This is the last day we will see the Florida Marlins take the field.
This is the team we have cheered for all these years, through good times and bad. But no matter the outcome, they were always our team. When the seasons started, we didn't always know exactly who was on our favorite team, but we would soon come to adopt them.
Being a Florida Marlins fan has always been pretty weird. While others were cheering for their marque names that were long institutions on their clubs, we didn't have that luxury. Being a Florida Marlins fan meant cheering for the name on the front of the jersey and not on the back. Because the name on back probably wasn't going to be around very long. It took us a long time to learn that but we did, though sometimes to our dismay.
But when it all was said and done, we saw our guys win two World Series Championships.
The really strange thing to me is that the people in sports media don't get this. Players came and went. If the club actually was good, a fire sale soon happened. All that ever was the same was a logo we loved and the colors of the team we cherished. No matter what, black and teal, no matter how it was dispersed on the uniform, branded the team. No one else had those colors and when watching rapid clips on something like ESPN you could always spot the Florida Marlins. And that was special.
Also today, we say goodbye to JRS. While it was and still is the crappiest baseball park in the Majors, at least for one more game, I do have some wonderful memories of the place. I won't go into them. While the structure won't be missed, the fact that it was the home of the Florida Marlins for all these years, will be. Mainly because I will miss the Florida Marlins.
This will be the last day the players will wear the logo and colors we have come to associate with our team, and that makes me sad.