1997 – Gary Sheffield 40 HR

Lore & Background

The franchise began play as an expansion team in the 1993 season as the Florida Marlins. The Marlins originally played home games at Joe Robbie Stadium, which they shared with the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). In 2012, the team moved to LoanDepot Park (then known as Marlins Park), their first exclusive home designed for baseball. As part of an agreement with the park owner, Miami-Dade County, to use the stadium, the franchise changed its name to the Miami Marlins prior to the 2012 season.

With a record of (), the Marlins have the second lowest winning percentage and fewest postseason appearances (four) among active MLB franchises. Despite this, the Marlins won the World Series during their first two playoff runs in 1997 and 2003. Jeff Conine (an inaugural member of the franchise) was the only player to appear for the Marlins in the World Series in both of their championship seasons. All four of their playoff appearances came as wild card teams, making them one of two MLB franchises (along with the Colorado Rockies) to have never won a division title, as well as the only franchise to have never appeared in back-to-back postseasons.

The Marlins were the first team to win the World Series as a wild card. The franchise's only retired number is Jackie Robinson's universally retired #42. However, #16 has been out of circulation since the death of José Fernández in 2016.

Reader's Guide

The Marlins' first manager was Rene Lachemann. The team drafted its initial lineup of players in the 1992 MLB Expansion Draft. The Marlins defeated the Houston Astros 12–8 in their inaugural spring training game. Jeff Conine hit Florida's first homer.

The Marlins won their first game on April 5, 1993, against the Dodgers. Charlie Hough was the starting pitcher for that game. Gary Sheffield and Bryan Harvey represented the Marlins as the club's first All-Star Game selections. The team finished the year five games ahead of the last-place New York Mets and with an attendance of 3,064,847.

In 1997, the Marlins finished nine games back of the Division Champion Atlanta Braves, but earned the wild card berth. They swept the San Francisco Giants 3–0 in the National League Division Series, and then beat the Atlanta Braves 4–2 in the National League Championship Series. The Marlins faced the Cleveland Indians in the 1997 World Series, and won in seven games. In 2003, the Marlins captured the NL wild card.

They defeated the Chicago Cubs four games to three in the 2003 National League Championship Series. In the 2003 World Series, the Marlins defeated the New York Yankees in six games. Josh Beckett was named the Most Valuable Player for the series. In 2012, the team moved to Marlins Park.

On November 16, 2017, Giancarlo Stanton won the National League MVP, becoming the first Marlin to win the award. During the 2020 shortened season, the Marlins finished with a 31–29 overall record and 2nd place in the NL East. In the Wild Card Series they swept the Chicago Cubs in 2 games. Miami lost in three games to the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS.

On November 13, 2020, the Marlins became the first club in any American major-level sports league to hire a woman to an executive position when Kim Ng was announced as the team's general manager.

Did You Know?

• Gary Sheffield hit 39 home runs in 2003, not 40.
• Gary Sheffield was not inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020 or any other year.