| The Marlins lost 54% of their games in their first seven years of existence, with just one winning season, but due to the wild card they managed to win the 1997 World Series.
Debuting along with the Colorado Rockies in 1993, the team was initially known as much for their teal uniforms as the players on the field. Rene Lachemann skippered the team which had little to be excited about the first two or three years. Walt Weiss, Benito Santiago, and Charlie Hough played on that first team.
In 1996 the Marlins won 80 games, largely behind the performance of pitcher Kevin Brown and right fielder Gary Sheffield.
The 1997 season would prove to be magical. They won the World Series. Brown again anchored the staff, Rob Nen filled the closer duties, and Moises Alou and Bobby Bonilla arrived to help shoulder the offensive load with Sheffield. The Marlins 92 wins were enough to sneak in as a wild card team and after they stunned the Giants and Braves in the NL playoffs, they found themselves in the World Series. Their opponent was the Cleveland Indians, seeking their first title since 1948. After six hard fought games, the two teams were dead even. The 7th game seemed to belong to Cleveland, but the Marlins pushed it to the 11th inning and won on Edgar Renteria's dramatic RBI-single.
Practically before the champagne corks were popped owner Wayne Huizenga announced he would be tearing the team apart. The franchise has never remotely approached such heights since. The Marlins entered the 2001 season with hopes that they could move out of the NL East cellar, and they did, finishing 4th and eight games ahead of the Expos, but still well out of the race in the weakening NL East.
In 2004 the Florida Marlins finished 3rd in the National League East Division with a 83-79 record.
In 2006 the Florida Marlins finished 4th in the National League East Division
with a 78-84 record. |
