My Experiences: Stadium 4; Marlins Park

The date was August 11th, 2017. A drive from Ridgway, Pennsylvania to Florida was now complete, and it was time to celebrate with one last baseball game for the summer. Marlins Park is known as a pitcher friendly park, but we saw some dingers that warm Friday night. What I remember most is how cheap the tickets were to see some of the best talent in all of baseball.

At this point in time, the Marlins had perhaps the best outfield in baseball. Marcell Ozuna in left, Christian Yelich in center, and Giancarlo Stanton in right were all all-star caliber players, and it was amazing to watch this trio play before the franchise decided to move on from all three. Each of them have had success since moving on from Miami, and it is unfortunate the Marlins are considered a smaller market franchise in terms of their payroll.

The Marlins have won two World Series rings during my lifetime, but they surely have dumped and traded their fair share of star players as well including Josh Beckett, Miguel Cabrera, Dee Gordon, and of course the talented outfielders I previously listed. Miami is a large city, but it is not a baseball town. Tickets on a Friday night to sit in the bottom three rows were relatively inexpensive, so we took advantage of this.

Our tickets were right on the third base line which put us right in positions to see some big flies from some of the game’s best right handed hitters. The Marlins took on the Colorado Rockies who had a great core of players at the time including Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, DJ LeMahieu, Gerardo Parra, Mark Reynolds, Carlos Gonzalez, Trevor Story, and Johnathan Lucroy. The Rockies were filled with star power and capable hitters, but their pitching was always questionable during this timeframe. Despite this, their ace Jon Gray was on the bump who appeared to be one of the brighter young arms at the time from around the MLB.

The Marlins had star power of their own with Dee Gordon, Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna, Giancarlo Stanton, J.T. Realmuto, and one of their young pitching prospects Jose Urena. It was sure to be a great game on paper, and I am glad this one lived up to the hype. The Marlins took the game by a score of 6-3, and we saw home runs from Giancarlo Stanton, Nolan Arenado, and Gerardo Parra. We picked our seats well to see some of the best right handed hitters in the game hit homers, and it paid off big time.

Stanton was named the 2017 NL MVP, so it was amazing to see him in his best ever season.Stanton was on a tear coming into the game, and he hit his 40th homer that night. Arenado was his consistent self in 2017, and he hit his 26th homer of the season. We also watched Charlie Blackmon and Chrisian Yelich leg out doubles which was amazing to see each of their combinations of speed and power. These two are two of the best center fielders in the game, and have proven to be two of the better five tool players the game has.

Looking back on the park itself, it was absolutely massive and featured dimensions and architecture that is like no other park in the MLB. I was able to see the large custom sculpture before they removed it the very next year when Derek Jeter took over, so I consider that a victory as well. The park was the first dome I had ever been in, and it was pretty cool to see the different aspects of playing a baseball game inside. It was notable that there is a lack of baseball interest in Miami, so it was by no means a packed house. Most Marlins fans to me only come out if the Marlins are a legit playoff threat, but in 2017, they disappointed a lot of people and played below .500 baseball. 

Another aspect of the stadium that stands out is the fact that there is not a sponsor that wants to have the park named after their company. This further demonstrates the lack of interest in baseball, so I imagine many companies do not believe that advertisement with the Marlins is going to help generate them a proper return. Though I loved the stadium and it was the best baseball game I have ever seen, I was not a huge fan of the city of Miami. It was incredibly hot, expensive, and traffic was atrocious. If I ever go back to Miami, it would probably take a lot of convincing. Despite my complaints with the city, this game was one of the most memorable of my life, and the star power featured is something I may never see again all in one game.

This concluded my travels for the 2017 season, but I picked things back up in 2018 with a trip to Saint Louis to watch one of the best rivalries in baseball; the Saint Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs.