Founded in 1993, after being granted an expansion team – the Florida Marlins, now Miami Marlins, are one of the youngest franchises in the MLB. Paying homage to previous Minor League teams that played in the Sunshine State in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’80s – the organization stuck to a familiar name. The team was originally dubbed the “Florida” Marlins with the intention of attracting new fans all throughout Florida.
Although youthful, The Fish captured two World Series championships within the team’s first 10 years of existence. The Marlins are one of just two franchises that have never won a division title, despite the championships.
The team took the league by storm after officially rebranding to the Miami Marlins in 2012 with a new ballpark, logo, and uniform. Due to a struggle with home game attendance, these fresh Fish decided to create a lasting relationship between the organization and citizens of Miami.
We decided to dive into the deep sea to see how this youthful team has transformed their uniforms over their Major League career. Continue reading to see the team’s major rebrand as well as the impact it had on their success.
Logo History
1993–2011: The Marlins use a single primary logo for all of the franchise’s existence, which features a Marlin jumping through a hoop enclosing a baseball. The logo displays the team name within the hoop and uses the organization’s colors: black, teal, silver, and white.
2011–Present: The team officially rebrands as the Miami Marlins with a simple logo that embodies the colorful culture of Miami. The letter “M” represents both the city and team name; an outline of the fish descends from the letter. The logo pays homage to the original Miami Marlins, who were a minor league team that existed in the 1950s.
Miami Marlins WinCraft 12″ x 30″ Premium Pennant
Notable Uniform Changes
1993: Florida’s first uniforms follow a simple design with team colors of teal, black, silver, and white. The home uniform features pinstripes and the team name in teal script with a black outline. The player numbers are displayed on the front and the back. The away uniform is solid gray with the state name “Florida” in a block font, which is different from the home font. The fish logo wraps around the letter “F” in the front. The Marlins also use teal sleeves as an alternate uniform look and feature another alternate uniform that is solid teal.
1999: The team wears special “turn-ahead-the-clock” uniforms as a tribute to what the future of the league could look like. These uniforms go big and bold with a massive team logo and minimal sleeves to show off a teal undershirt.
2003: The team makes slight changes to the uniform to celebrate its 10th anniversary. The white home uniforms receive a black font instead of teal. The logo on the caps changes too. On the road uniforms, the font for the word “Florida” changes to match the home uniform. They also unveil a black alternate uniform. The Marlins also introduce a new alternate uniform to use at home, replicating the New York Yankees with traditional pinstripes and the Marlins cap logo on the chest.
2007: The Marlins wear another throwback uniform to commemorate the franchise’s first title in 1997. The vest-style uniforms encompass the same design that the players wore during the world series.
2012: The Marlins rebrand and massive changes are made to the team’s identity. Orange comes back into play in addition to yellow, blue, black, and white. The pinstripes are removed from the home uniform, and a new “M” logo is unveiled. The team utilizes four different uniform colors: white, gray, black, and orange.
Miami Marlins New Era Men’s Home Authentic Collection On-Field 59FIFTY Performance Fitted Hat – Black
2013: The Marlins wear camo uniforms to celebrate Memorial Day. The uniforms keep the traditional design but include camo-style shading.
2014: The Marlins freshen things up with orange caps, which are rarely worn with the team uniform but have made select appearances.
2014: To honor Wrigley Field’s 100th year anniversary, the Marlins and Cubs wear throwback uniforms for a game. The Fish sported 1940s-inspired uniforms that the unaffiliated Miami Sun Sox had previously worn. The uniforms are plain gray with a black block font. The caps are black with a white logo.
2016: The Marlins wear special uniforms on Mother’s Day, which employ the traditional layout with the addition of pink swatches.
Giancarlo Stanton Miami Marlins Majestic Cool Base Player Jersey – White
Looking Back to Look Forward
More recently, there has been a trend of MLB teams retiring uniform numbers at the end of each season. The Marlins, being one of the youngest organizations in the league, have yet to retire a number (other than the league-wide retirement of Jackie Robinson’s 42) – even after passing their 23-year anniversary.
While they have had more than enough time to have legendary players take the field in their name, the Marlins lag behind other teams regarding having these sluggers in their prime. They’ve faced low attendance records and splurged enormous amounts on the team’s rebranding – the organization owners seem to be focused on saving money and numbers.
Although we have yet to see the Marlins retire a number, we took it upon ourselves to “retire” those numbers worn by some of the Florida greats:
No. 24 – Miguel Cabrera
No. 1 – Luis Castillo
No. 19 – Mike Lowell
No. 23 – Charles Johnson
No. 19 – Jeff Conine
Considering the team just underwent a major rebrand, the time for retiring uniform numbers is near – fingers crossed for our list being the first among the ranks! The Marlins have a bright future ahead of them, especially with star-pitcher Jose Fernandez, power-hitter Giancarlo Stanton, and record-breaker Ichiro Suzuki on their side.
Heading over to the newly opened Marlins Park? Make sure you’re decked out in the team’s newest gear – visit Fanatics today for all your “Modern Marlins” essentials!
Sources
- http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/list_by_team/60/Florida_Marlins/
- http://marlins.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2015/02/18/should-any-marlins-from-first-20-years-have-their-numbers-retired/
- http://miami.marlins.mlb.com/mia/history/
- http://www.fishstripes.com/2012/4/29/2985775/miami-marlins-uniform-history
- http://teamnameorigin.com/mlb/nickname/miami-marlins
- http://m.marlins.mlb.com/news/article/194177132/ichiro-suzuki-triples-for-3000th-career-hit/
- http://miami.marlins.mlb.com/mia/history/ballparks.jsp
- http://m.mlb.com/news/article/44514982/retiring-no-42-one-of-baseballs-greatest-moments/
