Florida Marlins

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The Florida Marlins are a National League team. They began play in 1993 as an expansion club.

History

Various minor league teams were called "Miami Marlins" in the mid-20th century, including International League and Florida State League franchises. Following a trend for teams to name themselves after the largest plausible marketing region, the MLB team in Miami took the name "Florida Marlins," which is OK but loses the whole alliterative point of the nickname. Following another nineties trend, they chose teal and black as their team colors.

On the field, the Marlins built two unexpected World Series champions (1997 and 2003) in their first eleven seasons, using mostly cast-off or pried-loose players from other teams. Other than those two teams and 2004-05, every Marlins team has finished at or below .500.

The Marlins have never lost a postseason series. Among other bizarre facts about the Marlins: They have won 2 World Series but no division titles; 2004 and 2005 were their first seasons ever over .500 in which they did not win a World Series.

Ballpark issues

The Marlins have been embroiled in ballpark disputes for almost their entire history. They play in Dolphin Stadium in the outskirts of Miami, sharing a football-specific layout with an NFL team. Being renters, they earn almost no revenue from the stadium. They have been forever attempting to secure a baseball-specific stadium in Miami and the revenue streams flowing from it.

Progress has been slow, and Dolphins head Wayne Huizenga (who owned the Marlins from 1993-98 before selling them -- but keeping the stadium and its revenues) has said the Marlins would not return to Dolphin Stadium after the 2010 season, when their current lease runs out. Among other events, Huizenga claimed he would host cricket matches at the stadium to replace the Marlins.

One of the conditions requested by local South Florida politicians in exchange for partial public financing of a new ballpark is said to be renaming the team to the Miami Marlins. Exact plans for locating and funding the new ballpark are still unclear. At last report, the state of Florida was being asked to contribute $30 million to the cause, but state legislators have refused to grant the money.

In the meantime, if contraction doesn't occur, the team is preparing a relocation plan for after 2010, approaching Portland, San Antonio, and Las Vegas as possible homes for the franchise.

Newsstand

• Official Site (floridamarlins.com) (http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/index.jsp?c_id=fla)
• Miami Herald (http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/baseball/)
• Palm Beach Post (http://www.palmbeachpost.com/marlins/content/sports/marlins)
• South Florida Sun-Sentinel (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/baseball/marlins/)
• CBS Sportsline (http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/teams/page/FLA)
• ESPN Clubhouse (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=fla)
• Fox Sports (http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/team?categoryId=71614)
• Yahoo (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/teams/fla)
• USA Today (http://fantasybaseball.usatoday.com/content/clubhouse.asp?sport=MLB&majteam=FLA)