Five Best Florida / Miami Marlins Moments of All-Time

You’d think it would be easy to discern the five best moments in Marlins history, after all, they’ve only been around for 27 seasons.

But that’s not really the case. The Florida / Miami Marlins have had a ton of memorable moments through their short history, not the least of which are two World Series Championships. Will there be other moments that have yet to happen that we will someday look back on and say, “those were the days.”? I know it’s hard to fathom right now, in the midst of another rebuild, but there’s always something to look forward to.

When speaking of the future of the Marlins, one need look no further than the plethora of talented arms and bats through all seven levels of the minor league affiliate feeder system. From Jesus Sanchez, Jazz Chisholm, Edward Cabrera and Sixto Sanchez near the top of the chain, all the way down to Osiris Johnson, Luis Palacios, Nasim Nunez and Peyton Burdick still a few seasons off. The Marlins cupboard, for once it seems, is not bare.

There’s also a pretty good chance that Marlins management uses that full-ish cupboard to get a few perishable items in the next few months. By that I mean, they could be trading some of their prized stable of prospects for a player or three who could make a more immediate impact.

What we’re doing here today is taking a very wide-angle shot at the Marlins franchise, starting in 1993, when Charlie Hough struck out Jose Offerman on three pitches in a win against the Los Angeles Dodgers to Sandy Alcantara‘s 2019-closing victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. In between those two events, the Marlins played 4,302 other regular season games, as well as 33 postseason contests to result in the aforementioned pair of World Series titles. Narrowing down the absolute “best” moments was harder than it probably should have been.

Henderson Alvarez’ No Hitter

It shouldn’t take a walkoff to nail down a no-hitter, but there we were.

You’d have to dig deep to find a reason to watch the last game of the 2013 season. The Marlins were 61-100 going in to their season finale versus the Detroit Tigers. The second overall pick in the following season’s draft was already assured, so why watch?

Henderson Alvarez provided a master class in why, if you’re a fan, you should tune in to every game. Paired against Tigers ace Justin Verlander, Alvarez matched the sure-fire future first-ballot Hall of Famer pitch for pitch – and then some. Verlander struck out 10 Marlins over six scoreless three-hit innings, and only walked one batter.

Alvarez shot himself in the foot early, erasing any chance of a perfect game by hitting Prince Fielder with a pitch in the first inning. He then retired 12-in-a-row before Jose Iglesias reached first on an Adeiny Hechavarria error. He then retired another 12-in-a-row before issuing a two-out walk in the ninth inning, to Andy Dirks. None of the three baserunners reached second base.

But Verlander – along with the Tigers bullpen – were equal to the task of keeping the Marlins scoreless. Doug Fister pitched a scoreless seventh, followed by a perfect eighth courtesy of Rick Porcello. Luke Putkonen was called on to send the game into extra innings.

After retiring Justin Ruggiano on a 6-3 groundout, Giancarlo Stanton and Logan Morrison strung together back-to-back singles. The two then moved to second and third, respectively, on a Putkonen wild pitch. Neither moved on a Hechavarria 6-3 groundout a moment later, followed by a Chris Coghlan walk to juice the bags.

Greg Dobbs, hitting just .228 for the season, stepped in with a chance to be the hero on an unlikely day for everyone, but his heroics were never called on. Putkonen’s first offering bounced past Tigers’ catcher Brayan Pena well inside of the plate, and Stanton scampered home with the game-winner. Alvarez’ final line – nine innings, no hits, no runs, one walk, four strikeouts, 99 pitches, 69 strikes.

It’s not often that a pitcher goes nine no-hit innings and is somehow not in a position to throw the final pitch of the day, but there we were. Although Alvarez went on to represent the Marlins in the 2014 all-star game, the events of September 29th, 2013 was likely the highlight of his major league playing career. And wasn’t it nice to head into the offseason on that high note?

The 2003 World Series

Josh Beckett was one piece of a pretty good Marlins rotation that also featured Carl Pavano, Brad Penny, Mark Redman, and Dontrelle Willis. The group was good enough to get the Marlins to their second World Series just six seasons after their first, starting 143 of Florida’s 162 regular season games.

Although Beckett’s 1.324 WHIP was the highest from amongst the regular rotation starters, his 9.6 K/9 rate was also the highest. His 3.04 ERA and 2.94 FIP were the best marks of the bunch as well.

Nobody expected much of the Marlins in this postseason. A wildcard team at 91-71, they’d have to get through the 100-win San Francisco Giants in the first round, and likely the 101-win Atlanta Braves as well.

Surprisingly, the Chicago Cubs took the Braves in five, while the Marlins made quicker work of the Giants, taking their best-of-five in four games. A week later, down three-games-to-two in Chicago, the Marlins mounted an unlikely eighth-inning comeback. Down 3-0 with only six outs to oblivion, the Marlins batted around and scored eight runs to carry the day, aided just a touch by then-soon-to-be Chicago pariah Steve Bartman.

The Marlins needed to face yet another 100-win team in the World Series – the dreaded New York Yankees. After falling behind two-games-to-one after three, the Marlins had won games four and five to put the Yankees on the brink of defeat.

Beckett, who had lost game three, orchestrated a shutout, holding the Yankees to five hits and a pair of walks. He also struck out nine. Luis Castillo and Juan Encarnacion provided all the offense the Marlins would need, and Florida came out with a 2-0 victory.

Dee Gordon’s Leadoff Home Run

You’ll notice that I didn’t mention which Dee Gordon leadoff home run in the title, but that’s because he only went deep once in 2016.

A noted non-power hitter, two-time all-star, two-time stolen base crown holder, and the holder of the 2015 batting title with a .333 average, Gordon was never known for his power. That made the first at bat of the Marlins half of the first inning on September 26th all the more improbable.

Of course, the contest that day played against the New York Mets was in one of the longest shadows in baseball history, just after all-star Jose Fernandez and two of his friends were killed in a boating accident. In Fernandez’ last start, on September 20th, he struck out 12 and held the Washington Nationals to just three hits over eight no-walk, shutout innings.

It was just the latest in a long-line of Fernandez’ triumphs. One of two Marlins (along with Stanton) who could get fans through the turnstiles, “Jose Day” regularly outdrew any other day by a wide margin. Just 24-years-old, the future was very bright for Jose and the Fish.

The news of Fernandez’ passing blindsided me – and the rest of South Florida. It was in a state of deep sadness that the Marlins and Mets took the field that day. Every Marlins player wore number 16 in tribute to their excitable friend. Take 10 minutes and watch this video by SB Nation. You’ll be glad you did.

After Adam Conley kept the Mets scoreless on one hit in the top of the first, Gordon took two Bartolo Colon pitches to lead off the bottom half of the inning. On the third pitch, he blasted the pill deep into the right field stands, then cried while running the bases. It was impossible to not somehow feel as if Fernandez was there. It wasn’t a just-barely-clear-the-fences type of shot either. This one went into the second deck.

There will never be another Jose Fernandez, but we’re left with Gordon’s blessed moment in time – a moment that transcended baseball.

Edgar Renteria Sends Them Home

Way back in 1997, the Florida Marlins took home their first World Series Championship, backed by an array of colorful characters. The rotation was anchored by Kevin Brown, Alex Fernandez, and Livan Hernandez, and the lineup featured Charles Johnson, Moises Alou, Bobby Bonilla, Devon White, Gary Sheffield, Luis Castillo, and Mr. Marlin Jeff Conine. The then little-known 20-year-old shortstop Edgar Renteria led that bunch with 154 games played.

Florida’s 92-70 regular season record was not good enough to claim the National League East title, but it was the second best record in the NL, behind only their division-mate rival Atlanta Braves, at 101-61. As such, they were invited to the big stage as a wildcard team. After sweeping the Giants in a best-of-five, they then topped Atlanta in six games to challenge the Cleveland Indians for the title.

Renteria also led the Marlins with 171 hits, and led the NL with 19 sacrifice hits. All that to say, he was hardly a bit-player in all of this. Although he only ranked 13th on the club with a 0.9 WAR, he certainly had a moment there, didn’t he?

The Tribe and the Fish each won three games through the first six games of the 1997 World Series. Game seven was played at Pro Player Stadium, in front of 67,204. Al Leiter kept the Indians to two runs over six innings, then Dennis Cook, Antonio Alfonseca, Felix Heredia, and Robb New kept Cleveland off the board long enough for the Marlins to finally crack Indian’s starter Jaret Wright. Bonilla connected for a leadoff homer in the seventh to halve Cleveland’s lead.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, and trailing by a run, Craig Counsell drove home Alou with a line-drive sacrifice fly. After Nen and Jay Powell pitched scoreless 10th and 11th innings respectively, Charles Nagy took the hill to send it to the 12th. Bonilla started things off with a single, then Gregg Zaun popped out harmlessly on a bunt attempt to the pitcher. Counsell reached on an error that also sent Bonilla to third, then Jim Eisenreich was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out.

Devon White smacked the ball right at second, and a 4-2 putout left the bags loaded with two outs. Renteria’s call to be a hero wouldn’t go unanswered. On an 0-1 pitch, he laced a single right through the middle, scoring Counsell and earning his spot in World Series lore.

So did I get this right? Do you agree? Did I miss something? Let me have it in the comments, and thanks for reading.