2003 Florida Marlins season

The 2003 Florida Marlins season was the 11th season for the Major League Baseball franchise in the National League. The Marlins were the National League Wild Card winners, the National League champions, and the World Series champions. They defeated the New York Yankees in the World Series in six games to win their second World Series championship. The Marlins became the second team in baseball history to win a World Series championship despite being 10 or more games below.500 at some point in the season; the other team was the 1914 Boston Braves.
This was the last Marlins team to make the postseason until 2020, and last Marlins team to make the postseason in a full season until 2023.

Offseason

The Marlins pulled off some blockbuster deals during the 2003 off season, the most impressive being that of 10-time Gold Glove winning catcher Iván Rodríguez. They also traded catcher Charles Johnson and outfielder Preston Wilson to the Colorado Rockies for lead-off man Juan Pierre.

November 16, 2002: Charles Johnson was traded by the Florida Marlins with Vic Darensbourg, Pablo Ozuna, and Preston Wilson to the Colorado Rockies for Juan Pierre, Mike Hampton, and cash.
November 12, 2002: Matt Treanor signed as a free agent with the Florida Marlins.
January 8, 2003: Todd Hollandsworth signed as a free agent with the Florida Marlins.
January 28, 2003: Iván Rodríguez signed as a free agent with the Florida Marlins.
February 13, 2003: Al Martin signed as a free agent with the Florida Marlins.
February 15, 2003: Kevin Millar was purchased by the Boston Red Sox from the Florida Marlins.
March 28, 2003: Al Martin was released by the Florida Marlins.
Regular season

Opening Day starters

Josh Beckett – SP
Luis Castillo – 2B
Juan Encarnación – RF
Álex González – SS
Todd Hollandsworth – LF
Derrek Lee – 1B
Mike Lowell – 3B
Juan Pierre – CF
Iván Rodríguez – C
Season standings

National League East

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Postseason game log

Sluggish start

, the manager at the start of the season, led the team to a 16-22 start. Adding to that, their three top pitchers A. J. Burnett, Josh Beckett and Mark Redman, had each endured injuries that season, but Beckett and Redman were able to return to finish the rest of 2003. On May 11, Torborg was fired and replaced with Jack McKeon, a 72-year-old who began his major league managerial career in 1973 with the Kansas City Royals.

Midseason acquisitions

Miguel Cabrera – 3B → called up from the AA Carolina Mudcats
Jeff Conine – 1B → acquired from Baltimore in exchange for two minor league players.
Dontrelle Willis – LHP → called up from the Mudcats.
Ugueth Urbina – RHP → acquired from Texas in exchange for Adrián González and two other minor league players.
Aaron Small signed as a free agent.
Roster

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C		144	511	152	.297	16	85
1B		155	539	146	.271	31	92
2B		152	595	187	.314	6	39
3B		130	492	136	.276	32	105
SS		150	528	135	.256	18	77
LF		93	228	58	.254	3	20
CF		162	668	204	.305	1	41
RF		156	601	162	.270	19	94

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
	87	314	84	.268	12	62
Brian Banks	92	149	35	.235	4	23
Mike Redmond	59	125	30	.240	0	11
	70	108	21	.194	0	8
Mike Mordecai	65	89	19	.213	2	8
Jeff Conine	25	84	20	.238	5	15
Ramón Castro	40	53	15	.283	5	8
Gerald Williams	27	31	4	.129	0	3
Chad Allen	12	24	5	.208	0	0
Lenny Harris	13	14	4	.286	0	1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	GS	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
	33	32	201.0	12	13	4.30	133
	32	32	196.1	14	10	4.13	138
	29	29	190.2	14	9	3.59	151
	27	27	160.2	14	6	3.30	142
	24	23	142.0	9	8	3.04	152
A. J. Burnett	4	4	23.0	0	2	4.70	21
Justin Wayne	2	2	5.1	0	2	11.81	1

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Michael Tejera	50	81.0	3	4	4.67	58
Tommy Phelps	27	63.0	3	2	4.00	43

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Braden Looper	74	6	4	28	3.68	56
Armando Almanza	51	4	5	0	6.08	49
Tim Spooneybarger	33	1	2	0	4.07	32
Ugueth Urbina	33	3	0	6	1.41	37
Nate Bump	32	4	0	0	4.71	17
Chad Fox	21	2	1	0	2.13	27
Allen Levrault	19	1	0	0	3.86	21
Blaine Neal	18	0	0	0	8.14	10
Vladimir Núñez	14	0	3	0	16.03	10
Rick Helling	11	1	0	0	0.55	12
Juan Alvarez	9	0	0	0	3.09	6
Kevin Olsen	7	0	0	0	12.75	12
Toby Borland	7	0	0	0	1.86	4

Postseason

With a 4–3 win over the New York Mets on September 26, the Marlins clinched their second wildcard in team history, and finishing with an overall record of 91–71.

National League Division Series

The Marlins won the Division Series over the heavily favored defending National League champion San Francisco Giants. The series ended with a play at the plate with catcher Iván Rodríguez prevailing over Giants first baseman J. T. Snow. Coupled with a perfect throw from Conine and an amazing catch from Rodríguez, Snow was attempting to score by using a football type bulldozing move, but Rodríguez held on and the Marlins won, marking the first time that a post-season series ended with the potential tying run being thrown out at home plate.

NLCS

The 2003 National League Championship Series is arguably one of the most famous post-season series in MLB history. On one side, the Florida Marlins, the miracle who, just a few months before, were at the cellar of the NL. On the other side, the Chicago Cubs, the "lovable losers", who, for the first time in a long time, were so close to victory. The Cubs jumped to a quick 3 games to 1 lead including 2 out of the 3 games in Miami, and were the sure favorites to take the series when it shifted back to Chicago. In Game Five, an absolutely stellar performance by Josh Beckett brought the series back to Chicago, back to Wrigley Field, where the home team has always had the advantage. With the Cubs needing to win only one game, and having studs Mark Prior and Kerry Wood on the hill those two games, most people thought the Marlins hope was over. In Game Six, the Cubs enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 lead with one out in the 8th Inning, when it all fell apart, and the Marlins went on to win the game, tying the series. This was the game of the Steve Bartman incident. In game seven, Brad Penny drove it home for the Fish, clinching their second pennant in 6 years.