The Miami Marlins might be the most tragic team in baseball. They have had more success than most teams in baseball history, despite existing for only around 25 years, capitalized by 2 world series titles. The one issue that has hounded the Marlins has been Ownership. Owner has passed through 4 different owners since its inception, and these owners have often not prioritized the success of the team, instead prioritizing the bottom line. Both times after they won the world series, instead of triny to ensure success, they made moves to save money, like ditching their star pitcher, which they did after both world series. In 2000, Jeff Lloria bought the Marlins, and quickly gained a reputation as a cheap owner after the 2004 world series. Throughout his tenure, he never saw the team excede mediocre, with exception of the world series year. Instead of putting together a good team, he was instead content with plundering the city of miami millions for a new stadium, at the cost of many taxpayers and citizens. Despite their owners antics, not too long ago the marlins looked like a young team on the rise. Giancarlo Stanton was the most dangerous home run hitter in the league, outfielders like christian yelich and marcell ozuna were borderline allstars, and their infield had talented players like justin bour and adeiny hechavarria. The gem of this team, however, was Jose Fernandez, the best up and coming pitcher in baseball at the time. He was having an astonishing, CY Young bound season, and looked like if he could stay healthy, he would be a top pitcher for years to come. The Marlins had another all-star, dee gordon, one of the premier second basemen in the league, and a player who I think hit the best home run ever. Dee Gordon grew up in Florida, and was a decent player with the Dodgers to start his career. When he became a full-time starter, he quickly became an all-star who led the league in steals, which he has since done every year except for 2016, which was cut short for using performance enhancing drugs. After starting for a full year with the dodgers, they traded him to the Marlins, since they were a young team on the rise, and needed a leadoff hitter. The 27 year old Gordon showed up, and in his first year with the Marlins, batted .333, good enough to secure the batting title, as well as an all star appearance and a gold glove. The next year, he was caught using performance enhancing drugs, which he insisted was accidental, but regardless he had a 50 game suspension. Despite having a good all around playing style, he had no power. In 8 playing years, he had a total of 12 home runs, and only 1 in 2016, the year he hit the best homerun. Dee Gordon's Noodle Arms by the Numbers (As of September 26, 2016) The Marlins were fighting for a wild card spot in the playoffs, although at 77-78 after September 25th, it would take a miracle for them to get in. They have an off day tomorrow, and after that they are going up against the Mets, who are also fighting for a playoff spot. However, on September 26th, tragedy struck the Marlins, when their best young player, Jose Fernandez, was killed in a boating accident. Jose Fernandez was not only a fantastic young pitcher who carried the Marlins rotation, he was a fan favorite around the league, and was one of the most lovable players in the game. He was believed to be intoxicated, and was hosting a group of people on his boat, all of which also died. This sent ripples through all of baseball, of the loss of talent that was his death. But most of all, it was the nail in the coffin of the Marlins season. The permanent loss of their best player was all it took to sink the ship that was the Marlins future. Despite this, they were going to not let Jose Fernandez fade away. The game had started: Mets at the Marlins, in a game that was dedicated to Jose Fernandez. All of the Marlins wore his jersey, and drew his name and number on the pitching mound. It was an incredibly heavy and sentimental moment in the 2016 season, and was one of the most touching moments in recent baseball history. It didnt stop there. Dee Gordon batted first, and in honor of his fallen team mate, the left handed hitter stepped into the box and took a pitch from the right side, in honor of rightie Jose Fernandez. It was also believed that he was wearing Fernandez’s helmet when he was batting. Afterwards, he switched back to the right side of the box, and gave Jose Fernandez a real sendoff.
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