MLB All-Star Game: Miami Marlins All-Time All-Star Outfield

If you like power, you’re going to love the three finalists for the Miami Marlins All-Time All-Star outfield.

Spoiler alert. That clump of Miami Marlins pictured above is going to be pretty inclusive in terms of this article.

Hopefully by this point in the series, you’ve gotten the sense that this is a franchise that has never really wanted for star power. It’s just one that has usually wanted for having enough of it, in the right places and at the right time.

The 2004 and 2008 Marlins had enough pitching, but needed one more big bat. From 2014 onwards, it’s been one more elite pitcher. Sometimes it’s just been the lack of even an MLB average bench or bullpen.  The team’s frequently limited finances have led to hamstringing attempts to contend.

But seldom has that All-Star talent been concentrated outside the infield.

The outfield is an interesting spot to study, because in terms of pure talent, the best unit the Miami Marlins have ever fielded is the one out there right now. Marcell Ozuna, Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich….not a Jeremy Hermida or Devon White among them.

All three would arguably be worth building a franchise around.

Rarely have the Marlins had more than one All-Star outfielder out there. But they’ve definitely had at least one on multiple occasions. Seven individuals, with five repeaters, to be precise.

Best units in terms of All-Star talent though? Pretty much bookended over a twenty year period, between that first championship club and today’s crew. You can certainly argue there have been some major omissions from Midsummer Classic honors , and we’ll take a look at those as well.

Without further ado though, your top three Miami Marlins All-Star outfielders, as well as the three best individual All-Star outfielding seasons. No particular order here, but let’s call it greatest to least. Counterarguments encouraged in the comments or on Twitter.

Marlins All-Time All-Star Outfielder No. 1: Gary Sheffield

This one was easy. Many Miami Marlins fans that have been there since the beginning will still tell you that Gary Sheffield is their favorite Marlin of all-time.

He’s on the Franchise Four, has spent more time patrolling the outfield as a starter than any other Marlin besides Stanton, and helped deliver Miami’s first World Championship.

Basically, he was our first baseball star. If you want to argue I should be talking about Jeff Conine here, I’d remind you he slowly and steadily earned that Mr. Marlin moniker. Sheffield arrived as an All-Star, and had already largely earned his second appearance when he came over from San Diego in 1993.

We gave up a future Hall of Famer to get him, and got back a Hall of Fame caliber player in return.

It might not have been the best trade in franchise history. But in hindsight, it was probably the most balanced.

Sheff still sits near the top on plenty of all-time lists for Miami, and if it wasn’t for the 1994 Strike, he would undoubtedly be positioned higher still. A fact Hall of Fame voters would do well to remember.

He did miss some time due to injury in those already shortened seasons as well, but it’s fun to wonder how many more home runs he would have hit had he had the opportunity.

In ASG action, he acquitted himself admirably as far as Marlins All-Stars go.

Best single season All-Star: 1996 Gary Sheffield 

Twenty-one years ago, Gary Sheffield set a new Miami Marlins franchise record for home runs in a single season.

Twenty-one years later, Marlins fans are still waiting for someone to finally break it.

To be fair, 42 HRs is a daunting hurdle to overcome. Few players ever surpass it in their careers. Sheffield himself only beat it once, and he’s a 500 HR Club member. Curiously enough, if you add up his 1995 and 1997 totals, you’d find yourself five short of that crazy 1996 number.

Now, this could well be the season that streak of failed attempts finally ends. Giancarlo Stanton came oh so close in 2012 and 2014, really the only Marlin to ever mount a serious challenge. What makes 2017 unique is that three Marlins are mathematically alive to achieve the feat.

Even if another late season injury, or a late July trade, eliminates a contender, we’re still alive to see some history.

Until that happens, Sheffield’s 1996 remains the gold standard. And even if those 42 HRs are bested, the odds are pretty good his .314 BA and 120 RBIs will still hold up. When it comes to that kind of team Triple Crown dominance from the outfield, Miami Marlins fans have only ever seen it from No. 10 in your programs.

Marlins All-Time All-Star Outfielder No. 2: Moises Alou

When many of our younger Marlin Maniacs think of this guy, they probably think of a very different Miami Marlins playoff run than the one that got him on the list.

For it was Moises Alou that had a front row seat when Steve Bartman famously reached out and extended Luis Castillo’s at bat in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS. That alone is probably worth an honorable mention- had Alou caught that ball, we’re probably a one championship club.

Really though, he earned it all with one of the finest single seasons ever produced by a Miami Marlins outfielder. In fact, he earned it in his only season here. When it comes to productive one-year rentals, only Ivan Rodriguez is Alou’s superior.

Unlike Rodriguez though, Alou was recognized for his All-Star efforts. Cracking 23 HRs might not have been a Marlins novelty, but those 115 RBI were the second highest total in team history to that point. And just like Rodriguez, it seemed that everyone of them was instrumental.

Jeff Conine might have been Mr. Marlin, but in 1997, Moises Alou was Mr. Clutch. So much so, he even finished 10th in the MVP voting that season.

Hey, sometimes something positive for the Marlins comes out of Montreal.

Alou as a Marlins All-Star 

Obviously, his best single-season was his only Marlins season. So no need to gush further on 1997. So let’s talk All-Star Game.

As for his post-Marlins career, Alou is in no danger of being accused of submitting his best season as a Marlin. Over his next three campaigns, his “worst” season saw him bat .331 with 27 HRs and 108 RBIs. In fact, 1997 probably doesn’t make the list of his Top 5 seasons.

Except, of course, for the fact he won his one and only championship that year.