Beware: These Marlins are sharks!

Young team continually beats the odds to make it
to the 100th anniversary of the Fall Classic


Well, here we ago again. We are getting ready to watch the 99th rendering of the World Series. You have the perennial New York Yankees facing the upstart Florida Marlins. This will be the Yankees 39th such trip and the Marlins second. Both teams sport the title of “former world champions.” Only the Yankees have won it 26 times and the Marlins once. That was in 1997 when then owner Wayne Huzienga paid huge bank to field a team of all-stars to beat the Cleveland Indians in 7 games for their first ring. The next year Huzienga gutted the team and eventually left town. There are still wanted posters with his face on them floating around southern Florida.

The odds-makers have made the New York Yankees heavy favorites to beat the Marlins in this latest edition of the Fall Classic. Most sports writers, except those in Florida, give the Fish little chance of knocking out the “evil empire.” The only difference in opinions appears to be in how long it will take the Yankees to win it all. Such locker room wall material only inspires the Marlins to play better. The bigger the underdog the better motivation for the Marlins.

Let’s go over a few forgotten, but very significant facts. In the second half of the 2003 season the Marlins posted the best record in major league baseball. They went 42-25. That’s a .627 winning percentage. The Marlins beat the Phillies head-to-head in the waning days of the season to grab the wild card slot for post-season. It almost appeared unfortunate as their first-round opponent was none other than the defending National League champion San Francisco Giants. That meant facing Barry Bonds, Jason Schmidt and company. Last year the Giants came within one game of winning the 2002 World Series and they wanted to go back this year very badly.

However, the Fish had different ideas. After losing the opening game of the NLDS 2-1 at PacBell (soon to be SBC Park) the Marlins reeled off three straight victories to eliminate the “favored” Giants 3-1. The first obstacle was overcome and vanquished and Florida moved on to the NLCS. Their next opponent, the Chicago Cubs, had a few heavyweights on their team as well. Sammy Sosa, the future hall-of-famer, was in the house and was backed by two of the best pitchers in major league baseball today. Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. As the wild card team, the Marlins had to start out on the road again. They entered the hallowed grounds of Wrigley Field to play the “favored” Cubs. So what did the Fish do? They took Game 1 in a nail biter 9-8. The outraged Cubs, said we’ll see about that and beat the Marlins in the next three games to go up 3-1 in the series. Now, Florida was facing the possibility of playing three elimination games. If they stumbled once their season was over.

In the history of the LCS only three teams have ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the series. They were the 1985 Royals (beat Cardinals in World Series); the 1986 Red Sox (lost to Mets in World Series) and the 1996 Braves (lost to Yankees in World Series). Once again, the Florida Marlins overcame the odds and won those three elimination games. Two of those games were at Wrigley Field. These guys earned their ticket to New York to face the Yankees.

Listen, to what Florida Manager Jack McKeon says. “Nobody gave us a chance to win the wild card; we did that. They said we couldn’t beat the Giants; we did that. We didn’t have a chance against the Cubs with Kerry Wood and Prior. We accomplished that feat. Here’s the next level.” McKeon said that his club goes out and plays nice and loose and relaxed. They let the pressure fall to their opponent. Yankees’ manager Joe Torre discounts what the odds-makers say. “They beat two dynamite teams to get to the World Series, and especially the Cubs. To come back from a 3-1 deficit and beat their two best guys on their home turf the last two games, their confidence is sky high.”

The Yankees, coming off a 7-game dogfight over their own in beating the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS, have reason to be confident too. They twice beat Boston’s best pitcher to earn their ticket to the Mecca of baseball. Now it comes down to a 7-game season. All of the previous wars are thrown out the window and the Yankees and Marlins start even. It’s Wells versus Penny. Mystique and Aura versus the ghost of Billy the Marlin and World Series veterans versus World Series neophytes. I’m picking the Yankees to win it in 6 games, but I’m not putting any money on it.

PLAY BALL!


(c) 2003 Yankees Talk Shop @ ezboard.com

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