting the early short term memory loss. 

My wife looked at her as we walked out the door and told this female physician let me give you some sound advice, “Don’t put anything past my husband. I’ve seen him do some unbelievable things especially when his back is to the wall as he feeds off of pressure. Bad move because he thrives on proving people wrong!”

So here we have it. I’ve had a chance to give you a glimpse of my story and talk about sports. The videos inside this article will speak volumes since they come from a wide range of sources!

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth. Also, there is no charge to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel to see his broadcasts.

Also, he has a book called “Lessons From The Microphone” which can be purchased at Amazon/Kindle, Barnes & Noble. We’re working on getting the Audio Book. 

This book is great for individuals that want to learn about the Media and talks about Old School Media Vs New School Media. Students use it as a handbook to learn about the business.

The Evolution of Spring Football

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The United Football League’s playoffs start this weekend.

The defending UFL Champions Birmingham Stallions face the Michigan Panthers in one contest while the DC Defenders tackle the St. Louis Battlehawks in the other game.

Aside from college football, the UFL has been a good feeder system for the NFL. 

NBC has been a broadcasting partner in the past while FOX owns the league. 

ESPN is carrying the games this league. 

It’s been a good opportunity to keep their main broadcasters busy during the offseason while others actually got jobs for the networks in the NFL. Greg Olson got his start in Spring Football.

The Birmingham Stallions are the three-time champions and play their games at UAB and they’re seeking a fourth title under Skip Holtz.

The Detroit Lions found their kicker across the building at Ford Field when Jake Bates was kicking bombs for the Michigan Panthers. 

QB A.J. McCarron has enjoyed a nice career with the St. Louis Battlehawks. 

QB’s Luis Perez and Jordan Ta’amu have found themselves on NFL rosters in the summer and this year QB Matt Corral along with wide receivers Hakeem Butler (Battlehawks) and Deon Cain (Panthers) could be playing on Sundays.

The city of St. Louis has been the benefactor of Spring Football as The Dome at America’s Center have seen the Battlehawks draw crowds in the 30-40,000 range. This is another reason why St. Louis shouldn’t have lost the Rams but Owner Stan Kroenke opted to move to Los Angeles and has flourished back in the Rams original home.

I’ve enjoyed covering Spring Football dating back to 1984 when I covered the original United States Football League. In fact, I wrote a story in college and it won an award. I enjoyed watching the Tampa Bay Bandits and saw Steve Spurrier’s coaching career get started. His Bandit Ball was fun to watch. 

I attended the 1984 USFL Championship Game at Tampa Stadium. In fact, that weekend, myself and other reporters were invited to current President Donald Trump’s suite to talk about the USFL. Trump was the owner of the New Jersey Generals and his star was running back Herschel Walker.

I’m not going to go over the demise of that league because it’s not applicable to what we’re doing. But that USFL had stars like Walker, Houston Gambler’s QB Jim Kelly, LA Express QB Steve Young, Memphis Showboats DT Reggie White and many other competing with the NFL for star-studded talent. The teams were privately owned. They had an 18 game schedule and also produced a lot of great coaches.

This version of Spring Football’s teams are not privately owned. The regular season is 10-games with two playoff games including the Championship which takes place on June 14th in St. Louis.

The league is owned by Dwayne “Rock” Johnson and his ex wife Dany Garcia. They’ve done a good job in slowly developing the financial blueprint to keep the league on a sustainable path for gradual growth.

They’ve done some innovative things that the NFL can use to see if those rules could either be added or modified. 

They hired FOX’s Mike Perreira and Dean Blandino to oversee the officiating. These guys analyze replays in the booth and make the changes and all the people can watch the transparency of why the calls were made and changed. 

I’ve seen offensive and defensive coordinators make calls in the booth and relay them to the players on the field. Holtz is a hands on coach and you can see his expertise on offense. 

There are no extra points as they have the one, two and three point conversions. To think that a team can actually tie a game on a nine-point play is totally surreal. But I’ve seen it happen.

I’ve enjoyed the in game interviews with the coaches and players as they are excited for the opportunity to be seen on television with the hopes that these opportunities give them another a chance to play in the NFL. Since I have covered minor league sports through the years, it’s refreshing to see players and coaches have a chance at upward mobility. Keep in mind, the NFL is looking for new officials.

Before the opening game of the year, DC Defenders Head Coach Reggie Barlow took the head coaching job at Tennessee State and succeeded Eddie George, who landed at Bowling Green University. Barlow brought his defensive coordinator Greg Williams to Tennessee with him.

Meanwhile, Shannon Harris succeeded Barlow and guided his team to a playoff berth.

In addition to Holtz, Mike Nolan has done a good job with the Michigan Panthers, Wade Phillips guided the San Antonio Brahmas to the UFL title game a year ago, while former Oklahoma Sooners legendary coach Bob Stoops has transitioned into Pro Football with the Arlington Renegades. His offensive coordinator is former Detroit Lions signal caller Chuck Long.

But let’s make no bones about it, the league is struggling with attendance issues on the field playing inn front of sparse crowds. 

Birmingham has struggled at the gate despite winning championships especially during a time in the spring in a football state which has powerhouses like Alabama and Auburn.

The Houston Roughnecks and Memphis Showboats franchises could be on the move and the league is considering expanding by two next year in addition to relocation. I truly thought Houston made a mistake not going back to its past and using the Gamblers.

In May and April, the following UFL trademarks were updated as live and pending. The Portland Breakers, Orlando Renegades, Jacksonville Bulls, Baltimore Stars, Houston Gamblers, LA Express, Denver Gold, Oakland Invaders, Tampa Bay Bandits, Philadelphia Stars, New Jersey Generals, Arizona Outlaws, (Chicago) The Blitz, New Orleans Breakers and Oklahoma Outlaws.

Who knows what will become of this. But I will say, the league should put a team in San Diego and Oakland and follow the path of the Battlehawks as markets that had NFL teams which would appreciate having Pro Football again. Time will tell if that happens.

Here at the South Florida Tribune, we do provide UFL Feeds thanks to Mark Perry who is in charge of that website. I had him on a podcast which is included in this story. You’ll find it very informative and we hope to have him on again. 

We also did a recent podcast on our which is titled “Is The UFL Any Value To The NFL?” 

You’ll find the opinions and insights quite interesting.

Finally, at Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans, I had an interview with Darryl “Moose” Johnson and he’s the man calling the shots. We all know that he was a legend with the Cowboys and does an outstanding job with FOX, but I truly enjoyed our conversation and I know you will as well.

This story is designed to give you an in-depth perspective of Spring Football, past and present and let’s not lose sight that it’s also beneficial for the television networks to provide programming during the off-season as well. 

In fact, I was pleased with the amount of views that Perry’s appearance provided on our network, then again I shouldn’t have been since we were talking about football.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can see his broadcasts and subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel at no charge.

You can follow the South Florida Tribune on Instagram as well as on Twitter/X.

Scott wrote a book on called “Lessons From The Microphone” which can be purchased on Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble.

He’s the Publisher of The South Florida Tribune,