In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post (of varying amounts of seriousness) about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2016 season. Earlier installments can be found here. Today, the Marlins.

I am lucky enough to have on my hard drive a reviewer’s copy of Out Of The Park 17. While obviously the review will not be out for a few more days, I decided that for today’s “30 Teams, 30 Posts” I would use one of OOTP’s newest features to answer a question:

What was the greatest Marlins team of all time? Was it the 1997 Florida Marlins helmed by Jim Leyland or was it Jack McKeon’s 2003 Marlins?

Using the “Historical Exhibition” feature of OOTP 17, I’m going to find out… after the jump:

Okay, first off, here’s how you can select your teams. Sadly, they only have 1901-present available and they don’t allow you to use foreign, minor league, or custom teams. Still, it allows for a showdown like this to happen:

(Click any picture to make it bigger)

Now, I give the 1997 Marlins home field due to having a better record, and I turned off injuries (the screenshot was before I turned them off).

So, after changing the rosters a bit (for some reason it didn’t have Jeff Conine on the active roster for the 1997 Marlins, for example), away we go.

First, I simulated the first two games because, hey, I only have so much time. I wish I hadn’t, though, as in Game 1 the game goes 15 innings before Darren Daulton hits a walk-off 3-run dinger to give the 1997 Marlins a 4-1 victory. Then, in Game 2, the 2003 Marlins tied up the series at one with a 6-3 win on the strength of HRs in the 8th inning by Miguel Cabrera, Juan Encarnacion, and the 2003 version of Jeff Conine.

Of course, now that I was actually watching it, it was a blowout:

You can see some of the issues that happened in this simulation. For some reason the AI wants to have Edgar Renteria ride the bench and work mostly as a pinch-hitter for the 1997 Marlins. Oh, and neither Livan Hernandez or Josh Beckett are starters. Stupid computer, thinking it knows better than us! Still, this is mostly on me, as I was mostly hands-off during this outside of setting the rosters. If I’d known the AI would be so ignorant of what the actual lineups in 1997 and 2003 were, I would have been more hands-on, but it’s too late now and I’m an idiot.

Anyway, the 2003 Marlins win Game 3 and go up 2-1. While I won’t post the full box score here, I will post the nifty new recap and win probability chart:

In Game 4, the 1997 Marlins get on the board first in the 2nd inning on a Gary Sheffield solo shot, but the 2003 team ties it up on a error by Bobby Bonilla that allows Alex Gonzalez to score.

And then it calms down for a few innings, although the ’97 Marlins threaten in the top of the fifth before Devon White flies out with men on first and third. They get men on first and third again with two-outs in the top of the sixth… and then Darren Daulton lines out to Miguel Cabrera, who is at third:

It goes on like this for a bit, but in the top of the eighth, Devon White leads off for the ’97 Marlins with a double. Kris Abbott then bunts White over to third:

And then DISASTER STRIKES FOR CARL PAVANO:

But then… EVEN MORE DISASTER STRIKES, as I for some stupid reason accidentally X out of the game entirely. I was just trying to move the screens around to make sure the screenshots were right, I swear! But, nope, I screwed up and somehow totally turned off OOTP, and it hadn’t been saving!

So… uhh… this is awkward.

I’ll just tell you I re-simulated it and the 2003 Marlins won.

So, uhh… I guess the 2003 Marlins are the best Marlins team?

Sorry. It’s Spring Training for me too.

Up Next: The Oakland A’s.