This isn’t Florida (and thank God for that)
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Sep 13, 2007 
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I spoke to some people who said yesterday’s Nationals-Marlins game was a disgrace.
A “crowd” of 375 people showed up (two of the writers actually counted) and at one point Byung-Hyun Kim missed a bunt and cursed. It was picked up on the broadcast so loudly that the announcers apologized.
I write this only to point out how great it is to be in the northeast during a pennant race. The Yankees, Red Sox and Mets are followed by literally millions of people. All are convinced they could manage their team, if not be the general manager on the side. We talk baseball at home, at the office, to your family, to our friends. It’s part of our lives.
My mother, who has zero interest in sports, told me on the phone the other day that the Yankees must be relieved Jeter’s knee injury wasn’t serious. Yes, they sure were.
I have no idea where I’m going with this other than to say enjoy what it is we have here. I think we all probably take it for granted sometimes.
Yes…Florida stinks….and YANKEES FINISH 96-66 Wa-HOO !
375. i think that’s less than the 5 inning tied gamed that got called due to a hurricane in baltimore that i was at. 2003, i think…
Good post.
I think Jimmy Breslin said it best: “New Yorkers only care about three sports: Baseball, baseball and baseball.�
It’s always baseball season on these streets.
That’s sad.
You’d think at that point they’d just open up the gates and let anyone who wanted come in for free. At least they’d sell a few beers.
I appreciate the Yankees, Steinbrenner, Torre, and the guys even when they struggle.
Thanks to Pete for letting us hang and talk about the best team in all of sports. The media is trying to brainwash us into thinking that the Red Sox are the best team in baseball. But the Force is with us!
“All are convinced they could manage their team, if not be the general manager on the side”
That is the understatement of the century.
And for this we have expansion drafts? For this we have diluted pitching around the major leagues?
Contraction now!
check out the pictures at the bottom
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....=270912128
GM opening in Minnesota.
Millions care for the Phillies too, and Millions would also care for the Orioles, if Angelos hadn’t screwed up that franchise (though it seems to be improving).
(With a little bit of luck, the Phillies and Orioles will be more competitive in the near future – in the Phillies case, this means actually winning a pennant or WC, not just teasing – at which time the Northeast would REALLY be baseball obsessed).
i don’t know what i would do if i didn’t live in a major sports market or at least have major market teams to follow. i don’t know what they are thinking with the two florida teams.
Stadium: Dolphin Stadium, Miami, FL
Attendance: 10,121 (27.9% full)
Game Time: 4:09
???
geez , even hockey games get more fans than that .
I saw a picture of that in my local paper. It is truely pathetic. And what was even more interesting is people who had seats further back in the lower sections sat there and didn’t move down!
I think there are more people sitting in the dugout than in a few sections combined.
mel – this miami herald article says that there were 400 at the start and about half that at the end of 12
http://www.miamiherald.com/589/story/235835.html
Hey look at it this way they probably could hold a conversation with the first baseman while he was playing. LOL
* ”It’s a little sad that you can play where you can count the people in the stands,” Marlins first baseman Mike Jacobs said. “But that’s the way it is down here, and it’s not going to change until we get a new stadium.
“I guess people would rather watch us on TV. Why would you want to come and sit in the heat? It’s tough. If we had a stadium with a roof it would help a lot.”
Who is he kidding? Look at the Rays they only get fans when the Yankees and soxs are in town. Otherwise no one is there too.
And I think the estimates of 400 are exagerated. I’d say there aren’t even 100 people there. Look at some of the pictures.
Wow..
I went to a game there earlier this summer, they have a full-service deli sandwhich bar.. It took like 15 mintues for them to cut the bread and meat and make the sandwhich..
Try pulling that off at Yankee stadium..
Peter,
I live in Miami. People do like baseball down here. The Marlins play at Dolphin Stadium which is closer to Broward County ( Miramar, Hollywood , Fort Lauderdale ) than to Miami. Actually you can walk 5-6 blocks and you find yourself in Broward. The Stadium is too far. Transportation is expensive and difficult.Parking and transportation cost 40-50 dollars. I knoiw people pay a lot of money to go see New York but disposable income is much larger in NY than down here. I think it was built that far out to increase revenue and transportation parking.
The Marlins’ ownership has put a crappy team. They have a few good players but they already have said they will not spend more money next year. They are not etting money from fans attending the games. However, The Marlins have gotten money from revenue sharing. Where did it go?
The City of Miami has proposed to build a stadium where the Orange Bowl is located. THE OB is being tear down next year. The location wuould allow fans from Miami and Broward County to attend games for 3 dollar round trip as a Metrorail station (elevated subway system ) is about 10 blocks away.What is holding the deal is that the Marlins want a 30 million dollars roof for the stadium. They want the city to pay for the roof plus donate the land and pay several million dollars for constructuion costs.
When the new stadium is built, people will attend.People up north dont realize how good you have. Stadiums are NY, Boston, Chicago are built with fans in minds.
Well, it must have been easy to get a foul ball.
I grew up in Miami and, as of several years ago, could just walk up to the stadium at game time and sit right behind home plate or the first/third base line. Ridiculous compared to what I normally go through to get a few a seats in even the right field bleachers at Yankee Stadium.
They won’t support the team down there. The sports fans are pretty exclusively football fans, and will only get into any of the other local teams when they’re hot. Cuba-raised Cubans also just won’t get into the politics and finances of American baseball.
…and there’s reason #4989, by the way, of why I’m glad I got the hell out of Miami.
wow…….thats almost as many people than a Worcester
Tornados game. MLB really needs to get rid of one or two teams. especially ones in Tampa Bay
And the Marlins have 2 titles in ten years.
And Cleveland and the Cubbies haven’t won since the Ike administration.
DKA,
Cubans are raised to be baseball fans. If you could walk to the stadium, it meant you lived in Miramar or NW Dade County. Pretty far from Miami
I went to a Braves game at Turner Field a few years ago, and the crowd barely was aware that a game was going on. Lots of people are there for the restaurants, etc. Probably one more reason players want to play for the Yanks, Sox, and Mets.
_And Cleveland and the Cubbies haven’t won since the Ike administration._
silly, the cubs have won a series since 1908. everyone knows that.
I didn’t see if anyone else has written about this, but I’ll do anyway: What some may fail to see is the generational nature of baseball lovers. Geography doesn’t create affinity. I think most people who love baseball had a parent(s) who loved baseball and passed along a love of team. That’s why there are so many transplanted NE’ers rooting for Team USA (Yankees) or Red Sox Nation (BTW: anyone else notice how many Sox fans there seem to be since 2004? Just wondering).
In Florida, you probably have more Yankee or Brave fans (Northern Florida) than anything else (maybe some Mets thrown in). It may take a generation or two for kids to be Marlin or D’Ray fans and pass that along to their kids. That’s how you get a loyal fan base (probably the same in AZ and CO).
I’ve been living in the DC area for 16 yrs. Still root for the Yanks (catch them on MLB Extra Innings). Never rooted for the O’s, or, unfortunatetly for them, the Nats.
just one more reason for contraction. they should never have expanded past the two eight team leagues. the quality of the game, most evident in pitching has pummeled right along with the crowds in many markets. there was a time when only the elite played the game. i miss that.
Ed Fl
If you think moving the stadium to Miami will change anything your not living in the real world. Research has shown that the people who attend the Marlins game are those from Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Neither Dade county nor its residents have supported that team since their early days. By moving the team to Miami they will loose all of the fans from above Broward County and that isn’t what they want. I for one wouldn’t ride Tri-Rail from here in WPB to Dade County and then walk 3 blocks even if it was for free and they gave me a gun to make that trek !
If the stadium is too far and you live in Miami then that is really sad as it is not more then 30 minutes from anywhere in Miami.
The location of the OB is not any better. I would take my chances walking through the Bronx any day over walking through the OB neighborhood !
There are no “fans” in Florida. We are all transplants that like other teams and accept our Florida teams but we don’t support them unless like I do go to see the NYY when they visit Miami or Tampa or when the NYR comes to play the FP.
To paint a picture of fans waiting with baited breath to attend Marlins games if only the stadium was moved is a far cry from the truth.
South Florida (Marlins) could change once Castro is gone and the State of Florida partially funds an indoor venue to aviod rainouts / cancellation of batting practice, etc.
Tampa Bay was marketed wrong to begin with and has seen 2 owners that don’t understand the basic principle of business: you have to spend money to make money. Winning puts rumps in seats – anywhere.
Who would want to sit in 100 degree heat to watch the marlins play a meaningless game?
I am sure the revenue sharing dollars go right into the pockets of the owners. Also keep in mind the marlins have to pay rent to play in dolphin stadium.
The competitiveness of the team has nothing to do with it. When the marlins were winning world series games no one was going. The only games that sell out are when the mets, yanks, or red sox come to town. The same goes for the panthers. Just add the redwings and a couple of other markets.
We don’t have fan loyalty because everyone in south fla is from somewhere else. Half the state grew up in ny.
Also keep in mind there is no such thing as a 9 to 5 job in fla. No one works. Everyone runs on a 11-8 sched. Games need to start later! Anyone who lives in south fla knows around 12 pm there is an hour wait to eat lunch in a decent place.
Pete, I may not always agree with you but anyone who will stop and smell the roses every now and is ok in my book. You are right, we are lucky to have this and we need to remember that more and bitch a lot less.
I say move one of the teams to Brooklyn (or North Jersey) and move the other out to Vegas.
The other thing a lot of people up north take for granted is the quality of the crowds.
I live in DC now, and have gone to a bunch of Nats games. They get decent crowds, but unless something huge is happening, the crowd just isn’t into it. They cheer mildly for the over-hyped Zimmerman, but that’s about it. My friends and I cheer, heckle, and are generally a bit obnoxious (we’re Yanks fans used to The Stadium, where that’s the norm), and we’re typically the only people around making much noise.
Which is why it’s so much fun to be able to go back to crowds that follow the game intently, crowds that know the players and support even the less famous ones. NY, Boston, even LA are all like that. It makes the game so much more fun to be surrounded, not just by a crowd, but by a crowd that’s really made itself a part of the game.
They should just move the team out of Florida. Why on earth do they have 2 teams over there? There has to be a place better suited for a baseball team. Get the Marlins out of there, or the D-Rays and their awful Tropicana Field (with those terrible cowbells!)
375, that´s baseball unworthy.
I live in South Florida and it really is disgraceful. Evan Cohen, the 4-6 PM dude on ESPN Radio in Palm Beach is a Mets fan, and he talks more Mets and Yankees than he does Marlins.
The problem with South Florida baseball is that most of us are transplants who have our own teams that we grew up rooting for. As much as I love baseball, this is just not a good place for anything but spring training.
Why are there any teams in Florida?? Contraction now!!!
Just got home from work. Pete you are the man, great post. This won’t last forever, but boy I sure hope it does.
375! Wow! This number has made me understand the true meaning of Laugh Out Loud.
” I knoiw people pay a lot of money to go see New York but disposable income is much larger in NY than down here.”
Not really. It’s not disposable income. There’s just a LOT of people who will take a day out to go to their ONE game of the season. It costs $14 to park, plus whatever tolls for whatever bridge you have to take to get into the Bronx. It’s not cheap, and people really don’t have that much disposable income because living in NY is expensive as hell. The only way it’s possibly cheaper is people who live in subway/bus distance.
NY is just a baseball town. Maybe Miami isn’t. Nothing wrong with it. Not like the Nationals really promise a good game either.
EdFl,
All I can say is that the majority of my Cuban family members who truly got behind that team in ’97 could not comprehend how financial decisions led to them trading that entire team away. It was never the same for them. They love baseball, but not the politics involved with it in this country.
I just saw a clip of Kim’s little incident.
I must say, it was hilarious.