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The Florida Marlins are one of the younger franchises in Major League Baseball. The team was established in 1993.
The Marlins finished their first season with a much expected losing record at 64-98. The team would gradually improve until 1997, when the club surprised everybody, winning 92 games and the World Series.The ’97 club had the advantage of an owner who was willing to spend lots of money on big name free agents. The club signed Bobby Bonilla, Moises Alou, and Alex Fernandez to bolster the roster that already had strong pitching with Kevin Brown and young talent with catcher Charles Johnson, second baseman Craig Counsell, and shortstop Edgar Renteria.
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About The Florida Marlins
The mid-season additions of Darren Daulton and Jim Eisenreich spurred the team to take second in the NL East and win the wild card. The team disposed of the San Francisco Giants in the NLDS 3-0 and the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS 4-2. Pitcher Livan Hernandez had to replace a sick Kevin Brown and pitched two games that would take him from a middle rotation guy to one of the most sought after starting pitchers in the league, including a Game 5 duel with Greg Maddux that gave the Marlins the series lead.
The club took the Cleveland Indians to seven games in the World Series and won in the 11th inning off a soft liner to center field by Edgar Renteria that drove in the winning run.
The Marlins front office saw incredible success on the field, but incredible losses in their pocket books. This created a fire sale the following year that would deplete the team of its stars and take the Marlins back to the bottom of the league.
After five years of poor play the Marlins once again took the wild card in the NL East. The Marlins newly armed with All Star catcher Ivan Rodriguez and outfielder speedster Juan Pierre the team went on a tear after a disastrous start. The club depended on the emergence of a young pitching staff that included A.J. Burnett, Josh Becket, Mark Redman, and Dontrelle Willis to bring the Marlins back form the basement and to a second place finish.
The team went through the Giants in the NLDS in four games and the Cubs in seven to reach the World Series for a second time. The playoffs saw the emergence of Miguel Cabrera as the Marlins and strong pitching defeated the favored Yankees 4 games to 2 to take their second World Series title.
The club would try and repeat the success in the next two seasons, but failed to finish above third. This prompted another clearing of salary and the next round of fire trades as the Marlins tried to keep out of the red.
The Florida Marlins have a reputation as a team that builds champions and then tears them apart for young prospects. This past offseason, with the trade that sent Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera to Detroit for two top prospects and for minor leaguers, the Marlins have completely disassembled the team that won the 2003 World Series. The new roster has a ton of power, but a questionable defense that had 137 errors last season and a 28th major league ranked ERA.
The pitching has two personalities. The starting rotation is unproven and a giant question mark. The only starting pitcher in the 2008 rotation with more than 20 starts last season is Scott Olson, but his experience came with 15 loses against 10 wins and an ERA near 6.00. The rest of the rotation right now consists of Anibal Sanchez, Ricky Nolasco, Rick Vandenhurk, and Andrew Miller. The bullpen is rock solid with Kevin Gregg, who averaged more than a strike out an inning and recorded 32 saves last season, with middle relievers Lee Gardner, Matt Lindstrom, and converted starter Sergio Mitre.
The powerful offense has a surprising strong middle infield. Second baseman Dan Uggla hit 31 home runs last season and shortstop Hanley Ramirez hit 29. Ramirez also is only the second Marlin to collect 200 hits in a season in a year in which he batted .332. Leftfielder Josh Willingham and rightfielder Jeremy Hermida are expected to hit over 20 home runs this season, if they keep up last season’s pace.
The Florida Marlins fans will still flock to Pro Player Stadium, which doubles as a professional football field for the Miami Dolphins, to watch the next incarnation of National League East and World Series contenders over an 81-game home schedule.
