Check Another One Off the List – Marlins Park (241/366)

(242/366)

This afternoon I randomly drove down to Miami to catch the Washington Nationals – Miami Marlins game. Earlier this summer I went to Tampa to see the Red Sox play the Rays, but I didn’t think I was going to make it down south.

Turns out, something good did come out of that launch delay.

The three hour drive down to Miami this afternoon wasn’t too bad. I easily found the stadium, parked my car, and got in line to buy a ticket. As I was standing there, the lady next to me asked me if I needed a ticket. Turns out she had 4 season tickets she was trading in for tonight’s game. But she only needed three of them, so she offered me the third. We were figuring to be sitting a little ways back on the third base line, but somehow when we got to our seats, we were sitting 10 rows back from the field in the clubhouse box seats. Rock on.

 The seats were great, but the game was not. The tiny bit of Nats fan in me was excited to see Stephen Strasburg pitch and a tiny bit disappointed to see him pummeled in the loss. The Marlin’s pitcher had a no-hitter going into the  fifth and Strasburg gave up at least 5 runs before the Nats went down 9-0. I guess it was exciting for the Miami fans.

Dick Vitale was there (yeah, I didn’t know who he was either) and I randomly got his autograph. He was walking around with pre-signed cards and handing them out. Many other people I talked to about this were excited. So, woo!

Also, Marlins park is nice. It’s nice in the way that Nats Stadium in DC is nice. They’re new and convenient. The walkways are wide, the view is good from just about anywhere, and they have enough gimmicks to keep it interesting. The Marlins have two real fishtanks behind home plate. I wasn’t able to get an up close and personal look at them, but I could see the glowing water from a distance. They also have cheerleaders and probably one of the better mascots. It’s much easier to navigate than Tropicana Field in Tampa. I was able to easily find food and my way out of the park without a road map and compass. It’s a park I wouldn’t mind revisiting, even though I needed a long-sleeved shirt to watch baseball in Florida in August. Air conditioned baseball games are just weird.

And I got to cross another stadium off the list!