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.

Miguel Cabrera’s Major League Debut

At just 35-39 coming into this June 20th in-state contest versus the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the Marlins and their fans could have no way of knowing that they were just four months from their second World Series title.

A lot was expected of hot-shot prospect Miguel Cabrera, but we didn’t know that he would eventually build his status to the level of future Hall-of-Famer. We were just hoping for a little magic. On this day, Cabrera delivered.

Mark Redman started and held the Rays to just one run over eight innings, walking nobody and allowing five hits while striking out eight. He was matched by Tampa Bay pitcher Rob Bell, who held the Marlins to a run on one hit over six innings. Braden Looper pitched an inning of relief, while Jesus Colome and Travis Harper pitched well enough to force extras.

The 10th inning as well would see the two clubs match zeroes, as Harper and Looper got through unscathed. After Armando Almanza pitched the top of the 11th, allowing two walks but no runs, it was the Marlins turn.

Derrek Lee flew out to right field to start it off, followed by an Alex Gonzalez double into left field. Miguel Cabrera, to that point of his major league career an 0-for-4 hitter, showed what all the fuss was about. He cranked one over the misshapen center field wall at Pro Player Stadium, sending the faithful home on a good note.

The Marlins went 51-36 the rest of the way, and muscled their way to their second World Series title against improbable odds. Cabrera went on to still-active MLB career by playing his way onto 11 all star teams, seven Silver Slugger awards, and two American League MVP awards, with the Detroit Tigers.