The Marlins won their first game against the Dodgers on April 5, 1993. That game's opening pitcher was Charlie Hough. Jeff Conine also went 4-4, making him an instant fan favorite. By the conclusion of his time at Florida, he had earned the moniker "Mr. Marlin."
Hough had been traded to the Marlins from the Giants, where he had gone 23-12 with a 2.56 ERA. He helped lead San Francisco to the National League West title in 1992. After leaving the Giants, Hough went 11-14 with a 4.13 ERA over two seasons with Miami. He finished his career with New York after spending one more season with Miami.
Hough was 37-46 with a 4.13 ERA in eight seasons as a major league pitcher. He finished second in the voting for the 1994 NL Cy Young Award behind Robin Roberts of the Reds.
After Hough's departure, the Marlins didn't have a single player earn $100,000 or more until Jay Payton came along about a decade later. However, they did have four players earn $50,000 or more during that time: Donovan Osborne, John Rocker, Gary Sheffield and Ricky Bones.
Osborne had a pair of five-year contracts with Miami, totaling $70 million, but neither agreement ever became official because of issues with security deposits.
Bob Welch won 25 games for the World Series-winning Oakland Athletics in 1990. Welch went 27-6 with the Bash Brothers on his side. The last pitcher in the National League to win 25 games was Steve Carlton in 1972, when Lefty also won 27 games. In the American League, Bill Lee won 25 games for the Houston Astros in 2017.
Lee became the first AL pitcher since Carlton in 1972 to win 25 games while allowing fewer than one home run per every 20 innings pitched.
Carlton's record was not lost until Randy Johnson won his 26th game earlier this year. Johnson is the only other pitcher to win more than 25 games since Welch and Carlton.
There have been only nine pitchers who have won 25 games in a season: Carl Hubbell (31 wins in 1934), Bob Lemon (32 wins in 1948), Denny McLain (35 wins in 1969), Wes Ferrell (36 wins in 1986), Kevin Brown (37 wins in 1989), Greg Maddux (38 wins in 1995), Johnson and Lee. Of these nine pitchers, three are in the Hall of Fame: Hubbell, Lemon and Maddux. The others are all winners of the Cy Young Award: McLain, Ferrell and Brown.
It is hard to believe that it has been 30 years since the Montreal Expos made their debut in April 1970.
Leyland, Jim In 1997, Jim Leyland led the Marlins to their first World Series victory. The Marlins defeated the Indians in seven games. Before the season ended, Leyland had been promoted to manage the Tigers.
Leyland managed the Tigers to a world championship in 1996, his second year at the helm. He then returned to manage the Marlins for three more seasons, leading them to the playoffs each year. He was fired after the 2000 season. After leaving baseball, he became coach of the United States national team at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
Leyland is one of only four managers to win World Series titles with two different teams (the others are Joe McCarthy, Charlie Gehringer and Billy Martin). He is also one of five managers to lead both their original and current teams to the World Series (the others are McCarthy, Martin, Joe Girardi and Ron Roenicke).
Leyland has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. He made his debut on July 7, 2009.
Leyland graduated from Purdue University in 1971 with a degree in industrial engineering. He spent three years as a minor league player before becoming a manager in Italy and Mexico.
They made their first-ever signing on December 16, 1991, when they signed 16-year-old Dominican pitcher Clemente Nunez to a contract. In June 1992, they picked catcher Charles Johnson of the University of Miami with their first-ever first-round draft choice.
The Miami Marlins are a professional baseball club from Miami, Florida.
Leyland, Jim In 1997, Jim Leyland led the Marlins to their first World Series victory. Tony Perez is the lone Miami Marlins manager in the Hall of Fame, having been inducted as a player...manager in 2000.
| Manager | Rene Lachemann |
|---|---|
| Seasons | 1993–1996 |
| W | 221 |
| L | 285 |
| Win% | .437 |
Lee Richmond, who pitched the first official perfect game on June 12, 1880, starts the list. This list concludes with King Felix (Felix Hernandez), who pitched the final perfect game on August 15, 2012, when his Seattle Mariners beat the Tampa Bay Rays.
In addition to these two men being the last two pitchers to record a perfect game, they are also the only two-time winners of the ERA title. Bartolo "El Gato" Colon has more career wins than any other pitcher in MLB history and is one win away from tying Walter Johnson's record for most victories by a left-handed pitcher. Colon retired after the 2001 season but returned in 2003 at age 40 years old. He ended his second stint with the Orioles with another victory, this time over the Chicago White Sox.
In 2004, Josh Beckett became the first rookie to pitch a perfect game when he did so against the Boston Red Sox. The 21-year-old right-hander from San Diego led all hurlers with 11 swings and misses and was not charged with a run because the batter before him hit into an error. He finished with eight strikeouts and no walks in a 1-0 victory.
Another rookie, Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants, made it two straight seasons with a perfect game when he defeated the Houston Astros on May 30, 2010.
More than 65 years have passed since Rube Marquard drew national notice by winning 19 straight games for the 1912 National League Champion New York Giants at the start of the season. Pitchers had a golden year for streaks, with Smokey Joe Wood and Walter Johnson both setting the American League record with 16 straight. In addition, Carl Hubbell led the league in victories with 20 while working for the 1934 Yankees.
Marquard's mark has never been matched, but there have been other pitchers who have won multiple consecutive games. The most recent pitcher to do so is Chris Archer, who won his 20th game for the 2017 Indians on Tuesday night. Archer tied the record held by Johnson from 1920 to '29 and Hubbell from 1934 to '35.
Archer's streak ended when he gave up seven runs in four innings of work against the Twins on May 15. He returned to action three days later and pitched five strong innings before being removed from the game due to injury. He missed two weeks due to the injury but came back and continued his success, going 5-0 with a 1.93 ERA during April and May.
The first pitcher to win 19 games in a row was Smoky Joe Wood, who did so for the 1919 Yankees. Wood finished with 20 wins that season and also recorded six saves, giving him 27 victories in 28 attempts.
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