Call to the pen
Fansided

Five Reasons MLB Should Want Miami Marlins To Advance

By Sean Millerick

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 25: The Miami Marlins celebrate during the tenth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on September 25, 2020 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Marlins won 4-3 and clinched a playoff berth. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 25: The Miami Marlins celebrate during the tenth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on September 25, 2020 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The Marlins won 4-3 and clinched a playoff berth. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

The Miami Marlins have overcome massive odds just to make these playoffs, but MLB should want Miami playing deep into October.

Respect Miami: that’s the message this 2020 Miami Marlins squad has been preaching since February.

Yep, even before the playoffs were dramatically expanded on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, Miami Marlins players and coaches were asking “Why not us”, and planning on taking a big leap forward. And even before the Marlins lost more than half their roster to Covid-19, despite an expanded playoff, most national pundits found the idea of a winning Marlins team laughable.

Well, the Miami Marlins have laughed their way into the MLB postseason for the first time since 2003. The flashiest story is, of course, what they overcame to get there. In many ways, their season is a microcosm of the entire 2020 MLB season, overcoming long odds to deliver fans the joy of playoff baseball.

Unfortunately, the Miami Marlins are the Miami Marlins though. If only a team full of superstars in a big market had overcome those Covid odds. Teams like the Philadelphia Phillies, the New York Mets, or the defending champion Washington Nationals that Miami blew past en route to that second place finish in the NL East. This expanded playoff exists for MLB to reap as much television revenue from baseball fans as humanly possible after all. Suffice it to say that the Marlins probably didn’t make the short list of teams Rob Manfred wanted to see play in October. Still, Miami’s journey of recovery is compelling theatre, and will surely be a talking point for as long as Miami lasts in these playoffs. In fact, it’s one of the better stories out there already.

However, there are other themes worth seizing upon with this Miami Marlins franchise. Themes that can resonate, providing fodder for fans, storylines for sportswriters, and nuance for newspapers that make Miami putting together a deep playoff run something MLB should actually root for, rather than fear.

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