<Table> <Tr> <Td> ← 2002 </Td> <Td> World Series </Td> <Td> 2004 → </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> ← 2002 </Td> <Td> World Series </Td> <Td> 2004 → </Td> </Tr> <P> The 2003 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2003 season . The 99th edition of the World Series, it was a best - of - seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Florida Marlins and the American League (AL) champion New York Yankees; the Marlins defeated the heavily favored Yankees, four games to two . The series was played from October 18--25, 2003 . This is the most recent Series in which the losing team outscored the winning team; the Yankees lost, despite outscoring the Marlins 21--17 in the Series . This was the Marlins' second World Series championship win, having won their first in 1997 . As of 2017, this is the Marlins' last appearance not only in the World Series, but in the postseason at all . </P> <P> The 2003 World Series featured the New York Yankees in their sixth Series appearance in eight years . Opposing them were the wild card Florida Marlins, appearing in their second World Series in their eleven - year franchise history . The Marlins became the second straight wild card team to win the World Series; the Anaheim Angels won in 2002 . The series was, however, somewhat overshadowed by the League Championship Series that year, when the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox, both widely believed to be cursed, went down in dramatic defeats only five outs away from the pennant, and each in seven games . However, Marlins manager Jack McKeon disagreed, and having lived in South Amboy, New Jersey and attending Yankee games when a child, said that he wanted to play the Yankees in his first World Series . </P>

Who did the marlins beat in the 2003 world series