Silence was all he heard.
As Josh Beckett tagged out Jorge Posada and was lifted into the air in jubilation after his five-hit shutout performance sealed Game 6 and the World Series title for the Florida Marlins on Saturday night, the world stood mute as South Florida ran wild.
The world was silenced partially because of shock, but mostly because so many felt wronged.
How could this team come from 10 games below .500 after firing a manager earlier in the season and become the champions? How can it be the second time that a team ever accomplished those feats and won? How could the Marlins ruin chances for the media-friendly Cubs-Red Sox World Series?
It's simple. Forget the goat and the Dustiny farce - for Florida, this was destiny. The young, hungry team with a makeshift bullpen featuring Uguey, Loopey and the Fox - this was the only proper way their run could end.
While it sounds more like a nursery rhyme than the backbone of a pitching staff, Florida's fabled 'pen didn't have a chance to blow one more lead in its flair for the dramatic. The Marlins' 23-year-old ace, Beckett, closed it out 2-0 and earned World Series Most Valuable Player honors along the way.
What was scoffed at by so many became the best story line that could have happened to baseball. Going from 19-29 to wild-card contender to World Series champs, the Marlins didn't even have to use a hopping monkey or have a Disney movie ruin the ending.
The Marlins, with their $54 million budget ($10 million to Pudge), beat up the Yankees and their blockbuster $164 million player payroll.
With the win, Florida defeated the trifecta of baseball wrongs: The supplementally enhanced Barry Bonds, Cubs Guys everywhere and the Yankees' Evil Empire with owner George Steinbrenner playing Emperor Palpatine and his nemesis, Marlins outfielder Miguel Cabrera, playing the young Luke Skywalker, learning to wield the force in his favor. The real loser was Smithers, I mean Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, who might have just lost his job.
Meanwhile, Marlins manager Jack McKeon watched from his corner, doing his best George Burns impression and disregarding the fact that he's closing in on Joe Paterno for the honor of being the oldest coach in the world.
But Trader Jack finished the deal, taking over what now Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski and former coach Jeff Torborg left behind and turning the team into champions.
It started simply enough, with Beckett and A.J. Burnett getting injured and Torborg and pitching coach Brad Arnsberg fired as a response.
So, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria made the unexpected decision, hiring 72-year-old McKeon, and the rest flowed like a perfectly penned novel.
Playing small ball, with Juan Pierre and Luis Castillo leading the way and Ivan Rodriguez hitting them in, the Marlins turned things around.
McKeon moved 21-year-old pitcher Dontrelle Willis and 20-year-old Cabrera up from the Double-A Carolina Mudcats in Zebulon, N.C., to cover for the pitching injuries and inadequate play in left field.
Before anyone could blink, Willis was rolling to a 11-2 start, a trip to the All-Star Game and a seat in the national spotlight and Cabrera became a star in the playoffs.
Until they met the Cubs, who seemed to have the world in their hands until an eight-run eighth inning in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series spoiled everything.
Which brings me back to Cubs Guy.
He's age 17 to 29, donning his two-week old Cubs hat (but he's been a fan forever, I swear) and acting as if somebody just made a bad joke about his momma at all times.
He's been oppressed and depressed for 94 years and somehow masochistically enjoys it.
And even worse, he blames The Company Computer Guy, Steve Bartman, for the Game 6 loss, not Mark Prior and Kyle Farnsworth, who gave up eight runs in one inning.
Like a University of Michigan fan, Cubs Guy somehow feels entitled to the title, despite the fact that his team lost, with the excuse that no one even would watch the series, which television ratings actually showed were up from 2002.
So why can't Cubs Guy leave it alone? One word: Shameless.
I'm not even going to get into Bonds being subpoenaed in connection to a steroid ring this week. Is anyone surprised?
The Marlins won when they needed to this season and didn't care who they ditched along the way. Let's just hope someone can catch up next season, because with Burnett back, these fish won't have to swim upstream.
If you would like to send State News football reporter Jon Styf back to South Florida, he's taking a collection for the trip. Just send him a message at styfjona@msu.edu.
