The Intriguing History Of The Florida Marlins

The Intriguing History Of The Florida Marlins

In Major League Baseball, teams can qualify for playoff play even if they do not win their division. When a team does this, they are called a wildcard team. They have a disadvantage in that they are never given home field advantage during any of the playoff series. The Florida Marlins have been wildcards on two separate occasions and both times walked away with championships. This is not an easy thing to do and therefore the Marlins are a team worth talking about. Here we will talk about their history.

In 1993 Florida was awarded an expansion team. They play in Miami. Since the beginning, they have played their home games at Sun Life Stadium (a stadium that has had several name changes, including Dolphin Stadium.) Beginning in 2012, the club will have a new home: a new park where the Orange Bowl used to be.

The first three seasons were dreadful for the club. In their debut year, they lost 98 games and came in dead last. But for the next three years, they would get progressively improved. Each year, they finished higher and higher in the standings. They inched to fifth, then fourth, then third. In 1996 they were just two games under . 500. This was cause for their fans to be hopeful about the future of their team.

The wait for fans was not very long. 1997 was a season only usually dreamt about. They came in second that year, only two games behind division winner, the Atlanta Braves. They entered the playoffs as the wildcard. First they swept the San Francisco Giants in round one. In round two they defeated the Braves in six games. Next up would be the Cleveland Indians for the championship.

The Fish came into that series as sizeable underdogs. Cleveland had just polished off the New York Yankees in quite an impressive fashion. This Indian series would be a good one, going all seven games. Losing in the ninth, they were able to tie it up and send it into extra innings. They proceeded to win in the eleventh.

Looking ahead to 2003, we see them again coming in second to Atlanta. Again they were the wildcard. And again, they defeated the Giants in the first round. This time, they would be facing the Chicago Cubs in round 2. It did not look good for Florida, as they were trailing in the eighth inning of the sixth, and possibly last, game of the series. In a mind blowing turn of events, a Cub fan interfered with a Cub player who was attempting to make a catch for the third out. This breathed new life into the Marlin team, who went on to win that game and the next.

Now, we said that Florida was an underdog in 1997. To say they were underdogs in 2003 would be an understatement. Up against the New York Yankees, nobody gave them the slightest chance of winning. The Yanks had just had an amazing and tiring series against the Boston Red Sox. Maybe that is what caused them to come out a bit flat. Whatever the reason, the Marlin pitching was right on target and the Fish took another championship.

Lately the Florida Marlins have been finishing near the middle of the standings. The team's payroll has been consistently one of the lowest of the league, which has contributed in no small measure to their present results.

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