Marlins win Series; Pudge gets his ring
01:26 AM CST on Sunday, October 26, 2003
NEW YORK – Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez and the Florida Marlins on Saturday finished off the biggest World Series upset in 15 years, blanking the New York Yankees, 2-0, to win the 99th Fall Classic in six games.
Not since the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers stunned the Oakland Athletics has a more heavily favored team failed to win the Series.
"It took me 12 years to get here, and I have enjoyed every moment of this," said Rodriguez, the former Texas Rangers catcher. "I think being in the World Series is everybody's dream, and I am very happy to have been in one."
The wild-card Marlins opened the Series as 9-2 underdogs, according to Las Vegas oddsmakers. Their team payroll of about $48 million was less than a third of the $180 million Yankees. Florida had no pitcher with more than 14 wins in the regular season and featured a 20-year-old rookie, Miguel Cabrera, as its cleanup hitter.
But the Marlins were not to be denied. Battling not only the most celebrated team in baseball, but all the ghosts and mystique of fabled Yankee Stadium, they became the first visiting team in 22 years to clinch a championship inside The House That Ruth Built.
"They scared the hell out of us, no question about it," Marlins manager Jack McKeon said. "We didn't come in here taking anything for granted."
Not since 1981, when Los Angeles also won in six games, have the proud Yankees been forced to watch another team celebrate a world title on their turf. And it happened largely because of the 10-time All-Star known as Pudge.
Rodriguez celebrated the crowning moment of his career by directing South Texas native Josh Beckett, the World Series MVP, through a marvelous five-hit shutout. Beckett was pitching on three days' rest for the first time in his two-year career but hurled a 107-pitch masterpiece that kept the Marlins' erratic bullpen from becoming a factor.
Beckett, the 23-year-old right-hander from the Houston suburb of Spring, fielded a slow grounder from Jorge Posada and tagged the Yankees' catcher along the first-base line for the final out. With that, Beckett, Rodriguez and many other Marlins had their first championship rings.
Rodriguez went to the playoffs three times with Texas, only to see his Rangers teams go 1-9 in a trio of first-round losses to the Yankees.
Healthy and inspired after being let go by the Rangers last winter, Rodriguez signed a one-year contract for $10 million and became the driving force behind Florida's second world championship team in seven years.
He hit .353 with six RBIs in a four-game Division Series upset of San Francisco.
He hit .321 with a record 10 RBIs to be named Most Valuable Player of the National League Championship Series, as Florida came back from a 3-1 deficit to oust the Chicago Cubs in seven games.
And in his first World Series, Rodriguez hit .273 with one RBI. His 17 RBIs rank as the third-highest total for a single postseason, two shy of the record 19 shared by Sandy Alomar Jr. (1997 Indians) and Scott Spiezio (2002 Angels).
"Pudge has been one of our leaders all year long," McKeon said. "We wouldn't be here without the work of Pudge Rodriguez."
Nor would they be without the work of McKeon.
The Marlins were 16-22 on May 11, when team owner Jeffrey Loria lured the 72-year-old out of retirement to replace fired manager Jeff Torborg. The Marlins lost seven of their first 10 games under McKeon before charging to the best record in baseball after May 23 (72-42). Florida finished with 91 wins, one short of its team record, before going 11-6 in the playoffs.
The expansion-born Marlins, now in their 11th year of existence, have won the World Series twice without winning a division title. In 1997 and 2003, Florida won the National League's wild-card berth and took that route to a league pennant and world championship.
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