When one
thinks of history’s greatest rivalries, certain names immediately spring to
mind.
Hatfields
vs. McCoys…Coke vs. Pepsi…PC vs. MAC…Ali vs. Frazier…Mega Shark vs. Giant
Octopus…
Well folks,
I think it’s time to add a new twosome to that formidable list:
MARLINS vs. RAYS
That’s
right, for this stadium review I was lucky enough to witness the unfolding of yet
another chapter in the greatest rivalry in the history of Florida baseball.
These two titans of the diamond have
been slugging it out since May 22, 1998 when the Miami Marlins gained the upper
hand over the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 3-2 in the first game of what would
become a storied rivalry. The overall
series record between these two aquatic autocrats
is a razor thin 42-37 in favor of the Marlins and this game certainly lived up to
its billing. Pitches were thrown, balls
were batted and nachos were consumed.
Before we get to all of that though, I suppose I should back up a day.
As I’m sure
you all will recall, back in 2008 when I was visiting Comerica Park in Detroit,
the Celtics happened to be coming to town to play the Pistons in the
playoffs. Steve was in Ohio for work and
drove up to meet me for the game (See
generally Summer of Matt, post 21, “IT’S
UNANIMOUUUSSSSSSSSS!!!!” detailing
experience of Celtics/Pistons playoff game). Well, I booked this trip to Marlins Park with
Steve a few months ago and wouldn’t you know it, the Celtics happened to be
following me to town for another playoff game!
After some quick stub hubbing we were on our way to the top row of
American Airlines arena for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals!
Unfortunately,
you all know by now that even the 4 midgets in the second row who were dressed
as leprechauns couldn’t help Celtics squeeze out a victory. It was a good game though and the Heat did
genuinely beat us in the 4th quarter so it was hard to argue with
the result. In any event, it was great
to be there and get a sports two-fer on the weekend.
On my
original trip in 2008 the Marlins received the lowest grade. Dolphin Stadium was an absolute pit and no
place to watch a baseball game. The
Marlins’ new park, while new and shiny, similarly fell short in a number of
areas.
Game Notes:
The outside
of the stadium was nice enough (the second shot is with the roof open after the game). Despite
being in East Havanna, the stadium itself felt like it belonged in downtown
Miami where the buildings are new, the people are fit and there’s generally
much more bling. The building was very
large, very bright, there was rap music playing everywhere and a general air of
extravagance pervaded. If you watch this
video (which was filmed off the coast of Miami) you’ll get the idea:
OK, fine,
maybe nothing to do with baseball but I really wanted to link to the I’m On A
Boat video :)
One other
cool thing before heading inside the stadium was the Mario Kart inspired rainbow
road looking sidewalk outside. If you
squinted hard enough you could almost see Toad, Princess and Yoshii in the
distance.
When I
walked into Marlins Park it felt very similar to Houston and Arizona. Those are two other stadiums that have
retractable roofs. The air conditioning
was blowing, yet there was natural grass in front of us. Always kind of weird. I assume this was also the reason the field
itself was in by far the worst condition of any park in the country (congrats,
Cleveland, you no longer own this distinction).
We’re only a few months into the season and already there were dirt
patches all over the field. I’ll give
the Marlins the benefit of the doubt though and chalk it up to “first season
woes”. They should really figure out a better irrigation and sunlight plan for next year though. Also, speaking of air
conditioning, these things were massive!
Steve and I
continued a stroll around the park and I’d have to say the best thing the
Marlins did was to create a theme and acknowledge the identity of their city
and fan base. When I was in San Diego I
absolutely knew I was in the southwest, from the motif to the food to the general
atmosphere. The same sensation applied
at Marlins Park. The Latin-American
influence was ubiquitous, with bright colors, up tempo Cuban music and plenty
of local food choices.
There was
also a “taste of Miami” food section that was completely packed and offered all
kinds of locally inspired dishes. I also
knew I was in Miami because things were freaking expensive. A generic hot dog cost $6.00! Beers were $8.50 for a 16 oz domestic or $10
for an import. And, because I know you
care, at the Celtics game the beers were $13.50! Granted, that was for 24 oz…but still.
Continuing
around the park we found a gluten free food cart, which I’ve now seen at a
couple of other parks. It was not nearly
as large as the one at the Mets’ new Citi Field though. Also, I would have liked to see the stadium
completely open just for comparison sake.
The massive left field wall seemed to be split into sections and placed
on train-tracks, so I bet it opens and closes.
The same with the roof. Steve actually
spent considerable time marveling at the engineering of the whole stadium given
its gigantic size and moving parts (this also made sense given that Steve’s
chosen profession is….you guessed it, an engineer! I smiled and nodded politely). You can see the tracks in this pic:
The lap did
not take us that long and we soon settled into some seats. To be honest, there just wasn’t that much to
see at the park. Places like Milwaukee
and San Diego took me forever to complete a loop because of all the displays or
unique areas to view the game from or historical information or fan activities
to check out. Marlins Park, despite
being new and shiny, was lacking in those types of indulgences. It felt like Pittsburgh to me whereby the
shell was pretty but it did not offer much on the inside. I ended up taking 9 pictures of the left
field wall simply because that seizure-inducing creation on the right of this
pic was the most interesting thing going on.
(Side note:
for those keeping score at home, the dimensions of the field went 344/418/335
left to right and it is this author’s opinion that the curved nature of the
center field wall will lead to trouble for opposing outfielders as they track
down hard hit balls to center)
I have no
idea what this is but I think it lights up and goes crazy after a Marlins home
run. We didn’t see any of those. Boo that.
For good measure, here’s a close up:
Anyway, I
mentioned that we found some seats and I soon dove into one of my most
extravagant food purchases at any ball park.
The Marlins offered nachos!
What’s
that? Nachos aren’t unique? Well, it was pretty unique that you could get
them served in a batting helmet…and not one of those small ones that the ice
cream comes in. This thing was regulation
size! Check it…
Yikes! What a poor decision. Points to me for not finishing them though.
High Points:
-Aside from
the general theme, the best thing the Marlins did was to keep the park small
and intimate. The capacity is 37,442
with standing room (more on that below) and everywhere in the stadium felt like
we were right on top of the action.
That’s a big plus in my book. I
remember sitting in the upper decks of St. Louis and Baltimore and feeling like
I was literally a mile away from the game.
-We were
never hassled by ushers and we moved seats about 4-5 times. Always a plus.
-It was
“bark at the park” day which means the Marlins let fans bring their four-legged
friends to the game.
-There were
not as many scoreboard gimmicks during the game and in between innings as I was
expecting but you could still tell the game was between two small market
teams. Despite my earlier pomp and
circumstance, the crowd wasn’t nearly as into Florida’s greatest rivalry as I
might have made it seem.
-Interchangeable
batting lineup cards on pillars around the stadium and fully stocked condiment bars
with all the fixins always get thumbs up in my book.
-The Marlins
provided a phone number for fans to text about unruly conduct occurring in
their section, thereby enabling the most discrete form of tattling in the
history of baseball park tattling.
-I was too
embarrassed to ask so I surreptitiously snapped a photo of the Friars Tuck
before the national anthem. I have NO
idea what they were doing there.
-The bobblehead
museum concept by itself probably would have been a little corny but they made
most of the heads actually "bobble" inside the glass case!
I’m guessing they pumped in a steady stream of air or something. Whatever it was it made the
effect must cooler.
Low Points:
-As
previously mentioned, there just wasn’t that much going on inside the park.
-Except for
a small handful directly behind home plate, all of the seats in the park were
the same uncomfortable hard plastic.
You’d think if you’re paying for infield box seats you’d get a little
more comfort, no?
-I
complained about this the first time around, but the Marlins seem almost
embarrassed by their World Series victories in 1997 and 2003. Once again the only acknowledgement is two
small banners down the left field line.
Take some pride guys!
-Citizens
Bank Park in Philly and Citi Field in NY have had really really great standing
room areas. The Marlins fell
woefully short in this department. I
suppose the argument can be made that if you’re the Marlins and you generally don't sell out, why the
need for standing room? But that seems shortsighted. If the Marlins are in a new stadium and, as
they did this year, start spending on free agents and actually win some games,
they may soon start to fill their little bandbox. Foresight, no?
-The roof
finally opened at the end of the game.
It wasn’t nearly as special as I was hoping though.
Additional
note: we missed the Sox coming to town by 1 day!
-Being
Miami, we had no problem walking up to the ticket window an hour before the
game to purchase tickets. Two lines over
from me there was a very unfortunate incident when a kid who was drunk (before noon?)
tried to put his beer down and spilled it all into the teller’s window “trench”
where the money/tickets exchange hands.
That caused quite a bit of commotion and I’m glad I wasn’t in that line!
-It was
wholly unclear why the security guard and ballboy had to sit so
uncomfortably close together amidst all that foul territory.
-Despite all
the talk of the huge AC units, it was still pretty warm and muggy inside the
stadium, especially in the upper rows.
Overall Grade: B-
Game Stats:
Teams: Marlins vs. Rays
Final Score: 4-2 Rays
Extra Innings: 0
WP: James Shields
LP: Anibal Sanchez
S: Fernando Rodney
Time: 2:45
Announced Attendance: 31,111 (84.1% full)
Ticket Price: $15.00
Parking Price: N/A
Trip Stats:
Home team record: 24-10
Best Anthem: Tropicana Field
Miles Driven: 10,702
Speeding Tickets: ZERO!
States Visited: 27
Countries Visited: 2
Districts of Columbia Visited: 1
Beds slept in: 36
Highest Gas PPG: $4.19 [$4.81 if you
count Canada]
Next Stop:
I dunno…some team has to build a new stadium!!
Favorite Park: Petco Park (Padres)
Stadium Grades:
Marlins
(2008): D
Rays: B
Braves: B-
Rockies: B+
Mariners: B
Giants: A-
Athletics: C
Angels: B-
Dodgers: B+
Padres: A
Diamondbacks:
B
Rangers: B-
Astros: B-
Blue Jays: C
Tigers: A-
Indians: B-
Reds: B+
Cardinals: B
Royals: B
Twins (2008):
B-
Brewers: A-
White Sox: B
Cubs: B+
Pirates: C+
Orioles: B
Phillies: A-
Nationals: B
Mets: C+
Yankees: B
Red Sox: A-
Twins
(2010): B+
Mets (2010):
A-
Yankees
(2010): B-
Marlins
(2012): B-
