Baseball Notes:
MIAMI - Free tickets, autographed baseballs, even access to a 12-person suite - the Florida Marlins will happily give any of them away to fans.
MIAMI - Free tickets, autographed baseballs, even access to a 12-person suite - the Florida Marlins will happily give any of them away to fans.
Just help send the Marlins to the All-Star Game.
The Marlins have unveiled a slew of promotions designed to coerce fans into becoming ballot-stuffers for the next few weeks, all with hopes that one of baseball's poorest-drawing teams can find a way to overcome the fact that a lot more voters are punching cards in other stadiums around the National League.
"Let's get some of those guys in there," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
The Marlins are offering smaller prizes for 50 or 100 completed ballots, such as a Hanley Ramirez figurine.
The person who fills out the most ballots gets suite access.
Angels. Los Angeles centerfielder Torii Hunter left Saturday's game against Seattle with a bruised left hand after getting hit by a pitch from Felix Hernandez.
College streak. Garrett Wittels used a headfirst slide to keep his hitting streak alive.
It helped extend Florida International's season as well. Wittels pushed his hitting streak to 53 games, five away from Robin Ventura's NCAA Division I record, with an infield single Saturday in the eighth inning of FIU's game against Florida Atlantic in the Sun Belt Conference tourney.
Now, he's gotten a hit in every game in which he has played in 2010.