I’m not sure if this is MLB’s version of Back to the Future or hell freezing over, but the Miami Marlins have secured a playoff berth for the first time in 17 seasons.
The “Little Team That Could” beat the New York Yankees 4-3 on Friday night to accomplish the feat. I am sure there were a few tears shed from the fans who have been a loyal group, fighting through numerous seasons that live in baseball infamy. After a 57-105 season in 2019, anything close to mediocrity would have been a welcomed sight.
The Marlins have done more than that, winning their game with two games left in the 2020 season. This is by far the best job manager Don Mattingly has done in South Florida after four seasons of losing baseball. It’s a joyful noise being heard in South Florida, one that shows how this team of young, developing players, and veterans to balance this roster, have defied odds all season.
There is plenty to be thankful for and plenty to expect moving forward for this franchise. And for those of us (me included) who doubted the direction of this team over the course of the past three seasons, it’s egg on our face. Derek Jeter knew what he was doing. Michael Hill has helped to bring winning baseball back to Miami.
“The Marlins have now made their mission a reality. In the process, they ended a 16-year playoff drought, the longest in the National League, and they are in the postseason for the first time since winning the World Series in 2003,” Joe Frisaro of MLB.com wrote following the Friday night clincher.
The rallying cry of “Why Not Us?” should be replaced by “Do You Believe?” And yes, there is still plenty of work to be done.
The Marlins organization accepts the new challenge and could once again make a run at a World Series berth without having won a division title. It’s how they do things close to South Beach. Mattingly sang his team’s praises after the win.
“Hopefully, this is the very beginning of it,” Mattingly said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys coming. Our pitchers are young. We wanted to build a culture that’s a winning environment, that guys like playing in, that was fun.”
This has been a fun shortened season. While it started out looking like a bust, the Marlins never quit, pushes through the COVID-19 issues that sidetracked this team to start 2020, used multiple lineups and made multiple changes to the roster this season and still found a way to reach .500 baseball. That should give Mattingly a shot at the Manager of the Year award in the National League.
There are two more games remaining for Miami, which is important for momentum. But as they exhale ever so slightly, the first part of their season should be deemed a success. Now, it is time to show that getting to the dance is only part of the fun. Moving forward is the past part of baseball in October.
