The Best Marlin Ever at Every Jersey Number Pt.1 (1-10)

Today we will be looking at the best players to wear jersey numbers 1-10 in Marlins history.

1

There isn’t much competition for the best Marlin to wear jersey number “1.” In total, nine players have sports number one in franchise history, with the most notable players being Garrett Hampson, Isan Diaz, Cameron Maybin, Emilio Bonifacio, and Luis Catillo. The obvious answer is Luis Castillo, who wore number one from 1997 to 2005. Castillo spent ten seasons with the Florida Marlins, making him one of the longest-tenured players in franchise history. Castillo had an impressive .293 throughout his time with the Marlins and a .370 OBP.

2

The Fish have had a handful of players wear number two on their back throughout their 30-year history, but only two of the 11 guys have sported the number for 3+ seasons (Jazz Chisholm & Hanley Ramirez). Jazz Chisholm might be one of the best players the Marlins have ever had, but he is nowhere near Hanley Ramirez territory. Ramirez had a .342 batting average in 2009, which won him the Nation League batting title and second place in NL MVP voting. Ramirez even won Rookie of the Year in 2006, placing just ahead of Ryan Zimmerman, as well as his teammates Dan Uggla, Josh Johnson, Scott Olsen, Anibal Sanchez, and Josh Willingham. Wow, that Marlins 2006 rookie class was loaded!

The guy who finished first place in NL MVP voting that year was future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols, who hit 47 home runs that year with a 9.7 WAR. Impressively though, Ramirez placed ahead of players such as Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder, Chase Utley, Troy Tulowitzki, and Andre Ethier.

3

A total of 13 Marlins have worn the number three below their last name, but most of them weren’t very memorable. The only memorable #3 in Marlins history would be Adeiny Hechavarría, who spent five seasons with the Marlins as an outstanding defensive shortstop but had a league-average bat. So instead of going back into Marlins history, I am choosing a current player for the first time on this list. Luis Arraez is only in his first season with the Marlins and is already setting/breaking/eying some wild records. Arraez has played in nearly every Marlins game this season and has a .387 batting average (A friendly reminder that it’s July 7th). Ted Williams was the most recent player to hit .400 or better when he did it all the way back in the year 1941! Legends such as Tony Gwynn, Rod Carew, Wade Boggs, and a few others have come somewhat close to .400 in previous seasons but came up short. There are a ton of crazy stats regarding Arraez’s wild first half that you can look at yourself if you’d like, anyways Arraez easily takes home the third spot on this list.

Random nugget on that 1941 season: Despite hitting .406 for what would end up being the last time in that century, Williams was snubbed of the MVP award! That’s right; voters picked DiMaggio over Williams despite Williams having a better OPS, SLG, OBP, BA, and WAR that season. Ted Williams was also intentionally walked a whopping 25 times that year.

4

I couldn't find a Greg Colbrunn Marlins jersey, so here’s a cool baseball card instead from 1996.

Jersey #4 is not loaded with a ton of Marlins talent, to say the least. There are tons of below-average randoms that have worn this number and only played a handful of games for the Marlins (Monty Fariss, for example, who wore #4 in 1993 and played in just 18 games during their inaugural season and never appeared in a ML game again). I decided to pick Journeyman Greg Colbrunn at this spot because he was a pretty serviceable player during his time with the Marlins in the mid-1990s. Colbrunn appeared in 326 games for the Fish, recording a 103 OPS+ during his three seasons with the Marlins before departing for Minnesota in 1997. Colbrunn could be compared to Garrett Cooper in the sense that they’re both slightly above-average hitters and first basemen. Some would even argue the Colbrunn is a top 6 all-time Marlins first baseman.

5

Number five is yet another jersey number filled with forgettable players. There have only been two players that have worn number five on the Marlins for more than one season, that being Jon Berti and Logan Morrison. Berti is in his fifth season as a utility man for the Marlins and has been a pretty solid asset for the past few seasons. Morrison played one less season than Berti, playing from 2010-2013. Morrison is a slightly better hitter than Berti, but none of their numbers pop off the page by any means. The simple reason why I chose Jon Beri is that he won a stolen base title in 2022, which definitely deserves some recognition in Marlins history. Berti had a league-leading 41 stolen bases last year, making him the fifth Marlin ever to win a stolen base title.

Berti joined Quilvio Veras (56 in 1995), Luis Castillo (twice) (62 in 2000 & 48 in 2002), Juan Pierre (65 in 2003, and Dee Strange-Gordon (twice) (58 in 2015 & 60 in 2016 as the only Marlins to win a stolen base title. Considering that the stolen base title has gone to a Marlin seven times in their short 30-year history, the Marlins are historically a very speedy team.

6

Dan Uggla is one of the more memorable Marlins sluggers throughout their 30-year history. Uggla hit a total of 154 home runs in his five seasons with the Marlins, as well as a .837 OPS in 776 games. Uggla was selected to the National League All-Star roster in 2006 and 2008, and he won a Silver Slugger award in 2010, hitting 33 home runs and 31 doubles that year.

Uggla’s 154 home runs in a Marlins uniform ranks second all-time in Marlins history, only behind the 2017 MVP Giancarlo Stanton.

7

Iván Rodríguez is one of the only players on this list that only played one season for the Marlins, but I still had to go with him at #7 due to his legendary career and the lack of relevant players that wore number 7 with the Marlins. The list of Rodríguez’s career accolades is extremely impressive. Pudge is a Hall of Famer, MVP, 14x All-Star, 13x Gold Glover, and 7x Silver Slugger. Iván is arguably a top-five catcher in the history of MLB, as he was ranked sixth all-time amongst catchers in an ESPN article, and Bleacher Report ranked him third! Pudge had over 2,500 hits, 300 homers, and 1,250 RBIs throughout his 2-year career in MLB. Iván Rodríguez only played in a Marlins uniform during the 2003 season, but he put up a 120 OPS+ in 511 at-bats that year, and he also won the NLCS MVP that year, helping the Marlins go on to win their second World Series in franchise history.

8

Andre Dawson wrapped up his Hall of Fame career with the Marlins in 1995 and 1996. Dawson only played 121 games. His numbers with the Marlins were league-average during his two seasons with the Marlins, but they’re actually pretty impressive, considering that he was in his 40s. Dawson collected over 2,500 hits and 400 home runs in his 21-year career while also swiping over 300 bags. Dawson is a perfect definition of a five-tool player, as he hit for average (.279 career batting average), power (438 career home runs), had good speed (314 career stolen bases) and had a good arm & good fielding ability (8x Gold Glover). Dawson is widely considered one of the more underrated superstars of the 1980s, and rightfully so.

9

This was a tossup between Dee Strange-Gordon and Juan Pierre, but I decided to recognize Strange-Gordon for this list. Both Pierre and Strange-Gordon were speedsters and contact hitters with very little power (by little, I mean less power than Luis Arraez and Joey Wendle). Strange-Gordon and Pierre’s stats are nearly identical during their three-year Marlins tenures, but the reason I picked Strange-Gordon was because of his iconic home run after Jose Fernandez’s death, which is one of the most iconic and emotional moments in sports history. Awards don’t mean that much, but Strange-Gordon made the All-Star game, won a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove during his time with the Marlins, while Pierre did none of those.

10

Coming in at the #10 spot, we have a borderline Hall of Famer in Gary Sheffield. In the middle of the Marlins 1993 inaugural season, Florida traded a 25-year-old who would later become one of the best closers in the history of MLB; his name is Trevor Hoffman. In return, the Marlins would receive lefty reliever Rich Rodriguez and star right-hand hitter Gary Sheffield. If Sheffield does end up making the Hall of Fame eventually, he would likely be represented as a Marlin, as he played six seasons with them, which is more than he did with any other team. Sheffield put up outstanding numbers during his time with the Marlins, hitting for a .970 OPS and a .288 batting average. One of the main reasons why Sheffield is not in Cooperstown is because he was named in the Mitchell Report on Steroids due to his links to BALCO. Sheffield was also a poor defender, as he was moved from the infield to rightfield during his time with the Marlins after starting his career as a third baseman with Milwaukee.