We screwed you to sell the Marlins for $1.2 billion! Lol. Get it?
Former Marlins president David Samson made an appearance at popular ESPN Radio host Dan Le Batard’s birthday party over the weekend. Samson was part of the group under then-owner Jeffrey Loria that convinced Miami taxpayers to pay for a new stadium that opened in 2012. Loria rewarded that faith by being stingy with payroll and failing to put a single winning team under the new roof before selling the team to Derek Jeter and Bruce Sherman.
Hence the reason Samson, who was let go when Jeter purchased the team, was getting booed by those at the event, at which point he screamed while giving the middle finger: “Thank you so much; thank you very much.
“Here’s why I love when you guys boo me,” Samson stammered. “Right. I want you to keep booing me. Because guess what? One-point-two billion. F–k you!”
The Miami Marlins franchise summed up in one drunk-sounding speech. Though Mets fans may be able to empathize with penny-pinching owners, we’ll let the Miami New Times explain Samson’s unique relationship with the city.
It is honestly a miracle that Samson was not pelted with beer bottles until he turned to dust. He has a habit of acting like an a–hole, likely because he is one: In 2015, New Times published a listicle chronicling the times Samson has said dumb and/or mean and/or offensive things. In 2012, he called Miami voters “stupid” right after he wheedled a ton of money out of them. The following year, he said he hoped to make even more money from the sad, horrible baseball team he ran. He then went on the TV show “Survivor” and bragged that his claim to fame was he conned Miami officials into giving him ludicrous amounts of public money to build an unnecessary stadium “during the recession.”
Samson is close with Le Batard, and the two briefly described the speech as “a skit.”
“These bleeping fun suckers. Samson was playing the heel wrestling manager. No one would seriously wear that jacket. I was booing Samson before taking the mic from him. You don’t get the show, @miaminewtimes,” Le Batard tweeted.
Though Samson went on the show Wednesday to further explain what went down, an apology was not forthcoming.
“I didn’t know you were going to do that,” Le Batard said on-air, according to The New Times.
“All I knew I was going to do was sing ‘Happy Birthday’ at midnight,” Samson responded.
It appears that fans of the show appreciated what Le Batard and Samson did on stage, but clearly not everyone is laughing.