A strange magic is sweeping across South Florida, and the conquering of Atlanta has created an epidemic of Marlins mania. Florida went 8-4 against Atlanta before October, which the Braves dismissed as insignificant. Nobody should cheapen this for us,'' Florida manager Jim Leyland said. We beat the Atlanta Braves a dozen times this year. Disregard the notion that Florida's rush to the World Series is the fastest in history by any expansion team, because money made it possible for the Marlins to buy themselves into the same status as long-established teams.
Expansion is nothing more than terminology.
Watch how quickly the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays become competitive upon joining the game next season. He goes 2-0 and beats Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine. He plays an errorless third base and gets six hits. Not that they need any such artificial motivational device. Florida is under no pressure.