Franchise War: Tampa Bay Rays Vs. Miami Marlins
John Mabanglo. Shutterstock Images.The Marlins and Rays are each celebrating milestone seasons this year. The Marlins are hitting their 30th anniversary this year. They were founded as the Florida Marlins in 1993 and have had a bizarre history filled with winning two World Series titles amidst mostly losing seasons. Meanwhile, the Rays are about to have their 25th anniversary and have lived a very different existence than their neighbors to the South. The team formerly known as the Devil Rays have been mostly competitive the last 15 years and have reached the World Series twice but have never won.
We'll do a Florida Franchise Series where I'll compare them in different categories in a best-of-7 competition.
(1993-2022) Florida/Miami Marlins 2,157-2,531 (.460)
(1998-2022) Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays 1,912-2,034 (.485)
Category One: Best Hitter
I'm only considering how players did while they were there. The greatest hitter that has ever played for either team was Miguel Cabrera but he was only a Marlin for 4 1/2 years. I know some people would go with Giancarlo Stanton but I'm going to go in a different direction.
I'm choosing Evan Longoria. If you had a start a team HOF for either the Marlins or Rays, Longoria is the only clear cut guy to be enshrined. The Marlins had better players like Cabrera, Stanton or Gary Sheffield but none of them stayed in Miami long enough. Longoria was there ten full seasons and had 500 more hits than Stanton and only 6 less home runs.
Winner: Tampa Bay (TB 1, Miami 0)
Category Two: Best Pitcher
I considered some Marlins like Josh Johnson or Dontrelle Willis but it has to be David Price. He won a Cy Young in 2012 and even finished second in 2010. He's another player like Cabrera or Stanton that should have had his whole career play out in Florida. It's so frustrating to go through these rosters and see how many guys who traded away just because ownership couldn't afford them.
Winner: Tampa Bay (TB 2, Miami 0)
Mike Ehrmann. Getty Images.Category Three: Best Ballpark
As terrible as Tropicana Field is, if this was between that or old Joe Robbie Stadium, I'd go with the Trop. I went to an game at Joe Robbie in 2004 and it was the worst stadium I've ever gone to and I've been to both the Trop and Olympic Stadium in Montreal. It was painfully hot and there was no shade. Nothing in the stadium concourse told you the Marlins played there. It was just some gross and anonymous stadium.
Having said all of that, Marlins Park is awesome. When the roof is open, it's one of the best ballparks in all of baseball. It has a cool identity to it and while other stadiums seem to keep trying to get more retro, it was nice to be in a park that embraced being modern. The Trop sucks. They've tried to do upgrades like the Ted Williams Museum and improving the food but it's still a lousy place to watch a game.
Winner: Miami (TB 2, Miami 1)
Scott Audette. Shutterstock Images.Category Four: Best Regular Season Moment
I'm not going to pick Wade Boggs' 3000th hit but I really wanted to show the picture. Even though it happened in 1999, it's still 2nd for either franchise. The best regular season moment is Game 162 for the Rays in 2011. The Rays were 9 games out to start September and came all the way the way back to win the Wild Card on the last game of the season.
Even in that Game 162, the Rays were losing 7-0 in the 8th inning. They tied the game thanks to clutch home runs by Dan Johnson and Evan Longoria. They won the game in the 12th inning thanks to another home run by Longoria. The Rays have even named that part of the park where the ball went as 162 Landing.
Winner: Tampa Bay (TB 3, Miami 1)
Eric Draper. Shutterstock Images.Category Five: Best Playoff Moment
It's either between Josh Beckett shutting out the Yankees in Game 6 of the 2003 World Series to win it OR the Edgar Renteria getting the game winning hit in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series. I'm going with Renteria.
The 97 World Series was not great until that 7th game which was legendary. The Marlins trailed 2-1 in the 9th inning but tied it up thanks to a Jose Mesa blown save. In the 11th, a Tony Fernandez error opened the door for Renteria to knock in Craig Counsell and win the first World Series in franchise history. You had Jim Leyland puffing a giant cigar and rookie and World Series MVP Livan Hernandez screaming "Miami!"
It would all come crashing down weeks later when owner Wayne Huizenga tore the team down so it would be easier to sell. But in that moment, Florida baseball seemed like it would really work.
Winner: Marlins (TB 3, Miami 2)
Lynne Sladky. Shutterstock Images.Category Six: Best Uniform
Look at that beautiful teal. This isn't even close and that's not even a slight to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays uniforms. I LOVED the early look that Tampa had (check out that Boggs pic from earlier).
I'd put the mid 90's Marlins uniforms (home and road) among the best uniforms in all of baseball. That the Marlins or Rays don't use these initial great uniforms and instead go with bland, boring options is so disappointing. Luckily, the Marlins seems to at least making Fridays look good again.
Winner: Marlins (Tied at 3)
J Pat Carter. Shutterstock Images.Category Seven: Titles
This obviously goes to the Marlins. It's so easy to look past the Marlins success because it wasn't sustained. There is only one player (Jeff Conine) that was on both World Series rosters. The fire sales, the stretch of losing since 2003. It's been a rocky road.
But take this under consideration: how many teams have won more World Series since the Marlins were created in 1993?
Just three: The New York Yankees (5), Boston Red Sox (4) and San Francisco Giants (3). That's it. The Marlins have to be considered a successful franchise when you are using that measuring stick.
The Florida/Miami Marlins have been the greater franchise than the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays.