If the San Diego Padres can clinch their first playoff berth in 14 seasons, doesn’t it stand to reason the Miami Marlins should make the postseason for the first time since 2003?
Whatever the magic potion is to end playoff obscurity, the Marlins have a chance to erase 17 years of frustration over the next week. With that said, the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees will attempt to stop this “Little Engine That Could” over the span of seven games.
A tall task indeed for Don Mattingly and his players, but not insurmountable. Miami has 28 wins this season and the National League East title is still within reach. Stranger things have happened. And with a 30-win season a focal point of how I have viewed this team in 2020, I am pleased with the progress this franchise has made.
The 2021 looks even brighter as there will be more changes to this roster and the organization. The rebirth of the fish is a year ahead of schedule. Derek Jeter and Michael Hill have continued along a slow path that was heightened by the layoff due to COVID-19 and have come through looking like geniuses.
The Marlins have done this with a lineup that hasn’t flashed gaudy numbers like the Yankees, but has used its resources and young pitchers to find a way to have a winning season in spite of themselves. And when you ask players about how they have handled the season, you find their response is simple.
This is a clubhouse committed to each other and the idea they are just as good as any team other there trying to make the playoffs. It’s the kind of answer Mattingly might have given when he was a player for the Yankees – a no-nonsense guy who went out the and played for the love of the game.
Based on the look of this team, it does make sense they scrap their way into the second season. Anything that happens then is anyone’s guess.
While the focus has been on the players and the many moves the front office has made to adjust rosters and lineups this season, the job Mattingly has done cannot be overlooked. It has been a season of redemption so far as the former Los Angeles Dodgers skipper had no issues moving his teams out west to the post season. In South Florida, it has been a different story.
“In the bottom of my heart, I believe I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be, and that we’re going to end up exactly where we want to be,” said Mattingly via Mike Lupica’s story on MLB.com.
Mattingly is a below .500 manager based on his career on both sides of the states. The Marlins should post their first winning season for their skipper this year after four dubious seasons while soaking up the hot Florida sun. His path toward success here has been full of sinkholes and speed bumps.
With the blessings of Jeter, Bruce Sherman and Hill, it is Mattingly who is being offered a chance to see things through with a cast of youngsters who will become stars in the near future.
“Mattingly sat next to Joe Torre at the old Yankee Stadium after he retired, and then he managed the Dodgers to first place in the NL West three times, even though he never made it to the Series with them, either,” Lupica adds. “Now he is with the Marlins. There was some question, with his contract expiring and the Marlins on their way to losing 105 games in 2019, if Mattingly would be rehired. He was. It was one year ago on Sunday that Jeter signed him a two-year extension with the team, with a mutual option for 2022. Good thing.”
That good thing should bring a smile to the faces of many Marlins fans who have waited to taste the postseason for the first time since my son was four years old. He’s not a baseball fan like his dad, but he understands how this is an important milestone.
The Marlins continue their quest for the playoffs tonight against Atlanta and hope to chip away at the possibility of life in the post season. I’m hoping to see 30 wins by tomorrow night. Both would be quite the accomplishment.
Miami baseball is alive and well. Regardless of how the season fills out. It’s an exciting ride to be on. Hopefully it does not end prematurely. And even if it does, it’s a great story to be told in 2020. It really is.
