The 1997 World Series Baseball

The 1997 World Series lined up to be an unattractive World Series in the sense that the teams were about as unattractive as a two team World Series set could be. The Florida Marlins vs. The Cleveland Indians. The Marlins were storied with their first world series appearance during the first four years of the teams existence. The Cleveland Indians were in route to the teams second appearance since 1995 just two years earlier.

Neither team filled their rosters with glamor in fact the television ratings were amongst the lowest in World Series history for a series that went the full 7 games in the last 15 years prior to that series. I never rooted for the Florida Marlins, but rooting for the Cleveland Indians was something I was not going to do.

Charles Johnson Was A Miami Hurricane

One of the players in that World Series and he also happened to hit a dinger into my seat section just as I went out for some refreshments was Charles Johnson of the Florida Marlins. He was a hometown Miami Hurricane and then was drafted by the Florida Marlins. He was an easy choice for me to root for. Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, and some of the others made it easy as well. Then came 1998 and the then owner Wayne Huizenga decided that the team had to be broken up and cleared up the payroll as well as the roster. So this time around, as Loria again for different reasons cleared out the payroll and roster it’s safe to say that these new Marlins will not have the same fate, at least not for the next few years. Loria, just save some face and sell the team.

Autograph Collecting

1993 Florida Marlins Inaugural Fotoballs

jmaris21 Florida Marlins, fotoballs, Gary Sheffield, Miami Marlins

The Inaugural Florida Marlins

Well the Florida Marlins are no longer the Florida Marlins. They are now called the Miami Marlins and most of the memorabilia that was quite the fanfare during the early 1990’s are no longer in demand by sports collection aficionados. However there are some hard-core baseball fans that will need to move their collections in a special way and these might be the type of collectibles that they seek. I am collector of anything that I believe will be significant and have some value not always monetary but more like sentiment.

The New Miami Marlins

Although the current owners of the Marlins are somewhat under harsh scrutiny for the total disruption of the chemistry or lack thereof of the Inaugural Miami Marlins, this chapter too will come to pass. I don’t believe that fans everywhere are attacking this coming of the Marlins with the same vigor that the 1993 Florida Marlins had and enjoyed. Everything here has seen some scrutiny. Everything from the owners, to the stadium, to now the team. Here is a good look at what the 1993 Florida Marlins fotoball’s looked like. The entire starting lineup had a ball issued with their faces, and some other players as well. Some of the players were Benito Santiago, Charlie Hough, Gary Sheffield, and Walt Weiss to name a few.

Specialty Cards

1995 Florida Sports Plus The Delay Of The MLB Season

jmaris21 Alex Rodriguez, All-Star Game, Dan Marino, Florida Marlins, Ryan Braun, World Series

It was April 1995 when I was already slated to go to the NY Mets vs. The Florida Marlins opening home season. See the picture to get a glimpse of the opening day ticket that never was. The MLB empire had endured one of the biggest black eye it has ever gotten. But thanks to the enhanced performance scandals that keep on surfacing, with the latest from Miami in which the names of Ryan Braun, Alex Rodriguez and many more are listed in some form or fashion.

No World Series in 1994

MLB was just fresh off of the first World Series cancellation in over 100 years. The world, sports fans, and baseball players aficionados world-wide were stunned. I don’t think that anything prior to that time was painful to watch in sports. But we have become a nation that endures, and although any tragedy in a sport will never compare to a tragedy in life, being a society that pretty much revolves around sports, it was a shock nonetheless. It’s after shock was felt for a very long time.

As a baseball fan, I was looking towards the start of the 1995 season, but I must admit I can remember an empty feeling, but it was not necessarily pointed towards the players, not like the substance abuse is.

1994 MLB All- Star Game

All we had that year from baseball was a partial season, and an All-Star game, one of which I have little memory from. In fact if it wasn’t for the All-Star numbered bat from that year with the autograph of Alex Rodriguez, which I acquired at an event just before the game, and my 1994 World Series MLB ball, which were sold because they were never used, that whole 1994-1995 sports year would be a blur to me.

Dan Marino – Miami Dolphins

That was also the year that I met Dan Marino, see the picture with the autograph. Thank goodness that for every set back we endure, there is always a seasonal sport to lift us up. Football was the sport that year that made us forget the 1994 MLB debacle and endure the reception, cold reception, that we gave baseball in 95.