Often in sports rivalries there is a sort of “big brother-little brother” between the two teams. One can immediately think of the long time rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox, in which the Sox played the jealous little brother of the often-successful Yankees. In fact, even the Miami-FSU football rivalry was once considered one sided in terms of championships and swag. Miami fans have regularly spoke of FSU football as their “little brother.”
But perhaps the most one-sided “big bro-little bro” jealous rivalry in sports is between Miami and Florida State baseball.
It may just be the most underrated rivalry in sports. Maybe it has to do with the relative unpopularity of the sport, or maybe because the football rivalry has taken such a huge national role in recent memory. But the Miami/FSU baseball rivalry is second to none. The head coaches do not like each other, the fans do not like each other, and when it comes to championships, the teams are at completely different sides of the spectrum…and Miami fans will let you know it.
Miami will play host to Florida State this weekend with national seed hopes on the line. Miami is coming off a series loss in Charlottesville, while FSU comes in fresh off a sweep of Pitt at home. Miami and Florida State will enter the series as the second and third place teams in the overall ACC standings, respectively. Miami will likely send Thomas Woodrey, Andrew Suarez, and Enrique Sosa to the mound to counter an FSU team who has plenty of power in the lineup. FSU pitching has taken a beating this year at times (ERA of 3.99) and this is an area where Miami must take advantage. If you know anything about FSU baseball over the years, you know they love to get walked. They lead the nation in walks, but only hit .264 as a team. Pitching must limit the free bases and make the Noles beat them with the bats.
DJ Stewart leads the Noles offensively, hitting at .309 with 10 home runs. Limiting the opportunities Stewart has with guys on base will be a major key for the Hurricanes. While FSU doesn’t hit much for average, with Stewart being the only regular hitting above .300, the Noles do hit for power. FSU has 43 home runs on the season, compared to the 30 home runs that the Canes have hit.
Miami certainly enters the series with the advantage on the mound, but as dangerous as the Hurricanes lineup can be, FSU probably holds a slight advantage on offense due to the amount of guys they get on base.
The history of the rivalry is anything but kind. There was the incident where FSU coach Mike Martin accused Miami and Jim Morris of using a walkie-talkie to signal in the pitch calls from centerfield. Or there was the time where an FSU assistant coach dropped a piece of paper outside the dugout with the Miami signs on it. And who can forget 2008 when game 3 of the series ended with both benches clearing when FSU refused to come out and shake hands. Later that same year in Omaha, Miami eliminated the Seminoles, and Mike Martin refused to shake hands at home plate, leaving Jim Morris standing there waiting.
The fans aren’t any more pleasant to each other than the teams and coaches were to each other in 2008. The small section of fans at FSU games, the “Section B Animals”, have been known to yell racist things at the Hispanic players on Miami, not quite realizing their own Hispanic players in garnet and gold.
Florida State has held the edge on modern success, taking advantage of recent down Miami teams. But make no mistake about it, The University of Miami baseball has four national championships, while the school up north has zero. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. Twenty-one College World Series appearances for the Noles and nothing to show for it. Zero for 21. Zero for freakin’ twenty-one. In fact the Noles best chance was probably in 1999 when the Seminoles collided with the Hurricanes for a winner-take-all national championship game. Miami won the game 6-5. Zero for twenty-one. To rub some salt on the no-national-championship wound, Miami will dedicate and unviel a statue of Ron Fraser before Friday’s game. Fraser won two national titles while coaching Miami.
But perhaps the most one-sided “big bro-little bro” jealous rivalry in sports is between Miami and Florida State baseball.
It may just be the most underrated rivalry in sports. Maybe it has to do with the relative unpopularity of the sport, or maybe because the football rivalry has taken such a huge national role in recent memory. But the Miami/FSU baseball rivalry is second to none. The head coaches do not like each other, the fans do not like each other, and when it comes to championships, the teams are at completely different sides of the spectrum…and Miami fans will let you know it.
Miami will play host to Florida State this weekend with national seed hopes on the line. Miami is coming off a series loss in Charlottesville, while FSU comes in fresh off a sweep of Pitt at home. Miami and Florida State will enter the series as the second and third place teams in the overall ACC standings, respectively. Miami will likely send Thomas Woodrey, Andrew Suarez, and Enrique Sosa to the mound to counter an FSU team who has plenty of power in the lineup. FSU pitching has taken a beating this year at times (ERA of 3.99) and this is an area where Miami must take advantage. If you know anything about FSU baseball over the years, you know they love to get walked. They lead the nation in walks, but only hit .264 as a team. Pitching must limit the free bases and make the Noles beat them with the bats.
DJ Stewart leads the Noles offensively, hitting at .309 with 10 home runs. Limiting the opportunities Stewart has with guys on base will be a major key for the Hurricanes. While FSU doesn’t hit much for average, with Stewart being the only regular hitting above .300, the Noles do hit for power. FSU has 43 home runs on the season, compared to the 30 home runs that the Canes have hit.
Miami certainly enters the series with the advantage on the mound, but as dangerous as the Hurricanes lineup can be, FSU probably holds a slight advantage on offense due to the amount of guys they get on base.
The history of the rivalry is anything but kind. There was the incident where FSU coach Mike Martin accused Miami and Jim Morris of using a walkie-talkie to signal in the pitch calls from centerfield. Or there was the time where an FSU assistant coach dropped a piece of paper outside the dugout with the Miami signs on it. And who can forget 2008 when game 3 of the series ended with both benches clearing when FSU refused to come out and shake hands. Later that same year in Omaha, Miami eliminated the Seminoles, and Mike Martin refused to shake hands at home plate, leaving Jim Morris standing there waiting.
The fans aren’t any more pleasant to each other than the teams and coaches were to each other in 2008. The small section of fans at FSU games, the “Section B Animals”, have been known to yell racist things at the Hispanic players on Miami, not quite realizing their own Hispanic players in garnet and gold.
Florida State has held the edge on modern success, taking advantage of recent down Miami teams. But make no mistake about it, The University of Miami baseball has four national championships, while the school up north has zero. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. Twenty-one College World Series appearances for the Noles and nothing to show for it. Zero for 21. Zero for freakin’ twenty-one. In fact the Noles best chance was probably in 1999 when the Seminoles collided with the Hurricanes for a winner-take-all national championship game. Miami won the game 6-5. Zero for twenty-one. To rub some salt on the no-national-championship wound, Miami will dedicate and unviel a statue of Ron Fraser before Friday’s game. Fraser won two national titles while coaching Miami.
