Twenty-four seasons ago to the day, the first season in the history of Florida baseball got underway at Joe Robbie Stadium. If you’re reading this, you shouldn’t need any telling on who threw that first pitch.
On April 5th, 1993, grizzled knuckleballer Charlie Hough– with a bit of an assist from a historically attuned home plate umpire- delivered the first pitch in Marlins history to catcher Benito Santiago for a strike. The newly minted MLB team wouldn’t fail to reward the sell-out crowd that showed up to inaugurate baseball in South Florida, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-3.