The Miami Marlins was the name of a Class AAA American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 minor league baseball

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 franchise based in Miami, Florida

Miami, Florida

Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

, that played in the International League

International League

The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...

 from 1956

1956 in baseball

-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers ; Don Larsen, MVP*All-Star Game, July 10 at Griffith Stadium: National League, 7-3-Other champions:*Caribbean World Series: Cienfuegos *College World Series: Minnesota...

 through 1960

1960 in baseball

-Major League Baseball:*World Series: Pittsburgh Pirates over New York Yankees ; Bobby Richardson, MVP*All-Star Game , July 11 at Municipal Stadium: National League, 5-3*All-Star Game , July 13 at Yankee Stadium: National League, 6-0...

.

The Marlins were a transplanted version of the original Syracuse Chiefs. They were created on December 20, 1955, when the Syracuse club (a member of the IL as early as 1886 and a continuous member since 1934

1934 in baseball

-Major League Baseball:*World Series: St. Louis Cardinals over Detroit Tigers *All-Star Game, July 10 at Polo Grounds: American League, 9-7-Awards and honors:*Most Valuable Player:**American League: Mickey Cochrane, Detroit Tigers, C...

) was sold to Sidney Salomon (future founding owner of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

) and Elliot Stein.

The 1955 Chiefs, an affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies

Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

, finished only two games out of the playoffs, but drew only 85,000 fans, last in the eight-team league. In the Marlins' debut season in Miami, the club finished third and attracted 288,000 spectators, second in the IL circuit. Attendance dwindled in the years that followed, however, and by 1960 the Marlins -- by then a Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...

 affiliate -- were at the bottom of the IL, with fewer than 110,000 paying fans. The franchise became a St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...

 affiliate and moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

, in 1961

1961 in baseball

-Major League Baseball:*World Series: New York Yankees over Cincinnati Reds ; Whitey Ford, MVP*All-Star Game , July 11 at Candlestick Park: National League, 5-4 *All-Star Game , July 31 at Fenway Park: 1–1 tie...

, but after little more than a month of play the Marlins moved again to Charleston, West Virginia

Charleston, West Virginia

Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...

 on May 19. In 1962, the franchise moved to Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

, discarding the Marlins name and adopting the name of the Atlanta Crackers

Atlanta Crackers

The Atlanta Crackers were minor league baseball teams based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee in 1966....

, a team in the recently disbanded Class AA

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 Southern Association

Southern Association

The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A , Class A1 and Class AA...

. In 1966, when the Milwaukee Braves moved to Atlanta, the franchise relocated to Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

, where it played as the Richmond Braves

Richmond Braves

The Richmond Braves were the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves and played in the International League. Colloquially referred to as the R-Braves, they were based in Richmond, Virginia, where they played from 1966, when the Milwaukee Braves moved to Atlanta where their AAA team, the Crackers,...

 for 43 seasons, through . The franchise moved to Gwinnett County, Georgia

Gwinnett County, Georgia

, Gwinnett County had a population of 805,321. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 53.3% white , 23.6% black , 2.7% Korean, 2.6% Asian Indian, 2.0% Vietnamese, 3.3% other Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 8.8% some other race and 3.1% from two or more races...

 in 2009, and is currently known as the Gwinnett Braves

Gwinnett Braves

The Gwinnett Braves are a minor league baseball team in the International League, the Triple-A affiliate of the major league Atlanta Braves. The team was previously the Richmond Braves for 43 seasons . On January 14, 2008, it was announced that the Richmond Braves would move from Richmond,...

. The current Syracuse Chiefs

Syracuse SkyChiefs

The Syracuse Chiefs are a minor league baseball team based in Syracuse, New York. The team plays in the International League and is the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals...

 club, reformed in 1961, is actually the transplanted Montreal Royals

Montreal Royals

The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec, that existed from 1897–1917 and from 1928–60 as a member of the International League and its progenitor, the original Eastern League...

.

Notable Marlins during the 1956-60 period were Leroy "Satchel" Paige

Satchel Paige

Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige was an American baseball player whose pitching in the Negro leagues and in Major League Baseball made him a legend in his own lifetime...

, the great former Negro Leagues pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

 then in his 50s, three-time league all-star infielder

Infielder

An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field.-Standard arrangement of positions:In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles...

 Forrest "Woody" Smith

Woody Smith

Forest Elwood Smith was a baseball figure who spent 18 seasons playing in the minor leagues and another 12 managing at that level.A third baseman, Smith played from 1946 to 1962 and again in 1969...

, 1959 IL earned run average

Earned run average

In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...

 champ Artie Kay, and future big-leaguers such as infielder Jerry Adair

Jerry Adair

Kenneth Jerry Adair was a professional baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, and Kansas City Royals from Sand Springs, Oklahoma.-Baltimore Orioles:...

 and pitcher Rudy Arias

Rudy Arias

Rodolfo Arias Martínez is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played one season in Major League Baseball in 1959 for the Chicago White Sox.-External links:...

. The Marlins' managers were Don Osborn

Don Osborn

Donald Edwin Osborn was an American pitcher and manager in minor league baseball and a scout, farm system official and pitching coach at the major league level...

 (1956–57), Kerby Farrell

Kerby Farrell

Major Kerby Farrell was a longtime minor league baseball manager who spent but a single season — 1957 — as a manager in American Major League Baseball...

 (1958), Pepper Martin

Pepper Martin

Johnny Leonard Roosevelt "Pepper" Martin was an American professional baseball player and minor league manager. He was known as the Wild Horse of the Osage because of his daring, aggressive baserunning abilities. Martin played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman and an outfielder for the St...

 (1959), and Al Vincent

Al Vincent

Albert Linder Vincent was a manager and coach in Minor League Baseball and Major League Baseball. He was also a coach at Lamar University...

 (1960). Its home park was Miami Stadium

Miami Stadium

Miami Stadium was a baseball stadium in Miami, Florida. It was primarily used for baseball, and was the home field of the Miami Marlins minor league baseball team, as well as other minor league teams. It opened in 1949 and held 13,500 people...

. On August 7, 1956, the largest crowd in minor league history (57‚000) came to see Miami's 50-year-old Paige beat Columbus

Columbus Jets

The Columbus Jets were a Minor League baseball team that played in Columbus, Ohio from 1955 to 1970. The team moved from Ottawa, Canada where they were known as the Ottawa Athletics. The Jets were a member of the International League. From 1955-56 they were the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City...

 at the Orange Bowl

Miami Orange Bowl

The Orange Bowl, formerly Burdine Stadium, was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, Florida, west of downtown in Little Havana. Considered a landmark, it was the home stadium for the Miami Hurricanes college football team...

.

There was then a separate franchise, also called the Miami Marlins

Fort Myers Miracle

The Fort Myers Miracle is the Class A Advanced minor league baseball affiliate of the Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball club, currently managed by Jake Mauer. Home games are played at the Lee County Sports Complex in Hammond Stadium, which has a capacity of 7,500, and opened in...

 who played in the Florida State League

Florida State League

The Florida State League is a Class A-Advanced minor league baseball league operating in the state of Florida. They are one of three leagues currently operating in Class A-Advanced, the third highest of six classifications of minor leagues...

 from 1962–1970 and then from 1982-1988. They became the Miami Miracle

Fort Myers Miracle

The Fort Myers Miracle is the Class A Advanced minor league baseball affiliate of the Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball club, currently managed by Jake Mauer. Home games are played at the Lee County Sports Complex in Hammond Stadium, which has a capacity of 7,500, and opened in...

 in 1989 and then the Fort Myers Miracle

Fort Myers Miracle

The Fort Myers Miracle is the Class A Advanced minor league baseball affiliate of the Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball club, currently managed by Jake Mauer. Home games are played at the Lee County Sports Complex in Hammond Stadium, which has a capacity of 7,500, and opened in...

 in 1992. (They were called the Miami Orioles

Fort Myers Miracle

The Fort Myers Miracle is the Class A Advanced minor league baseball affiliate of the Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball club, currently managed by Jake Mauer. Home games are played at the Lee County Sports Complex in Hammond Stadium, which has a capacity of 7,500, and opened in...

 from 1971-1981.)

In February 2008, it was announced that the Florida Marlins

Florida Marlins

The Miami Marlins are a professional baseball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. Established in 1993 as an expansion franchise called the Florida Marlins, the Marlins are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Marlins played their home games at...

 will change their name to Miami Marlins when they move into their planned new stadium at the former site of the Orange Bowl in 2012.

Affiliations

The IL Miami Marlins were affiliated with the following major league

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 teams:

Year	Affiliation(s)
1956-58	Philadelphia Phillies Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
1959-60	Baltimore Orioles Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...

External links

• Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 1997 edition. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America
  Baseball America
  Baseball America is a magazine which covers baseball at every level, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in high school, college, Japan, and the minor leagues. It is currently published in the form of a bi-weekly newspaper, five annual reference book titles, a weekly podcast, and a...
  
  .
• International League: Encyclopedia II - International League - 1960-1969