And we certainly can't forget the only two current Marlins who were on the original squad in 1993, Jeff Conine and utility infielder Alex Arias. Conine has shined defensively after permanently moving to first base, and Arias has emerged as one of the premier pinch-hitters in the National League.

But the man that has all of baseball smiling and feeling warm at heart is Jim Leyland. One of the game's best managers and beloved by nearly every player he has coached, Leyland will be making his first trip to the World Series in his 34 years in baseball.

Leyland managed one of the best team's in baseball in the early 1990s, the Pittsburgh Pirates. In three consecutive trips to the NLCS between 1990 and 1992, Leyland was denied first by the Cincinnati Reds and then twice by the Atlanta Braves (surprise, surprise).

This year, however, Leyland would not be denied. Reunited with Bobby Bonilla, his right fielder with those Pirate teams, Leyland returned to the city where he suffered tremendous heartbreak just five years earlier. And behind Bonilla's three-RBI game, he finally earned the one trip which has eluded him for so long.

The Florida Marlins are an easy team to like. They have quietly made history without arrogance or brash statements about their abilities. They are bringing the glory of the World Series to a city and a state which have never had the honor of experiencing its incomparable energy. But they have a chance to do something even greater for the city of Miami.

Miami, and the entire South Florida area, currently has the longest drought of professional sports championships in the country. Not since the Miami Dolphins won their second consecutive Super Bowl in 1973 has the city had cause to celebrate a title in any of the four major pro sports.

In fairness, South Florida only had the Dolphins until the NBA's Miami Heat was born in 1989. Baseball and hockey would follow in 1993 and 1994, respectively, making Miami the Mecca of league expansion. In that short time, these teams have returned the city to athletic prominence but have been unable to capture the ultimate prize.

The Panthers made it to the Stanley Cup Finals two years ago before the Colorado Avalanche made quick work of them in a sweep (ironically, ending Denver's drought of pro sports titles which had been the nation's longest). Last season, the Heat emerged from virtual anonymity under Pat Riley and made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals where it ran into a juggernaut known as the Chicago Bulls.

But baseball is different. In baseball anything can happen, and it usually does in the World Series. The Marlins, then, represent South Florida's best hopes for a championship since the days of the No-Name Defense and the Perfect Season.

Regardless of the outcome, the team has already excited an entire state that has never had reason to cheer quite like it is doing now. But if the Marlins can somehow emerge victorious in the Fall Classic, it will mark the crowning achievement in what has become a South Florida sports renaissance over the past three years.