Those two words served as the rallying cry for the 1997 Florida Marlins, a team of veterans and young stars alike that reached the pinnacle of the baseball world in just their fifth season of existence.
Though much is said about the Marlins buying their first World Series title, the foundation had been laid before their first game. The franchise picked University of Miami catcher Charles Johnson with its first selection of the 1992 MLB Draft. During its inaugural 1993 season, Florida dealt for All-Star outfielder Gary Sheffield and eventual closer Robb Nen. Prior to the 1996 campaign, the Marlins signed starters Al Leiter and Kevin Brown to front their rotation. All of that, plus a promising third-place finish by going 31-24 over the final two months of ’96, led then-owner Wayne Huizenga to ask general manager Dave Dombrowski the following:
“Okay, let’s try to win. What do you think it would take?”
Before going on a spending spree, the Marlins hired Jim Leyland, whose decade-long…
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