Miami Marlins

Team information

• Inaugural season: 1993
• Home ballpark: Marlins Park, Miami, Florida
• Owner: Bruce Sherman and Derek Jeter
• Team colors: Midnight black, Miami blue, Caliente red, slate gray

Overview

The Miami Marlins is a Major League Baseball (MLB) team playing in the East division of the National League (NL). Originally founded in 1993 as an expansion team known as the Florida Marlins, the franchise was renamed the Miami Marlins in 2011. Over the course of their history, the Marlins have won World Series championships and NL pennants. The Marlins have the unique distinction of having won the World Series on the only two occasions when they actually made the postseason. This also means that they are the only team in any of the four major North American sports leagues to be undefeated in postseason play through 2019. Heading into the 2020 season, the Marlins had an all-time record that included 1,990 wins and 2,314 losses for an overall .462 win/loss percentage. Despite struggling throughout much of their history, the Marlins have long enjoyed the strong support of their committed fans.

History

The history of the Miami Marlins began when MLB officials raised the possibility of another expansion in the mid-1980s. A short time after these potential expansion plans were announced, a dozen different groups submitted proposals for new franchises. Initially, however, the league’s existing franchise owners stalled expansion talks, even when faced with the threat of Congress potentially removing baseball’s antitrust exemption if expansion did not move forward. After several years of holding out, the owners finally agreed to allow expansion to proceed in 1990. That year, the NL officially announced that it would expand to include two more teams by 1993. The original cities selected as finalists for one of the new franchises included Buffalo, Denver, Orlando, St. Petersburg/Tampa, Washington, DC, and Miami. On July 5, 1991, the new franchises were officially awarded to Miami and Denver.

Miami was selected primarily because its bidding group was led by millionaire H. Wayne Huizenga. Huizenga, who then owned both the successful Blockbuster movie rental company and the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, agreed to pay the $95 million franchise fee entirely on his own, an offer that made Miami a much more enticing locale for baseball than it would likely have been otherwise. With Huizenga’s financial backing, the Miami franchise, initially known as the Florida Marlins, was firmly solidified.

The Marlins officially took the field for the first time on April 5, 1993, in what turned out to be a 6–3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, the remainder of the Marlins’ inaugural season did not go especially well, with the team earning a paltry 64–98 record and finishing near the bottom of its division. Worse yet, the team’s performance showed few signs of improving in the years after this. Between 1994 and 1996, the Marlins finished no better than in third place in the NL East and failed to post a winning season.

The Marlins’ fortunes changed dramatically in 1997. Heading into that season, the team added manager Jim Leyland, as well a lineup of new players that included such stars as Bobby Bonilla, Gary Sheffield, and Moises Alou. With a vastly improved roster, the Marlins earned a winning record for the first time, going 92–70 in the regular season before also earning their first ever playoff berth. In the postseason, the Marlins defeated the San Francisco Giants and the Atlanta Braves on their way to a National League Championship Series (NLCS) pennant and a matchup against the Cleveland Indians in the World Series. In that contest, the Marlins traded games with the Indians before ultimately pulling out a 3–2 victory in Game 7 to win the first World Series championship in franchise history. In doing so, the Marlins also became the youngest team to win a World Series in MLB history.

Following their World Series victory, the Marlins quickly fell back into mediocrity. The team’s rapid decline was mainly caused by the departure of several key players who were traded away during the 1998 season as a supposed cost-cutting measure. With their talent pool depleted, the Marlins fielded low-payroll teams and hovered around the bottom of the NL East for the next few years. The 1998 season was particularly painful, with the Marlins losing a total of 108 games, becoming the first team in MLB history to suffer 100 losses the year after winning the World Series. The Marlins’ dramatic collapse also led to the departure of Huizenga, who sold the team to business executive John Henry. To make matters worse, the drama surrounding the team’s sudden downfall soon drove away fans. In 2002, the Marlins averaged only about ten thousand fans per game.

Despite their woes, the Marlins front office continued working to restore the team to respectable form. As part of that effort, the team acquired an array of talented young players like Luis Castillo, Juan Pierre, and Josh Beckett. Another key roster move was the addition of catcher Ivan Rodriguez. This all primed the Marlins for renewed success by the 2003 season. Although that year started off roughly because of injuries, the Marlins eventually pulled off a winning 91–72 season and earned a wild card berth. In the postseason, the Marlins once again overcame the Giants in the opening round before defeating the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS. It was during that series that the Marlins unexpectedly benefited from the notorious Bartman incident in which an overenthusiastic Cubs fan unintentionally interfered with a live ball and helped the Marlins win Game 6 and eventually take the series. With the Cubs in the rear-view mirror, the Marlins moved on to face the New York Yankees in the World Series. After another back-and-forth contest, the Marlins ultimately beat the Yankees in six games to win their second World Series championship.

After this, though, the Marlins returned to mediocrity once again. Through the remainder of the 2000s, they largely resided at or near the bottom of the NL East standings. After the 2011 season, the team officially changed its name from the Florida Marlins to the Miami Marlins. Throughout the 2010s, the team continued to be middling at best, their top performance coming with a second-place NL East finish in 2017. That same year, retired Yankees legend Derek Jeter became a part owner of the team.

Notable players

A number of former Miami Marlins players has been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Perhaps most notable among these honorees was catcher Ivan Rodriguez. Although he spent most of his twenty-one-season MLB career with the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers, Rodriguez played a single season for the Marlins in 2003. In that season, he had 152 hits, 90 runs, 16 home runs, and 85 runs batted in (RBIs). More importantly, he led the team to its second World Series championship. Following his stint in Miami, Rodriguez moved on to play for several other teams before eventually retiring in 2011. Catcher and first baseman Mike Piazza is another Hall of Famer who once donned a Marlins uniform. In 1998, Piazza had a brief layover in Miami as he made his way from the Los Angeles Dodgers to the New York Mets. While he only played in a handful of games as a Marlin, Piazza ultimately had a celebrated sixteen-year career during which he recorded 2,127 hits, 1,048 runs, 427 home runs, and 1,335 RBIs. Known primarily for his time as a member of the Montreal Expos and Chicago Cubs, outfielder Andre Dawson spent the last two years of his twenty-one-year MLB career with the Marlins in 1995 and 1996. During that time, the multiple-time All-Star, Gold Glove, and Silver Slugger award winner racked up 74 hits, 36 runs, 10 home runs, and 51 RBIs. Other Hall of Famers who played for the Marlins at one time or another include Tim Raines and Trevor Hoffman.

There have been many other notable Miami Marlins as well. Right fielder Giancarlo Stanton joined the Marlins as a rookie in 2010 and played for the team until leaving for the New York Yankees in 2018. During his time in Miami, Stanton had 960 hits, 576 runs, 267 home runs, and 672 RBIs. Shortstop and first and third baseman Hanley Ramirez played with the Marlins from 2006 to 2012. Over that stretch, he recorded 1,103 hits, 666 runs, 148 home runs, and 482 RBIs. He also won a pair of NL Silver Slugger awards in 2008 and 2009. Pitcher Josh Johnson played all but one season of his nine-year MLB career with the Marlins, first joining the team as a rookie in 2005. While in Miami, he recorded 832 strikeouts and 56 wins. Second baseman Luis Castillo made his rookie debut with the Marlins in 1996 and remained with the team through 2005. In that time, he had 1,273 hits, 675 runs, 20 home runs, and 271 RBIs. He also won three consecutive NL Gold Glove awards in 2003, 2004, and 2005 and helped lift the Marlins to their second World Series championship. Pitcher Dontrelle Willis spent the first five years of his nine-season MLB career with the Marlins, making his rookie debut with the team in 2003 and remaining there through 2007. Over that period, he had 757 strikeouts and 68 wins and was part of the Marlins’ 2003 World Series championship squad. Other notable Marlins players include Miguel Cabrera, Christian Yelich, and Cliff Floyd.

Bibliography

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