Marlins Park

[skobabe8]

I can't believe people don't understand that this park has some local style and over the top themes because that's what is more likely to draw the crowds. I've heard alot of comments from media types and fans alike about disliking the fish tank, HR sculpture, cheerleaders, gimmicks, etc. IT'S MIAMI! It's not an old school traditional franchise or city. They have their own style and a Latin population. I'm glad they did something that fits them and not a steel and brick ballpark.

[PeteU]

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

Like I said, comp tickets (free tickets given out by the team as a gift) will not count towards the paid attendance figure, hence why it doesn't appear on paper that it was a capacity crowd even though in actuality it most certainly was.

Look at all the ballpark openings over the past 20 years and I guarantee that nearly all of them won't be listed as being full paid capacity because of the comp ticket factor.

The Marlins opening day was a huge ticket sold out long in advance. Believe me on this.

[PeteU]

According to some Marlins fans, looks like parking wasn't nearly the problem that some had worried or expected it to be:

http://forums.marlinsbaseball.com/to.../page__st__175

That's definitely a good sign.

[drdg]

I can't believe people don't understand that this park has some local style and over the top themes because that's what is more likely to draw the crowds. I've heard alot of comments from media types and fans alike about disliking the fish tank, HR sculpture, cheerleaders, gimmicks, etc. IT'S MIAMI! It's not an old school traditional franchise or city. They have their own style and a Latin population. I'm glad they did something that fits them and not a steel and brick ballpark.

yeah, but most of the NEGATIVE comments came from the local (miami) media
http://www.miamiherald.com/
miami herald/sun-suntinel newspapesr refers to the HR thing as WACKY
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-marlins/

[PeteU]

yeah, but most of the NEGATIVE comments came from the local (miami) media
http://www.miamiherald.com/
miami herald newspaper refers to the HR thing as WACKY

Well, yeah it's wacky. That's a no-brainer.

The question is, will it be endearing to fans despite its wackiness and tackiness? That's something that might take years to answer. But the two concepts aren't mutually exclusive.

[schnu]

Like I said, comp tickets (free tickets given out by the team as a gift) will not count towards the paid attendance figure, hence why it doesn't appear on paper that it was a capacity crowd even though in actuality it most certainly was.

Look at all the ballpark openings over the past 20 years and I guarantee that nearly all of them won't be listed as being full paid capacity because of the comp ticket factor.

The Marlins opening day was a huge ticket sold out long in advance. Believe me on this.

Now that seems logical - the Marlins may have given away x tickets in the upper deck (especially in the RF corner) that a certain percentage of those people didn't use.

[schnu]

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

Fair enough...

[Chuck The Mets Fan!]

I usually don't knit pick about stadiums and it's easy to pick on the monstrosity resting in full view of left center, but my only complaint is that the Marlins management will eventually go the route of The Mets and bring in the fences.

[Matt The Hammer]

Like I said, comp tickets (free tickets given out by the team as a gift) will not count towards the paid attendance figure, hence why it doesn't appear on paper that it was a capacity crowd even though in actuality it most certainly was.

Look at all the ballpark openings over the past 20 years and I guarantee that nearly all of them won't be listed as being full paid capacity because of the comp ticket factor.

The Marlins opening day was a huge ticket sold out long in advance. Believe me on this.

Not entirely true. They list attendance not specifically paid attendance.

That said, it's been well noted that the announced attendance has no coorelation to actual people in the stadium. There is no IRS oversight, not laws saying it must be exact. Most times the stadium will fabricate a number that sounds good.

[NickEsasky]

It will be interesting to see what they do. Regardless, it is better to build with a big field in mind because you can't push the fences out. Cincinnati a prime example. The right field line is actually more shallow than SUn Life. The left field line is 10 feet deeper and of course once you get into the alleys and straight away center it is much deeper.

[jnakamura]

Distance markers

[Jbutta29]

really wanted to like this park, but the colors just kill the whole look of the thing for me.

[gator92]

Distance markers

The 502 marker could be accurate, although obviously a ball passing through that sign could end up with a lot of different distances, depending on the height of its trajectory. The 401 and 447 markers are both short, though - anything hitting either of them will almost certainly be 10-20 feet longer than those markers, given that you're expressing distance as the projected distance back down to field level.

I had to confront this same issue at the 2009 AAA All Star Game Home Run Derby at PGE Park in Portland, when the event guys asked me to help them put up distance signs around the outfield as targets for the hitters: any time your target is above the field, you can't say ahead of time how far a ball went that hit it - high flies will end up less, and line drives more...

[jnakamura]

The 502 marker could be accurate, although obviously a ball passing through that sign could end up with a lot of different distances, depending on the height of its trajectory. The 401 and 447 markers are both short, though - anything hitting either of them will almost certainly be 10-20 feet longer than those markers, given that you're expressing distance as the projected distance back down to field level.

I had to confront this same issue at the 2009 AAA All Star Game Home Run Derby at PGE Park in Portland, when the event guys asked me to help them put up distance signs around the outfield as targets for the hitters: any time your target is above the field, you can't say ahead of time how far a ball went that hit it - high flies will end up less, and line drives more...

I believe those markers are not indicitive of how far a ball hitting those signs will have traveled, simply how far those signs (spots) are from home plate. For example, any ball hitting that 447 marker would be "taped" at close to a 500 ft blast.

[Muncus Agruncus]

I happen to like the colors and I think it is a swell ballpark.

[AJbaseball00024]

That ballpark looks so weird.

[Paul W]

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.

small capacities create an artificial demand for seating, the fewer of something that is "in demand" the more can be demanded in payment. they will try to ride the dollar wave that the fascination with the place creates as long as they can. notwithstanding that they shelled out less for their place than other franchises it'll be a a big $$$'s for loria and he'll plead for more lease concessions in the near future.
the size of the previous place and the inconveniences to the neighborhood have nothing to do with it.
mlb is a bu$ine$$ and the marlins take it to absurd levels, look for more of this from your local owners soon...

[Paul W]

really wanted to like this park, but the colors just kill the whole look of the thing for me.

gee, are the colors worse than dragging ali out there in the state that he's in these days?
shameless...

[hofflalu]

In case anyone was wondering where the Orange Bowl field would lay on the Marlins Park field, a few years ago I put together an approximate overlay of the two:

miami-ballpark-orange bowl.jpg

miami-ballpark-orange bowl-fieldlayout.jpg

So the locations of perhaps the two most iconic Orange Bowl moments (in my opinion) -- Namath running off the Super Bowl III field doing the "we're #1" finger wave and Phelan's catch of Flutie's hail mary -- are covered by the stadium itself, though the spot where Flutie threw the pass is about halfway from 1st to 2nd where the grass meats the dirt. All approximate, of course.

[gator92]

I believe those markers are not indicitive of how far a ball hitting those signs will have traveled, simply how far those signs (spots) are from home plate. For example, any ball hitting that 447 marker would be "taped" at close to a 500 ft blast.

Well, they're not right for that either. All three are a lot larger numbers than the horizontal distance to the spots... Oh, well...

[Chevy114]

In case anyone was wondering where the Orange Bowl field would lay on the Marlins Park field, a few years ago I put together an approximate overlay of the two:

miami-ballpark-orange bowl.jpg

miami-ballpark-orange bowl-fieldlayout.jpg

So the locations of perhaps the two most iconic Orange Bowl moments (in my opinion) -- Namath running off the Super Bowl III field doing the "we're #1" finger wave and Phelan's catch of Flutie's hail mary -- are covered by the stadium itself, though the spot where Flutie threw the pass is about halfway from 1st to 2nd where the grass meats the dirt. All approximate, of course.

Cool pics, what was under the rest of marlins park, parking lots?

[NickEsasky]

So the locations of perhaps the two most iconic Orange Bowl moments (in my opinion) -- Namath running off the Super Bowl III field doing the "we're #1" finger wave and Phelan's catch of Flutie's hail mary -- are covered by the stadium itself, though the spot where Flutie threw the pass is about halfway from 1st to 2nd where the grass meats the dirt. All approximate, of course.

That's too bad. There are a few that are still in the field of play: 1. Lynn Swann acrobatic catch around midfield vs. Dallas, 2. Huskers failed 2 pt conversion which lead to the Canes 1st national title, 3. Multiple wide rights by FSU at the east end zone.

[SanDiegoPadres1969]

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.

Safeco Field would be the northernmost as well.

[jnakamura]

Safeco Field would be the northernmost as well.

Yes, Seattle is much further north than Toronto.

Also, San Fransisco is further west than Seattle...so...

Furthest

North: Safeco Field
South: Marlins Park
East: Fenway Park
West: AT&T Park

[gator92]

More overlays at http://www.hittrackeronline.com/ballpark_overlay.php


overlay_1334178506_517171913.jpg