BTW - anybody know what was the last ballpark that didn't sell out it's first reg season game ever?
My guess would be the Rays first home game ever...
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BTW - anybody know what was the last ballpark that didn't sell out it's first reg season game ever?
My guess would be the Rays first home game ever...
Birds and Fish
Ummm......really? Talk about pulling stuff out of thin air:Originally Posted by schnu
http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/st..._2d4devil.html
Jacksonville.com: **Sports** Devil Rays lose in opener 04/01/98
By The Times-Union
,
Wednesday, April 1, 1998Story last updated at 11:07 a.m. on Wednesday, April 1, 1998
Devil Rays lose in opener
Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG - It took two decades for Tampa Bay to get a major league team. It will take at least one more day to get a win.
Playing like the expansion team they are, the Devil Rays fell flat in their first game, losing 11-6 to the Detroit Tigers yesterday.
''There was a lot going on, but we're not going to make excuses,'' Tampa Bay's Larry Rothschild said after his debut as a major league manager. ''We just got beat.''
Joe Randa and Joe Oliver each drove in three runs and Luis Gonzalez hit a two-run homer as the Tigers ruined the day for a sellout crowd of 45,369 at Tropicana Field.
Marlins' magical, mystical backstop fish! Now starting for the Toronto Blue Jays!
Birds and Fish
What on earth are you talking about?
Yesterday's game at first pitch:
Announced paid attendance was 36,601 (probably not factor in a couple hundred comp tickets, as is common for stadium opening days.) The park's regular seated capacity (not counting standing room) is 36,000.
Last edited by PeteU; 04-05-2012 at 08:39 AM.
Marlins' magical, mystical backstop fish! Now starting for the Toronto Blue Jays!
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Bad guess on my part...no offense meant.
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In the 5th inning on ESPN, they panned the crowd - the RF corner (which you cannot see in this photo) was not filled.What on earth are you talking about?
Yesterday's game at first pitch:
Plus the capacity of the park is 37,442, while last night's attendance was 36,601.
UPDATE - Apparently the Marlins announced a sellout (maybe club seats, etc).
Last edited by schnu; 04-05-2012 at 08:50 AM.
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Is it bad that I think with all the color on the walls and home run statue that the concrete looks too bland being grey?What on earth are you talking about?
Yesterday's game at first pitch:
Announced paid attendance was 36,601 (probably not factor in a couple hundred comp tickets, as is common for stadium opening days.) The park's regular seated capacity (not counting standing room) is 36,000.
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time.
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Lost in all the hoopla is the fact that Marlins Park has set a Major League record (OK, probably not an official one) as the southern-most park in Major League Baseball. At 25 (degrees - sorry don't know how to make the degree symbol on a PC) 46' 42.00" N, breaks the record held by the Marlins' previous home, Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphins/Dolphin/Landshark/SunLife Stadium, at 25 57' 29.80" N.
Latitude numbers (or is it longitude? Always get them mixed up) from Google Earth.
Wonder what the other directional extremes are in MLB. Just hazarding a guess:
Northernmost: Rogers Centre?
Easternmost: Fenway
Westernmost: Safeco Field
I'll have to check out Google Earth to confirm.
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But the expos played half a season in Peurto Rico, but still a fun factLost in all the hoopla is the fact that Marlins Park has set a Major League record (OK, probably not an official one
Latitude numbers (or is it longitude? Always get them mixed up) from Google Earth.
Wonder what the other directional extremes are in MLB. Just hazarding a guess:
Northernmost: Rogers Centre?
Easternmost: Fenway
Westernmost: Safeco Field
I'll have to check out Google Earth to confirm.
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time.
Birds and Fish
Marlins Park, as envisioned several years ago:
And in actuality:
Marlins' magical, mystical backstop fish! Now starting for the Toronto Blue Jays!
Birds and Fish
I'm sorry, I still don't see it:
The park's capacity with regular seats and standing room is 37,442. Standing room is 1,000.
Plus what the paid attendance figure doesn't account for is comp tickets, which are common practice for opening days of new stadiums. For example, when Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened 20 years ago, paid attendance was 44,568, despite the capacity being 48,041 at the time. Yet it too was clearly a sellout:
Marlins' magical, mystical backstop fish! Now starting for the Toronto Blue Jays!
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And the Padres played the Cardinals at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu in 1997 - further south than Miami too. But PR still beats them both.But the expos played half a season in Peurto Rico, but still a fun fact
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Too bad they didn't make the scoreboard completley LED like the rendering. The current scoreboard actually looks small with all that extra border around it.Marlins Park, as envisioned several years ago:
And in actuality:
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I agree I wish the scoreboard was more colorful on the sides not grey and silver.
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time.
Birds and Fish
Mik--err, Giancarlo Stanton goes all Warhol on us:
Marlins' magical, mystical backstop fish! Now starting for the Toronto Blue Jays!
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Yea, I know there was no malice in your part with this guess but Rays fans (specifically Rays fans in Pinellas County) are a bit sensitive on the matter. For all the excitement and anticipation Marlins fans felt in finally seeing their own ballpark last night I would say that the excitement surrounding the Rays in 1998 was on par considering it was the culmination of a 20 year effort to bring major league baseball to St Petersburg.
Blessing
Why did they go with a very small capacity?
Using a stolen chant from Boston Celtics fans whenever an L.A. team is playing up there just reeks of inferiority complex.
If hitting a baseball is the toughest thing to do in sports, then pitching must be the easiest thing to do in sports.
Birds and Fish
Probably because after years of playing at a stadium with 67,000 seats that made even healthy sized crowds of 30,000+ look anemic, Marlins brass wanted to go in the opposite direction. And if more that 37,000 people wanted to get in but couldn't, then it would just go to the concept of demand and make the Marlins a hotter ticket.
That and it probably wouldn't be too wise to have a stadium that is too large in that neighborhood given the parking situation.
I'm okay with that with one exception--post season games. When the Marlins made the postseason, Joe Robbie Stadium was an entirely different stadium. 67,000 screaming fans created a huge advantage for them. You won't get that in the new park.
Marlins' magical, mystical backstop fish! Now starting for the Toronto Blue Jays!
Blessing
I feel that at least 40k is the standard capacity. Then again, you have newer stadiums like PNC and Target that both have under 40k.
Using a stolen chant from Boston Celtics fans whenever an L.A. team is playing up there just reeks of inferiority complex.
If hitting a baseball is the toughest thing to do in sports, then pitching must be the easiest thing to do in sports.
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I feel like there is nothing worse then a sea of seats in a stadium, even when you watch a football game like when the USFL's LA express would get 30,000 people at the coliseum it looked tiny. I think with the roof closed and and a sell out for the marlins playoffs you will still have some good noise with those low ceilings.
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time.
Registered User
Well, I was going for regular use stadiums
But turns out I was wrong about some of the others. Fenway is indeed the eastern-most at 71 05' 50.32" W. Surprisingly, AT&T Park is further west than Safeco, 122 23' 21.06" W to 122 19' 54.52" W. However, Safeco is the furthest north at 47 35' 28.23" N (I forgot that due to the Great Lakes, the US-Canada border dips south a few hundred miles, and therefore Toronto is signifcantly south of Seattle).
On the Inside
Windsor, Ontario is actually directly south of Detroit, MichiganWell, I was going for regular use stadiums
But turns out I was wrong about some of the others. Fenway is indeed the eastern-most at 71 05' 50.32" W. Surprisingly, AT&T Park is further west than Safeco, 122 23' 21.06" W to 122 19' 54.52" W. However, Safeco is the furthest north at 47 35' 28.23" N (I forgot that due to the Great Lakes, the US-Canada border dips south a few hundred miles, and therefore Toronto is signifcantly south of Seattle).
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Other than the fact that the Marlins' opener and the Ray's first home game ever were complete sell-outs, you are
spot on with your analysis.
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But the rays averaged 30,942 their first year. So it only took a year for the distance and the original owners stupidity to wear on fans lol.
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time.
Registered User
re: Rays - that was a guess. My bad, which I owned up to.
re: Marlins - I went with my eyes watching the 5-6th inning of the game on ESPN and the espn.com boxscore
Game InformationStadium Marlins Park, Miami, FL
Attendance 36,601 (98.9% full) - % is based on regular season capacity
Game Time 2:42
Weather 79 degrees, clear
Wind 11 mph
Umpires Home Plate - Ed Rapuano, First Base - Angel Hernandez, Second Base - Laz Diaz, Third Base - Ed Hickox
So sue me...
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Come on. The game was sold out. I wanted tickets and there weren't any. Let us enjoy at least one day of being proud of our new ballpark
1997 2003
Parks I've visited: 30 for 30, plus 5 closed
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