Bill's Journal Entry #1

Pro Player Stadium

Date: April 10, 2002

Location: Miami, Florida

Opponent: Montreal Expos

Travel companion: Mike Nadeau and Al Utke, friends and co-workers 

Link to my photos: http://cards.webshots.com/cp-31048090-QWdv-album/36337386jZvYyU  

Game Result: Midway through the fifth inning, the Expos had jumped to a 7-1 lead. In the bottom of the seventh, the Marlins acted as if they were interested in getting back into the game, as Cliff Floyd hit a two-run homer, leading a rally that closed the score to 7-5. However, the Expos got two more runs in the top of the ninth—runs that proved important, as another homer brought the Fish to within two runs and allowed them to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. But the rally was not to be, and the Expos held on, 9-7. 

Stadium Summary: If you want to do a tour of baseball stadiums, and you want to start on a positive note, don't start in Miami. This stadium is primarily home of the Miami Dolphins, and secondly the home of an occasional Super Bowl. Being home to the Marlins is little more than an afterthought. The seats are aligned for football, with many facing the outfield if anything at all. The souvenir stands are filled primarily with Dolphins gear, fitted hats (the souvenir I had decided to collect at each stadium) were hard to come by in any size, and concessions were average and uncreative at best. 

Worst team record to break: We were part of the smallest crowd in Marlins history, with only 5500 fans in attendance. However, this record only stood for 24 hours, as the next night's attendance was only 4400. There was an advantage to this, however, as we were able to buy $4 "Fish Tank" tickets, then move down and sit about 15 rows straight behind home plate. The only people around us were several baseball scouts, all armed with note pads and radar guns. 

Worst short cut to avoid traffic: Taking NW 107th Ave. north of NW 58 St. We were coming to the game from the area of the Doral Country Club, and saw that traffic on to the turnpike at the NW 41st St. entrance was very bad. We had heard that you could take a shortcut to the turnpike on NW 107th Ave. that avoided a lot of the traffic and caught the next entrance on to the turnpike to the north. We tried it. It was a dirt road with one-foot deep ruts and potholes, and was lined on both sides by appliances which had been dumped on this abandoned stretch. We were very glad we had four-wheel-drive, and that it wasn’t raining. 

Cheapest stadium parking: Negative $1. As we pulled up to the stadium parking lot, we saw the signs indicating that parking cost $9. So we pulled out a twenty dollar bill, and handed it to the lady at the entrance. She hunted to find a ten or a couple fives, but had no luck, so she told us that she would have to give us a lot of singles. She first gave us a single dollar bill, then proceeded to count out, “One, two, three,…”, up to ten, and handed it to us. But before we could pull away, she started counting again, “One, two, three,…”, another ten, and also handed it to us. So we parked for a profit of a dollar. 

Best action in the stadium: Despite the Marlins attempt at a ninth inning comeback, the game itself wasn't the best action to observe. That title goes to some fans in the stands. A group of attractive women were sitting together behind one dugout--clearly a cheerleading or dance team of some sort, as at times they would practice synchronizing some arm movements together. They might have been the Dolphins cheerleading team, as most of them seemed slightly older than college students. About 15 empty rows behind them was a group of men that had all the appearances of a college fraternity’s night out at the ballpark. About once an inning, two or three of the guys would get up the courage to come down to the cheerleading group and try to start up a conversation. And shortly after every attempt, they would head back to their seats, with their tails between their legs. Definitely the best entertainment of the night. 

Best lesson taught by another fan: Giving foul balls to a kid in a nearby seat. One fan near the first base dugout caught two full balls in the game, and gave them both to kids near him. I thought this was a great touch, and as much as I hoped to get to a ball for myself if one was hit my way during my tour, I would at least consider doing the same in that situation. (This had ramifications for me later on at other stadiums.)

Best pun-based mascot nickname: Billy Marlin

Stadium Grade: F  A truly awful stadium for baseball. I'd like to say that the South Florida fans deserve better, but there are so few of them that I'm not sure I can. 

Overall Grade of my experience at the game: D  Only because I don't believe it's theoretically possible for any time spent watching baseball to truly merit an “F”. 

-- Bill Verkuilen  biggbill@hotmail.com

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