It Started With A Sweep (Pt. 2)


May 23, 2006. The Marlins walk-off the Chicago Cubs in the bottom of the 9th via a clutch hit from current LumberKings manager Mike Jacobs, as they commence to achieve a feat no other baseball team had/has ever done.



Last time we blogged ðŸ˜‰ we were talking ðŸ”¥‘Fire Sales’🔥 and how there may of not been one as massive as what occurred post 2005. The modern game had never seen as much Roster turnover between the end of one season and the start of the next. Even by Marlins standards ðŸ˜‰.








The 2005 Florida Marlins were built to be a Playoff Team. Their lineup featured the likes of All Stars Carlos Delgado, Miguel Cabrera, Paul Lo Duca, Mike Lowell, Luis Castillo. The Rotation was ‘All World’ like with Josh Beckett, Dontrelle Willis, A.J. Burnett, Al Leiter. The Club was a winner, but it missed out on Postseason play for the 2nd consecutive campaign.





The Marlins were not only optimistic of reclaiming the Title at the beginning of the year, but also securing something the Franchise had coveted for almost a decade. A stadium. 




The Fish had claimed since the Huizenga-days they could not compete via the check book, while sharing not only the stadium, but also funds with the Miami Dolphins who owned the facility. The Marlins felt they had they're chance, following a stunning 2003 World Series win over the Yankees, at finally securing their own ballpark. But when Tallahassee declined yet another Stadium proposal, the Marlins & owner Jeffrey Loria said they no longer could support and continue to pay out of pocket to keep the Team intact.






Renderings of yet another Marlins Stadium which was to be built next to the old Orange Bowl, declined by Florida legislature.


 

2006 began with as much uncertainty on the field as off it. The Marlins were granted permission from Major League Baseball to explore relocation. You would hear names like Portland, Las Vegas, San Antonio, New Jersey thrown around, all the mean time nobody recognized the names the Marlins were trotting out in Spring Training. It was as close to an open tryout on a Big League field as you’ll ever see. Think of the beginning of the movie Major League ðŸ™ˆ.





Talk about the 'underdog' of underdogs, the 2006 Florida Marlins.




Opening-Day came along and the Marlins carried an astounding 12 ROOKIES on their Roster!!! 




Cabrera & Willis were the ONLY holdovers from that ’03 World Series. The Fish had borderline journeymen Brian Moehler, Wes Helms, Matt Herges, Joe Borowski, all of which had to make the squad in Spring Training. There wasn’t a lot of experience to go around.



 
The rest of the Roster featured guys with very minimal time in the Show, the Miguel Olivo's, Alfredo Amezaga's, Matt Treanor's. To put in perspective what April 3, 2006 looked like, of Florida’s 8 Position Players to take the field, 6 were there for the first time on Opening-Day as Big League Rookies. The Elias Sports Bureau said it was a First in modern day baseball!!! 





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