Dolphins Stadium - Buy Florida Marlins tickets for Dolphins Stadium at TickCo.com! Enjoy Florida Marlins Tickets for home games at Dolphin Stadium
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Dolphin Stadium /
Florida Marlins
Every spring for the last century fans have flocked to Florida to catch a preview of what their team will look like for the upcoming season. The aura that is Spring Training in the sunshine state is something unmatched by any other professional sport's preseason. And so in 1993 some thought it would be a great idea to extend baseball past those final days of March and introduce Floridians to a full season of Major League Baseball. Yet here we are 12 years later still trying to figure out if it's going to work in either Tampa Bay or Miami. In Florida's defense, the state's two clubs are far from model franchises. Tampa Bay is still waiting for the first winning season from their Devil Rays, who play in a strange indoor park where balls bounce off catwalks. Head south and you'll find the Florida Marlins, who have won two World Series and can boast an already impressive alumni of superstar players in their 14-year history.
What's holding back the Marlins, of course, is Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphins Stadium, a great place to catch a football game but so far unsuccessful in sustaining any kind of fan base for baseball. In fact, three separate ownership groups have tried and failed miserably to build their own baseball-only facility. You see, the problem with Dolphins Stadium is that you are constantly reminded that you are at the Dolphins' stadium. From the retired numbers of former Dolphins players inscribed on the upper deck bowl to the endless sea of orange seats, you are constantly reminded that this football stadium has been turned into a "temporary" place for baseball. Ballparks are places that you fall in love with for all of their different and unique reasons, but if you never believe that you are, in fact, in a ballpark, than how can you ever sell yourself on the whole experience? "Miguel Cabrera hits a drive! Way back! And it's off the Dan Marino plaque in left field. Home run!" See what I mean?
As a natural football complex, Dolphins Stadium comes with all the quarks involved in trying to fit the luxuries of a modern ballpark into a football-first facility. The outfield dimensions have power allies where home runs go to die. Then there's the stadium's trademark Bermuda triangle in left-center field, which juts out to 434 feet. Incidentally, quite a few inside-the-park-homers have been hit in Dolphins Stadium (Clint Barmes of the Colorado Rockies hit one during our visit). The football seats fold back in left field to create what used to be called the "teal monster" (the name has mysteriously disappeared ever since the Marlins took teal out of their color scheme). The left field scoreboard extends 26.5 feet high and is the only other trademark of the stadium.
Intimacy is not you'll get when you go see a baseball game at Dolphins Stadium. The facility seats roughly 65,000 for baseball, so when the Marlins announce a sellout (which is 36,331 officially), the sea of orange seats in the upper deck is still very apparent. Most of the seats aren't very close to the action, and the only intimate baseball-designed seating are the high-priced tickets behind home plate referred to as the Founder's Field. Those will cost you up to $95 a game. The seating configuration is also set up for football, so you usually have to sit at a funny angle to get a good view of the game -- especially when you have seats near the foul pole. The Marlins try to make up for their expansive seating selection and interesting arrangements with some of the cheapest tickets in Major League Baseball. The Fish Tank, located in the outfield, has plenty of seats for $8 apiece. You get a great view of the game for the price, and every half inning Juan Pierre creates a frenzy by throwing a baseball to the section.
We went for a 1:05 p.m. game and there's no doubt about it, it's hot. The endurance required for staying a full nine innings is something one must fully prepare for. When the Marlins discuss the necessity for a retractable roof at a potential new stadium, it's those day games that make you realize it's just as much for the sun as it is for the daily showers. One thing's for sure: the Marlins will never draw well at Dolphins Stadium. But would the problem be solved with a new facility? For as tough as it is to watch a baseball game in a football facility, the A's and Twins seem to draw well when their teams are successful. The Marlins, however, can't seem to draw more than 20,000 on a weekday, even for a heated wild-card match up with the Phillies. Maybe weather is the mitigating factor for the Fish and a retractable roof would solve all of their attendance woes but maybe, just maybe, baseball wasn't meant to be played in Florida past those mild days of spring. (Editor's note: Dewayne Hankins formerly worked for the Florida Marlins. He is now a full-time employee of August Publications.)
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