MIAMI — Sandy Alcantara just threw a Maddux. A complete-game shutout. Ninety-three pitches. Three hits. Zero walks. Seven strikeouts. The kind of pitching performance that used to stop the sports world.

And he did it in front of 6,605 people.

Let that sink in for a moment. One of baseball's best pitchers, at the peak of his powers, carving up the White Sox like a Thanksgiving turkey, and the stadium was a ghost town. loanDepot park has a capacity of 37,442. They filled less than 18 percent of it.

"Fans not here, but we still love them," Alcantara said after the game, and folks, that quote broke my heart. Here's a man who just did something special — the kind of old-school, pitch-to-contact, efficient excellence that's become rare in today's game — and he's apologizing for the empty seats.

This isn't on Alcantara. This is on baseball. This is on ownership. This is on a franchise that stripped down to the studs again and expected fans to show up anyway. The Marlins have won two World Series and torn down the roster afterward both times. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, well, you get 6,605 fans on a Tuesday night.

But here's what kills me: Alcantara doesn't care. He's out there grinding, giving everything he's got, because that's what professionals do. That's what winners do. A 93-pitch complete game is a work of art. It's Greg Maddux-level efficiency. And Alcantara delivered it with class and humility.

"We still love them," he said. Miami doesn't deserve Sandy Alcantara. But man, do we need more players like him.

That's what sports is all about, folks.