Miami Marlins

It might seem hard to believe now, but most people around North America in the early 1990s had never heard of the mighty fish that gave Miami’s first professional baseball team its name, apart perhaps from in Ernest Hemingway’s classic novel The Old Man and the Sea, which was often read in high school. The huge, swift, powerful fish with its remarkably sail fin and sword-like beak is much sought after by sportfishermen, particularly in the waters off the Florida peninsula. And so the big fish supplied the perfect nickname when Miami gained an MLB expansion team, beginning play in 1993 as the Florida Marlins (later renamed the Miami Marlins in 2012). The Marlins have had a bit of a strange time of it in the major leagues, recording the worst overall record (.462 winning percentage) among all active teams and making the playoffs just four times in their three decades as a franchise (and all four times via the Wild Card, meaning they have never finished first in their division). Incredibly, though, the team made the most of their first postseason adventure, sweeping the San Francisco Giants, upsetting the dominant Atlanta Braves, and then breaking the hearts of the Cleveland Indians (now Cleveland Guardians) to win the 1997 World Series in just their fifth season as a franchise (including 1994, when the playoffs were canceled because of the players’ strike). In doing so, the Marlins became not only the fastest MLB expansion team to win a title (until the Arizona Diamondbacks took over this mantle in 2001), but were the first ever Wild Card team to persevere all the way through the playoffs to win the World Series. The Marlins’ next foray into the postseason was in 2003, when the Big Fish once more defeated the Giants (3-1) before battling the Chicago Cubs in a seven-game series where they came back from a three games to one deficit, winning away twice at Wrigley Field to set up a marquee series against none other than the New York Yankees. The series turned in Game Four when the Marlins, down two games to one, up against the great Roger Clemens on the mound for the Yankees, thrilled their 65,000-plus fans with a 4-3 12th inning victory, won on an Alex Gonzalez home run that only just made it over the fence. Buoyed by this dramatic win, the Marlins took the next two games to down the mighty Yankees and celebrate their second World Series triumph in just seven seasons. Subsequent years have not been as kind to the Marlins, with their two brief sojourns into the playoffs ending much more abruptly than those two magical championship runs, along with many, many seasons spent as divisional bottom feeders rather than the fast-paced predators implied in their name. And yet, in the back of the mind of every Marlins fan, there is the knowledge that if their team can just slip into the playoffs somehow, there is always that slight chance that the team can be top dogs (top fish?) again.

Miami Marlins Rivalries

For most of their relatively short history, the Miami Marlins have been seen more as a quick fish dinner than anything resembling a serious rival. Games against the other members of their division ( the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, and Washington Nationals) always generate plenty of interest among Marlins fans, though, as do games against the New York Yankees due to memories of the 2003 World Series. The start of interleague play in 1997 also generated a friendly cross-state rivalry with the Tampa Bay Rays of the National League (since dubbed the Citrus Series).

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