Did Marlins and Logan Morrison disrespect memory of Carl Barger?

       Who's more important? Joe DiMaggio or George Brett? Because that's what it comes down to in the retiring and unretiring by the Marlins of No. 5, a uniform number they have allowed no player to wear until now.

       The Marlins retired the number to honor Carl Barger, their first president, who died before the team's first season in 1993. Then owner Wayne Huizenga had the number retired because it was once worn by DiMaggio, Barger's favorite player.

       But when Morrison asked recently to wear the number to honor his late father, who was a George Brett fan, the Marlins obliged. Until now, Morrison had been wearing 20. The Marlins will allow Morrison to wear Brett's "5" but place a plaque in their new ballpark to honor Barger.

       The decision is not sitting well with the Barger family, which said it was never contacted by the Marlins to discuss the change.

        "My family and I are disappointed that that is the decision," said Betzi Barger, a daughter of Carl Barger. "We weren't informed of it. We were not contacted by anyone in the Marlins' organization. I would have liked to discuss it with the family. He was certaintly dedicated to that organization."

Comments

[bob]

I don't think it's disrespecting the memory of Barger. Retiring a number is something that's typically done for a baseball player that had a huge impact for a team. Ask anyone who wore number 42, and they'll know. However, ask Marlins fans who wore number 5, and few will be able to answer, the ones who will would say that no one wore it, it was retired to honor the first team president.

A plaque is a better way of honoring Barger. Anyone who visits the park will be able to learn a little more Marlins history than they did before. Maybe they'll end up building a statue to Barger to push back against the public outcry. They're not forgetting about Barger, they're just choosing to honor him in a more fitting way.

And Barger died of a ruptured aneurysm, something much worse than a heart attack.

[Great Ceasar's Ghost]

Injury prone Lomo better watch out for Ghosts in the outfield. Payback can be Hell.DiMaggio was one of the greatest,most graceful CF of all time. Mantle blew out his knee in his rookie season DiMags last, in the 51' WS,going for a fly ball DiMag easily got to. Now,a Bull in the China Shop out of position LF ,crashing into walls and his own teamates,wants to wear the #5 that was retired honoring Barger & DiMaggio. Lomo,be careful what u wish for ,it might bite u in the ass...or Knee

[Carlos]

The Marlins no long care about their past. Name change, uniform change, and this. All the same trend. And Morrison should be ashamed of himself for requesting the number.

[glags]

I still don't understand all the backlash towards Lomo. I mean there are worse guys on this team and this guy has become the punching bag for this team. He isn't A Rod hitting .150 in the playoffs. He's been a mediocre player on what has been a mediocre team. If the whole twitter thing is the problem then don't follow him. Who the hell said you have to be someone special to have twitter or facebook. I have both and I'm a nobody. I'm not posting this to have a grade schooler ask me if I wanna smoke his log or whatever unwitty remarks most people come up with when they don't have an answer. I don't know this guy so I ain't mad at him. I don't get it.

[DeezNuts]

I think the Marlins have been in "no-no", ever since "WE, the people" built that stadium. The fact that they dont show ANY respect to the complete history of the club is reflective. The fact that they didn't have the county or city of Miami name a street after Barger and Hyisenga is farse. If it wasn't for Barger, there would not be a big league baseball team in Miami, PERIOD. As for Wayne, dispite the 97-98 break up of the team, ... it was him who bought the players and brought us our FIRST championship. So I think respect should be given to both of these men. Also, ... I think the number "5" should stay retired, to show respect to the Marlins traditions.

[Luis]

Respect for Barger, yes. Respect for Huizenga, NEVER! LoMo is a classless, mediocre, self-promoter. Loria is just as classless for disrespecting Marlin's history yet again.

[AntonSirius]

So if Barger had owned a beloved dog named Mike, should the Marlins trade away Stanton to "honor Barger's memory" as well? This is only a controversy for people who are looking for something to be upset about. He never took the field, and never wore the number. Retiring it was a silly decision in the first place.

[Beelzubub the Prince of Darkness]

Let it be known.Let it be said.The Baseball Gods are VERY angry. By breaking tradtion,giving a medicore,ass clown the #5 to wear,grossly disrespecting Carl Barger and his family,along with the Great DiMaggio,..the new Miami Marlins will be cursed. The Baseball Gods have enlisted the services of the Lord of Light,Lucifer,to cast a curse and a pox on the Miami Marlins and the wearer of the #5. The #5 was retired on Opening Day 93' in a ceremoney which saw the raising of a flag bearing the Teal#5 in CF ,right below the Stars%Stripes,where it proudly flew for 2 World Series Championships during its 19yr tenure. The Great #5 DiMaggio threw out the 1st pitch. With this final slap in the face ,the Baseball Gods have seen and heard enough. A pox and and curse on the Miami Marlins and particuarly,one Justis Logan Morrison,dob 8/25/87 was granted on this St Valentines Day 2012. God have mercy.

[The Gambler]

Wow...More than any sport,Baseball players are the most superstious of the lot. Considering the past history of major injuries to the Marlins last season and adding another injury prone player in Reyes the Marlins are a Big??? Now with going on Showtime ,it adds another jinx to the mix.Consider the Giants fate last season. After winning the WS ,they went on Showtime and got hit by a major injury to their star player ,ironically playing the Marlins,and both teams fate spiraled downward after that.Terrible seasons. Reading the above post my money is convinced the Marlins will have an injury prone,calamity filled ,terrible luck season.The Marlins have brought too much attention to themsevles in a bad karma way ,to be successful.Ozzie,Zambrano,Hanley,Lomo,JJ,Reyes,Oviedo and the rest will combust into flames of injuries and conflict. Smart money will go against the Marlins even sniffing the play-offs let alone having a mediocre season

[joho0]

What a disgrace to the entire franchise. Loria and Samsom need to be run out of town in shame.

[Michael]

Lomo is just a classless individual. Period, self promoter.

[Flav C]

Somebody please give late Mr.Barger a jersey with a number, any other number that represents this frigging "five". Maybe in Roman numerals (V) or the Greek Pente for "five", so the old hags that populate the baseball blogs and websites can quiet down and stop writing so much non-sense.

[The Serpent]

The damage is done,too late to undo.Marlins wiil be cursed. Bad things happening in new stadium,parking garages,neighborhood around stadium, freak injuries, misplay,embarrassing conduct. Ozzie will be visiting his Santeria priest/olorishas/santeros and will seek out Ifa to undo the misery. The "old hags" in the above posting are thousands of years old and have power that cannot be denied. If anyone thinks this is "nonsense" sit back,and watch the carnage. Inevitable.

[thejuandiggler]

It should have never happened , but this is not as important than some of you HAGS are whinning
LoMo is a self promoter , but he is also a kid.
I think he will play really well in this lineup

[Adrian]

Its not LoMo its Loria and Samson making us forget about the Florida Marlins. They want the Miami Marlins to be theirs and only theirs. This is disrespect to a man who had a major hand in bringing in a Major League Baseball team. It doesnt matter if he didn't take the field. We honored and gave him a number to honor him. That shouldn't be taken down. Just like the Heat retired 23 and MJ never took the court as a Heat. To top it off they never informed the family. That is disgraceful. If it wasn't for him that garbage Samson wouldn't have a job with a big league team and Loria wouldn't own a major league team. LoMo please take number 20 back i know it is honor of your dad, but this is our team and that man brought a team to us. Samson u didn't bring us a stadium WE the people are ones paying for it.

[Clue]

There more fans on this blog then in Pro Player stadium

[Robert W]

About the same amount that will be at the new stadium after Aug 1st.

[Chafon]

Is this a joke? all this for a number someone never used or played in the field? If we were to follow baseball tradition, then # 5 should have never been retired. Let me go over this again, Marlins retired # 5 because someone who did a lot in the Marlin's front office had a favorite player, that by the way, played for a team that was not the Marlins, but a Rival of the Marlins, and that player used # 5?.
The Marlins are definitely not being handle by people that know about baseball or that have any kind of pride. You will not see the Yanks or the Cards doing that.
Numbers are for people in the field, players or coaches. A plaque is what he should have, or an office with his name, or a section of the stadium, not a uniform number of someone he liked that played for a another major league team. Please!!!!

[Kerry Frydman]

Loria cares about nothing but his own ego. He doesn,t care about whatever little tradition the Marlins have? This is refected in the new uniforms which are a joke. Now he unretires no. 5? shame on you. I hope this team loses every game every year until he sells the team. I root for 2 teams now. the Mets and anyone who plays the Marlins including the hated Phillies

[Kyle]

I think Flav C had a great idea with the Roman numeral, though some people may find it in poor taste. Also, Logan Morrison didn't ask for the number out of disrespect. He asked for it so that he could honor his late father. They should have checked with the family first, I agree, but I feel that ultimately, the jersey should be brought out of retirement without issue.

[Sanches]

I quess Ozzie wants 42 or is it retired for Connine....

[georgeB]

Lomo doesnt deserve to wear #5. In Baseball history the #5 has been worn by many HOF's and has been retired by other teams like the Yankees O's Tigers KC,etc. Stanton would represent the honor of the tradtion #5,ten times better than Lomo. Lomo's a mediocre player that has represented himself in a sarcastic,buffoonish manor off the field,constntly drawing attention to himself like a clown. After Lomo's is gone from the marlins ,do they retire the #5 again? Give Lomo#05 or #50. End of story.

[bryan]

If you "fans" would have went to games, you wouldn't have to worry about all the changes...they should have taken the team out of FL because it is a joke to see a stadium no one bothers to go to.

[oz70]

If the Marlins would have signed Pujols I bet not one these people who posted would have had a second thought about the #5 coming out of "retirement". You=hypocrite
LoMo asked to use the #5 to pay respect to his father which some might say shows a little more depth of character. Interesting how many people judge him based on the 140 characters or less he uses regularly. If he offends you then don't "follow" him.
Last, the Cardinals retired a number for a non player and chose 82 which of course has some meaning to the person but really it is out of the realm of game use. The original Marlins management should have put more thought into it in the beginning.

[BobZ]

Most fans dont follow lomo on twitter ,but he's made the news via different media outlets having nothing to do with his performance on the field and he comes off personally as a wise guy, smart-ass type. The act wears thin after a while.

[chicub2002]

how is an aneurysm worse than a heart attack ... u still die in most cases

[chicub2002]

and Logan Morrison isn't important enough to unretire any #

[Eric]

The only thing that is disrespectful about this is that the team never contacted Barger's family to discuss the idea, or even simply to tell them they were moving forward with the change. While it can be said that Morrison shouldn't have requested the #, his intentions on the face seem to be honorable with the rememberance of his later father. Put a plaque up, give Logan the number and play ball.

[bob]

@chicub2002: Look on the internet for Aneurysm survivors. It's hell. It's a much more painful way to die than having a heart attack.

[Luis R Vazquez]

FLORIDA MARLINS and Wayne Huizynga never respected MIAMI. so why should we respect them?

[TAMAKUN]

What is the big deal? Mr. Barger never played the game, so retiring #5 to honor him was a mistake to begin with. And there is no connection between DiMaggio and the Marlins. So turn the page and play the game. GO MARLINS.

[Demo]

Its a bleeping number. Who cares