If you're just joining us, check out the entry from Day One, which gives something of an overview for the whole process.
Yesterday's Results
Teal (93-96) Bracket: Jeff Conine advances
97 World Champs Bracket: Update [2005-7-28 12:21:58 by mike42]: Alex Fernandez is ahead by one vote at the moment. Voting is officially closed and Alex is declared the winner.
Ugly Years (98-02) Bracket: Preston Wilson advances
03 World Champs Bracket: Brad Penny advances
The bracket will be updated, but likely not until the weekend.
Today's Matchups
Teal Bracket
#7 Walt Weiss - Weiss wore teal for only one year - the inaugural year, 1993. The season was not the greatest in his career. He hit .266 and had an OBP of .367. Still, he goes down in history as the Marlins Inaugural Opening Day shortstop. On a team that hasn't been around for very long but has had two All-Star shortstops, that's a pretty nice distinction.
#10 Robb Nen - Though he's not quite an original Marlin, Nen became the team's primary closer fairly quickly. In 1996 he saved 35 games and posted a then career best ERA of 1.95.
1997 World Champions
#1 Livan Hernandez - While Livan technically debuted in 1996, he was a rookie in 1997. He burst onto the scene like Dontrelle Willis would in the Marlins second championship season. Livan went 9-3 in just 96 innnings after being called up. His ERA of 3.18 was 27% lower than the league average. The post-season is where Livan became a star. He won four games (including two in the World Series, where he was named MVP, despite posting a 5.27 ERA) and struck out 16 in the LCS - in only 10 2/3 innings.
#16 Tony Saunders - Another rookie who made significant contributions to the Marlins 1997 run. Saunders wasn't as impactful as Hernandez; Tony managed a 4-6 record and a 4.04 ERA. He made two appearances in the playoffs. While it doesn't count for or against him, Saunders' Major League career was tragically cut short in 1999, when he was only 25, after some freak injuries.
Ugly Years
#2 Derrek Lee - Lee burst onto the Marlins scene during that magical summer of 1998. Ok, so he didn't really burst. Lee didn't show too much power (17 HRs) or his good speed (5 SB), but he was only 22. By 2002, he was nearly a 20-20 guy - with 27 homers and 19 stolen bases (he reached the 20-20 plateu in 2003) Lee was in the top-10 in walks and triples in 2002.
#14 Dave Berg - Another Marlin who first donned teal in 1998 (notice a pattern?). Berg was a jack of all trades with the Fish, playing up to four positions (and at least three) in a given year. His best year was arguably 1998, when he put up a line of .313/.397/.403.
2003 World Champions
#3 Mike Lowell - Lowell was an All-Star and won a Silver Slugger award for his 2003 campaign, which included 32 homers, 105 RBI, and a line of .276/.350/.530. He even finished 11th in the MVP voting. However, Lowell will most likely be best remembered for his pinch-hit home run against the Cubs in the LCS.
#14 Juan Encarnacion - The much traveled Encarnacion added two key ingredients to the 2003 championship push: stellar defense and a great cheer. Juan did not commit an error all season. Fans took to him and began cheering "4-3-2-Juan" every time he came to the plate. Juan found himself on the bench for portions of the post-season, but he launched 19 homers and knocked in 74 runs during the regular season. He had a solid .270/.313/.446 line.
Voting
Use the links below to vote for your favorites in today's matchups. Even if you weren't a fan of the team in 1993 or 1997, you can still vote for someone in each pairing. Also, please feel free to spread the word and to encourage others to vote.
Who is your favorite Marlin?
Teal (93 - 96) Bracket: Weiss vs. Nen (featured matchup of the day)
1997 World Champs Bracket: Hernandez vs. Saunders
Ugly Years (98 - 02) Bracket: Lee vs. Berg
2003 World Champs Bracket: Lowell vs. Encarnacion
Special Note
If you'd like to write the brief description for a particular player (or players), send me an email or create a diary with your text. I'll be happy to use it.
Thoughts/Discussion
Feel free to use this thread to discuss who you voted for, who you think others should vote for, etc. Or, if you'd prefer, you can create a separate diary too. You can also feel free to include any objections/suggestions/criticsm in the comments.