It Started With A Sweep (Pt. 3)
You’d be justified to think a team full of rookies would struggle, and struggle mightily at that, living in the everyday grind that is Major League Baseball. The extremely young 2006 Marlins got off to a horrid start. Worst start (Up until this year 🙈) in Franchise History and on pace to be one of the worst in BASEBALL HISTORY! They were ‘walked-off’ 6 times through their first 24 Road Games, while at Home things weren’t much better. Attendance was in the 💩-ter again (Not drawing over 15 thousand after Opening Day).. Not good for a Club with just as much off-field issues as on-field ones...
But like that corny phrase from ESPN’s 30 for 30 series, “What if I told you” this particular group of ‘miss-fits’, ‘youngsters’, ‘outcasts’, and above all else ‘Underdogs’ would shock the baseball world.
Voted manager of the year in the National League for 2006, Joe Girardi helped guide that Marlins Team through extremely rough tides. One that equated to an 11-31 Record 🙈 heading into that Cubs series.. With as much poise & leadership as Girardi showed, you would have never known Joe was a “Rookie” Manager himself. He was tough on his players when need be, while also knowing when to back off.
Girardi & the Fish seemingly began pushing every correct button along with Larry Beinfest & his Front Office. Credit Beinfest & co for extremely savvy moves during the Season. From plucking a Joe Borchard off Waivers from the White Sox. To literally buying Cody Ross for a buck from the Reds.
The game ⚾ in general has changed quite a bit from 13 years ago. One constant being however ‘you’re not gonna go very far without Pitching’.
Led by 22-game-winner Dontrelle Willis, the Marlins' other 4 ROOKIE STARTERS, Josh Johnson, Ricky Nolasco (Acquired in Fire🔥🔥Sale), Scott Olsen, and Anibal Sanchez (Acquired in Fire🔥🔥Sale), achieved something that had never been done before in Major League Baseball. Each won 10 or more games during their Rookie campaigns.
Sanchez even threw a No-Hitter in just his 13thCareer Start 🔥.
9/06/06 Anibal Sanchez throws the 1st No-Hitter in MLB in over 2 years, becomes the first Rookie since 2001 to throw a No-No, and is the 4th Marlin to accomplish the feat.
On the Offensive side, the Fish had a true Superstar in the form of Miguel Cabrera, and I'll go out and say it, the greatest player the Franchise has ever seen. It was the emergence of guys like (All Star) Dan Uggla, the Marlins greatest Rule 5 Pick (It cost Florida 50 Grand to pick him up from Arizona) that caught everyone by surprise.
Hanley Ramirez (Acquired in Fire🔥🔥Sale), THE ROOKIE of the YEAR in the N.L for 2006, showed everyone why he was Boston’s top prospect and a star for years to come in Miami.
Josh “The Hammer” Willingham & Mike Jacobs (Acquired in Fire🔥🔥Sale) brought power from both sides of the plate, and Alfredo “Amazing” Amezaga played ‘Gold Glove’ caliber defense all over the place.
Just how good was that 2006 Club? Well, from that aforementioned May 22 date to September 11th, The Florida Marlins Had The Best Record In All Of Baseball. They are the FIRST and ONLY Team in the HISTROY of the Game to be as many as 20 Games Under .500 to then Reach and Surpass the .500 mark during the Same Season. A feat they accomplished on September 4th.
They were a measly 2 Games out of a Playoff-spot in mid-September! An astonishing accomplishment for a Team dead and buried in May with an Under 15 MILLION DOLLAR PAYROLL! The 2nd Lowest Team Salary, Tampa Bay, MORE Than Doubled The Fish's payroll!! The New York Yankees had 5 Players on their Roster make more money in 2006 than the entire Florida Marlins COMBINED!!!
Florida faded during the final 2 weeks of the Regular Season, finishing the year under .500. The fans in South Florida however, took notice
of how special a Comeback Season they had witnessed. They drew over 20,000 fans
in each game of their final home series with the Phillies, including 36,768 in the 2006 finale, a walk-off win for the Marlins 👍.
The foundation of that ’06 Squad remained for years to come, and in 2008 & 2009, The Fish achieved back to back winning seasons. Something only done once before in Franchise history, while competing to the very end for a Playoff berth both years. During which time the Marlins Finally got their Stadium approved 👍👍.
13 years have passed since that magical Season, but there are some similarities from ’06 to ’19. Especially in the Pitching department. Caleb Smith, Sandy Alcantara, Jordan Yamamotto, and Pablo Lopez have shown flashes of Johnson, Nolasco, Sanchez, and Olsen.
Can they find a nucleus to bring back ‘Winning-Baseball’ to Miami?! Heck, maybe even bring back Girardi 😉. If they can, we’ll say “It Started With A Sweep” 😉😉.
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