South Florida has a sports team in all 4 major programs.
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2778475
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625389
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There is a sports team in all 4 major categories in South Florida.
Football has the Miami Dolphins, basketball has the Miami Heat, Florida Panthers play in the National Hockey League, and in Major League Baseball there is the Florida Marlins.
Baseball season is here, and since it's my favorite sport, I wanted to talk about the Florida Marlins. Orlando, Tampa Bay (who later got a team of their own), and Miami all were in a bidding war. Wayne Huizenga, a local businessman from Miami, won the rights to the team and based that team in Miami. An eye opening $95 million dollars later, and Huizenga has his team - it was June 1991.
The Florida Marlins took the field in 1993. Remarkably, the Marlins came from the Wild Card position again in 2003 to capture the championship - setting another record again, by being the only two time champion in any of the 4 major American sports to win a championship coming from the wild card position.
Of course, in order to get the highs you have to suffer some lows - and the Marlins certainly are no strangers to that. The Marlins inaugural season ranks amongst their worst on record. One of the league's worst winning percentages was .395 - which the Marlins accomplished in their inaugural season, but that was better than their second year winning percentage as the Marlins managed a measly .333. Of course things did pick up in the winning column - as both their championship runs had percentages just above .500 with their 1997 season being their best, a .568 winning percentage. Ranking among the lowest in attendance since 1998, the team from South Florida has risen to the top. A second MLB title wasn't enough to put fans in the seats, as in 2003 the Marlins was second worse in getting people in the door. The Marlins will have a new home in 2012, a move that the owners hope will see more people in the seats.
In 1996, a young pitcher by the name of Kevin Brown finished in second place for the Cy Young award, which is given to the league's best pitcher. Going through the Marlins farm system, Miguel Cabrera got sharpened his hitting prowess and has become one of the game's best. He played five seasons with the 'fish' and hit 138 homeruns. In their 19th year in the league, the Marlins will be moving to a spot where the legendary Orange Bowl used to stand. An estimated 37,000 fans will be able to view the Marlins at their new home, which will be the sixth stadium in Major League Baseball to have a retractable roof. The Marlins will not only have a new home, but will have a new name. Miami Marlins will be the new name of the south Florida team.
RESOURCE: Ervin Stansel lives in Ft. Lauderdale and has written for different website based travel companies.
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