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Miami Marlins: Dan Uggla, baseball’s Scottie Pippen

WASHINGTON - AUGUST 10: Hanley Ramirez #2 of the Florida Marlins is congratulated by Dan Uggla #6 after scoring in the fifth inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on August 10, 2010 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - AUGUST 10: Hanley Ramirez #2 of the Florida Marlins is congratulated by Dan Uggla #6 after scoring in the fifth inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on August 10, 2010 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
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Dan Uggla #6 of the Florida Marlins (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
Dan Uggla #6 of the Florida Marlins (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

ESPN’s The Last Dance Rightly Frames Scottie Pippen As Essential To The Chicago Bulls- Dan Uggla Played The Same Role For The Miami Marlins

Dan Uggla is unquestionably the Scottie Pippen of the Miami Marlins.

Alright, there might be some problems with that analogy. Namely, Scottie Pippen won six NBA championships with Chicago. Meanwhile, Dan Uggla had just two winning seasons, and zero playoff trips with Miami.

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Pippen is also an NBA Hall of Famer. Uggla will only enter Cooperstown if he pays the price of admission.

However, none of the above changes the fact that the two are exactly alike in two critical respects:

  1. They were always outshone by another player on their team.
  2. Their team wouldn’t have anywhere near as successful without them.

Uggla’s name jumped out to me immediately while soaking up ESPN’s The Last Dance with the rest of America, as the fascinating documentary on the Chicago Bulls continues to help the fill void left by the departure of all active sporting events.

Last week, the inspiration came from Michael Jordan’s legendary 63-point playoff game, and the quest was on to determine which Miami Marlins player had the most MJ-like moment in the playoffs.

This week, as the rest of Chicago’s Mount Rushmore received more attention, my search turned to find the Marlins’ Pippen, that essential second most essential player. The Marlins have never really had the coaching stability to have a true Phil Jackson comp, though Jack Mckeon comes closest. And as for Dennis Rodman, the traveling circus/defensive wunderkind, you’ll have to settle for imagining what Alex Gonzalez would have been like with A.J. Burnett‘s personality.

But we can do Pippen.

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