1) When Major League Baseball announced that they would be expanding the National League in 1993, Wayne Huizenga led the effort to have an expansion in put in Miami. The team was named the Marlins for the fish in which he said, “… is a fierce fighter and an adversary that tests your mettle.” On April 5, 1993 they played their first game winning over the Los Angeles Dodgers. While they were serious about fielding a good team they only won 64 games in their first year.
2) The Marlins have been an up and down club, but it has more to do with the club ownership than their play. Each time that they were able to field a championship team the ownership made moves to get rid of their most expensive and best players. In 1997er they had their best season, the next year they had their worst.
3) The Marlins have been lucky that they play in a time of the Wild Card. In 1997 and again in 2003, they entered the playoffs as the Wild Card team. In each of those years they won the National League pennant and became World Series champions. They became the quickest of the expansion teams to win one.
4) The only uniform number that they have retired is 5 in horror of their first team president who died prior to their first season. The number 5 was retired because Jo DiMaggio had been his favorite player. It is the only number that was retired by a team even before they played a game.
5) They play their home games at Dolphin Stadium, their home since they began. The stadium has a capacity of 36,331 and is also the home of the NFL Dolphins.
6) The Marlins are owned by Jeffery Loria and managed by Fredi Gonzalez.
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