Glad Philly has a Lurie and not a Loria

FOR YEARS the Eagles have touted the silver lining to Andy Reid's playbook. Only Bill Belichick has more wins than Reid since 1999. Reid's 10 playoff wins are the most in Eagles history and rank him 11th all-time. No coach in Eagles history has won more games or achieved a higher winning percentage.

Yet what do we say? That we would trade all of it for one Super Bowl championship. One friggin' parade. We used to say the same thing about the Phillies before 2008, but the truth is that these last four seasons have been far more fun than frustrating, have made South Philadelphia a place to be on spring, summer and autumn nights far more often than a place to be avoided.

The same can not be said about South Florida, home to a Marlins team that has won two world championships since the wild card was installed, home to the newest taxpayer-financed stadium out there, and, as of this week, the best minor league team that money won't buy.

Miami owner Jeffrey Loria is getting justifiably fried for doing something Jeffrey Lurie never has: cutting out hope. One season into the controversial opening of a largely publicly financed stadium, Loria this week cut $166 million in future payroll by trading away all-stars Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle and John Buck, plus Emilio Bonifacio for prospects and minor leaguers. Earlier this summer, amid a disappointing season that began with then-manager Ozzie Guillen expressing man-love for Fidel Castro, Loria dumped salary by trading away Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, Heath Bell and Omar Infante.

"We finished in last place - figure it out," Loria snapped at a reporter who asked him about it.

Well, let's figure it out. The Marlins lost 93 games last season, and as we know in these parts, even the best-laid plans have fault lines. But imagine for a moment that the Phillies shipped off Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee after the season for prospects, or even traded - dare we say it? - Carlos Ruiz. How do you think those season tickets would be moving this winter? You think Cole Hamels would feel about the same as Marlins rightfielder Giancarlo Stanton, who tweeted after the Marlins megatrade with the Toronto Blue Jays was announced, "All right, I'm pissed off!!! Plan & Simple."

But here's something to figure: Loria's $515 million stadium, of which Dade County taxpayers paid 80 percent, increases the value of the franchise he owns exponentially.

So that same reporter asked Loria if he planned to sell the team.

"Absolutely not," Loria said. "That's more stupidity."

I'm going to assume for a second that he's not auditioning to get on "The Daily Show" and be skewered by Jon Stewart. I'm going to assume he wasn't piling on himself, but rather ridiculing the firestorm created by his, um, plans for the future.

A month ago, after Guillen was fired, Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest said that a new manager and roster improvements would hopefully "restore a winning culture."

Restore? In their 20 professional seasons, the Marlins have finished with a winning record six times. They have lost 90 games or more six times. Both of their championships were the result of lavish free-agent spending, and in both cases, a financial purge followed soon after. Wayne Huizenga's 1997 world championship team was followed by one that lost 108 games. After the World Series victory in 2003, Loria, then the owner, began a slow loss of stars such as A.J. Burnett and Josh Beckett to free agency, unable to afford them while paying rent and playing in a football stadium.

Marlins Park was supposed to cure all that, just as Citizens Bank Park has made the Phillies perennial contenders. And as the Marlins shook the baseball world a winter ago by assembling a roster of all-stars, club president David Samson crowed about a strategy formed 3 years before, "looking ahead to this free-agent class, to our new ballpark.

"We made a decision not to wait for the excitement, but to bring the excitement to our fans.

"It was the perfect storm for our philosophy."

Again, I am going to assume he is not a regular viewer of "The Daily Show." A perfect storm? As in "an event where a rare combination of circumstances will aggravate a situation drastically"?

I can actually visualize Stewart's perplexed smirk.

Anyway, as Thanksgiving approaches I would like to express thanks that neither I nor my children have grown up Marlins fans, and that the only team owner named Jeffrey that I need to concern myself about is a Lurie and not a Loria.

Oh, and the next time you say you would trade years of misery for one championship? Well, if you know anybody down in South Florida, give 'em a call.

Just don't make it collect. That would be awfully Loria of you.

Email: donnels@phillynews.com

" @samdonnellon