2004 Florida Marlins

Don't ask the Florida Marlins to win a National League East Division championship - they don't need it. Twice in seven years, the Marlins scraped into the Wild-Card playoff spot and plowed their way to World Series victories. While 2004 is not looking as good for a Wild Card position, no one is counting the Marlins out, because their second-half run of 2003 just might happen again. With this possibility in mind, fans are still going after Marlins tickets.

On June 10, 1991, the National League awarded a franchise to H. Wayne Huizenga, chief executive officer of Blockbuster Entertainment Corporation, owner of the Miami Dolphins football team, and chairman of the board of the Florida Panthers hockey team. The Marlins' first manager was Rene Lachemann, a former catcher who had previously managed the Seattle Mariners and Milwaukee Brewers. Lachemann kept Florida out of the Eastern Division cellar during the 1993 season, as the team finished the year five games ahead of the last-place New York Mets. After 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.

Despite problems in the dugout and on the field, the Marlins had some bright spots on the mound and behind the plate in 1996. The team's 3.95 earned run average (ERA) ranked third in the NL, led by newcomer Kevin Brown, who finished the season with a 17-11 win-loss record and an impressive 1.89 ERA. Catcher Charles Johnson led the league with a .995 fielding percentage, threw out a league-high 48 percent of base runners, and collected his second straight Gold Glove Award for fielding excellence. After a slow start, the Marlins finished the year with an 80-82 win-loss record to place third in their division. Boles then returned to his previous position as director of player development, and former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Jim Leyland was hired to lead the club in 1997.

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. The club then defeated the San Francisco Giants and the Atlanta Braves in the NL playoffs before besting the Cleveland Indians for the World Series championship, 4 games to 3. By capturing the title in the franchise's fifth season, the Marlins became the fastest expansion team ever to win a World Series crown.

Following the World Series victory, Huizenga dismantled the team by trading off many of the club's most talented players. Among them, Moises Alou was traded to the Houston Astros, Bobby Bonilla was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Kevin Brown was traded to the San Diego Padres. 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.

Marlins history repeated itself in 2003, when a managerial change brought in elder statesman Jack KcKeon in mid-season. The Marlins responded by making an amazing second-half run to earn the Wild Card spot. In the National League Championship Series, the Marlins narrowly escaped defeat by the Chicago Cubs. The Marlins went on to capture the World Series by stunning the vaunted New York Yankees in six games.