MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) — Pessimistic Miami Marlins fans will say the season couldn’t have started more appropriately.
Ian Happ of the Chicago Cubs hit a home run on the very first pitch of the year, connecting Thursday against Miami’s Jose Urena at Marlins Park.
Happ tagged a 95 mph fastball and sent it far over the right field fence.
The Marlins, under new ownership led by future Hall of Famer Derek Jeter, are at the very beginning of a rebuilding phase and aren’t expected to win many games this season.
Fans have been vocal about their unhappiness with the first moves that the new regime made, getting rid of star players like Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich and Dee Gordon.