The Florida Marlins is a professional team based in Miami , Florida , USA . The team was founded in 1993, they played in their home arena at Pro Player Stadium. The Marlins ended their first season with a 6th Place 64-98, as they attracted 3,064,847 spectators to Joe Robbie Stadium. The Marlins finished last in their division in 1994 and fourth in 1995, Lachemann was replaced as manager midway through the 1996 season with the Marlins' director of player development, John Boles. The Marlins finished the year 1997, with an 80-82 win-loss record to place third in their division. In 1997, Marlin pitchers Kevin Brown, Alex Fernandez, Livan Hernandez, and Al Leiter combined for 53 of the club's 92 regular-season victories and led the club to the NL Wild Card berth. By capturing the title in the franchise's fifth season, the Marlins became the fastest expansion team ever to win a World Series crown. The Florida Marlins went on to face the Cleveland Indians in the 1997 World Series and won in 7 games, with an amazing extra-inning single by shortstop Edgar Rentería off of Cleveland pitcher Charles Nagy, which barely cleared his glove, scoring Craig Counsel to win the game.
Liván Hernández was named the MVP. The Marlins' record in 1998 slumped to 54-108, making them the first club ever to win a World Series and then lose more than 100 games during the following season. Leyland resigned as manager in October 1998, and Huizenga sold the club to businessman John Henry during the off-season. For a few season the team could not achieve laurels as they described it as declining phase. The 2002 season recorded as the fifth straight losing season since winning the World Series, posing a low record, averaging just 10,038 per game. Jeff Torborg was replaced by Tony Perez as the Marlins' manager, who made up a 79-83 record in his first season with the team. The team was rebuilt under the new ownership. In 2003, the team became eligible for the playoffs as a wild card team. Florida became victorious from the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, and New York Yankees in consecutiv e series to win its second world championship in 11 years.
The Key players in the team's title run were pitchers Josh Beckett and Brad Penny and catcher Ivan Rodriguez. It was in the season 2003 that Dontrelle Willis was named as the NL Rookie of the year award. Jack McKeon was named the manager of the year in 2003 off season. In the season 2004, the Marlins were unable to recover themselves as they struggled down the stretch and ended the season in 3rd place with an 83-79 record. The Marlins became the fourth consecutive major league team not to repeat as World Series champions. The Marlins were expected to finish the 2005 season in either first or second place in the NL East by many sportswriters. Dontrelle Willis became the 13th member of the Black Aces when he defeated the Washington Nationals to earn his 20th win. He finished the season 22-10 with a 2.63 ERA, and he was considered a favorite to win the Cy Young Award for much of the season. |
