Takin’ our talents to South Beach
The Miami Marlins were generous enough to donate 50 tickets to us to attend the game with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Miami. Our intention was to have a tailgate before the game with some catch in the grass and plenty of getting to know some of the kids and volunteers. The weather was uncooperative with us, and the rain pretty much confined us to huddling under our tent. We met and chatted with a few of the brave souls who came to the stadium in the pouring rain. We heard some good stories about how long matches have been paired and activities they normally do. It was great to meet Adam, Martha, Delila, Julian, Jose, Austin, and Mike.
After successfully handing out the tickets to the group, we made our way through the rain to the stadium and said our thanks to the Marlins owners for deciding to put a roof on the stadium so we didn’t have a rainout for our one game in Miami. We didn’t literally say thanks to the owners, we just said thanks in our heads.
The Marlins continued their June swoon, losing to the Blue Jays for their 5th straight loss. This was the second consecutive game we’ve seen the Marlins, and it’s also the second time we’ve seen very poor pitching from their staff. Starter Anibal Sanchez walked 4 in 3 1/3 innings, and the Marlins walked back-to-back runners with the bases loaded in the fourth inning. The Marlins offense was able to get nine hits; they just were never able to string them together. They ended the game 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position.
Fortunately for us, 3 of the Marlins hits were home runs by Gabby Sanchez, Giancarlo Stanton, and Omar Infante, so we got to see what ESPN’s Jim Caple describes as the worst landmark in all of baseball: the Marlins home run feature. I’m not sure if it’s the worst, but it’s definitely the most interesting. Here’s a youtube clip of it in action. The display is very vibrant and I guess it is supposed to pay homage to Miami’s colorful culture or something. If anything, the display is something memorable about an otherwise forgettable stadium and people will continue to talk about it, for better or worse.
The four of us came to a consensus on our feelings of the stadium; it was okay. I think because it’s a brand new stadium, we were expecting to be impressed which left us a little disappointed. The stadium seems very basic with two things that the team really tried to take over-the-top, with mixed results. The home run display and the bright green outfield walls kind of took away from the action on the field. The rest of the stadium was vanilla.
The retractable roof on the tracks outside the stadium is cool to see when its open, but from what I hear the roof is always closed. The grass on the field suffers from the lack of sun; there were some patchy sections of grass on the field. Steve said it looks like a baseball field that is shared with a football team, pretty much like the Marlins old stadium. And the roof leaked on parts of our section in the cheap seats. Not good for a new stadium. Either way, Marlins stadium was sufficient enough for us and is an upgrade over Sun Life Stadium.
One particular thing I took note of with the stadium was the very few times it says “Marlins Park” anywhere. The Marlins are clearly waiting for a company to buy naming rights for millions of dollars a year, so they are waiting to put signs everywhere that say “Crest Complete Extra Whitening Stadium” or “Hanes Ankle Socks Stadium” or something. Honestly, the lack of name in the stadium has led to confusion as to what the stadium is actually called. Is it Marlins Stadium, Ballpark, or Park? Either way, next season we are excited to go back to the “To be named Stadium” and see another Miami Marlins game.
Gm 1– 4/13 @ Safeco Field – Oakland A’s @ Seattle Mariners
Oakland wins 4-0 (WP – Colon, LP – Hernandez)
Gm 2 – 4/24 @ O.Co Stadium – Chicago White Sox @ Oakland A’s
Oakland wins 2-0 (WP – Milone, LP – Floyd, SV – Balfour)
Gm 3 – 4/27 @ AT&T Park – San Diego Padres @ San Francisco Giants
San Diego wins 5-3 (WP – Luebke, LP – Hacker, SV – Street)
Gm 4 – 5/3 @ Angels Stadium – Toronto Blue Jays @ LA Angels of Anaheim
Toronto wins 5-0 (WP – Morrow, LP – Haren)
Gm 5 – 5/7 @ Dodger Stadium – SF Giants @ Los Angeles Dodgers
Dodgers win 9-1 (WP – Lilly, LP – Zito)
Gm 6 – 5/8 @ Petco Park – Colorado Rockies @ San Diego Padres
Padres win 3-1 (WP – Suppan, LP – White, SV – Thayer)
Gm 7 – 5/12 @ Chase Field – San Francisco Giants @ Arizona Diamondbacks
Giants win 5-2 (WP – Cain, LP – Cahill, SV – Casilla)
Gm 8 – 5/20 @ Coors Field –Seattle Mariners @ Colorado Rockies
Mariners win 6-4 (WP – Beavan, LP – Guthrie)
Gm 9 – 5/30 @ The Ballpark in Arlington – Seattle Mariners @ Texas Rangers
Mariners win 21-8 (WP – Beavan, LP – Holland)
Gm 10 – 6/3 @ Minute Maid Park – Cincinnati Reds @ Houston Astros
Astros win 5-3 (WP Lyles, LP – Arroyo, SV – Myers)
Gm 11 – 6/15 @ Tropicana Field – Miami Marlins @ Tampa Bay Rays
Rays win 11-0 (WP Moore, LP – Zambrano)
Gm 12 – 6/22 @ Marlins Park – Toronto Blue Jays @ Miami Marlins
Blue Jays win 12-5 (WP Romero, LP – Sanchez)