Tuesday, February 15, 2011

The House that Hanley Built?

There were some great photos posted today on the Twitter accounts of Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post (@joecappMarlins), Juan Rodriguez of the Sun-Sentinel (@JCRMarlinsbeat), @GabySanchez15, and our favorite baseball Tweeter, @LoMoMarlins.

We're really touched that the players manned the lunch line and served the construction workers.  Also, it seems like the downtown Miami skyline is clearly visible behind left field.   This ballpark has all the makings of a palace.  We wish we could have been there, but thanks to the miracle of Twitter, we had a front-row seat.  Some of the best shots are selected below.

Hanley serving up some grub....love the "plastic fork tucked into helmet" look by Mr. Blue Shirt (photo by @JCRMarlinsbeat):


@jocappMarlins took a pic from the future press box...we hope that the completed design preserves the stunning view of downtown:



LoMo crushing one into some freshly-cured concrete (photo by @joecappMarlins):


Can't wait to see Hanley and Mike Stanton hitting 3-4 in this ballpark in 2012 (photo by @joecappMarlins):


One potential downside to the new ballpark is that it lies directly southeast of MIA, and we hope that the constant rumbling of jets doesn't become part of the experience:


joe capozzi
New  ballpark will have a Shea Stadium feel -- lots of noisy airplanes going over head this morning during batting practice

Sunday, February 13, 2011

From One Bay (San Francisco) to Another (Biscayne)

Dear Marlins Nation:

We come in peace, and we feel your pain.  My wife and I re-located from Oakland, California to Miami this past summer, and the first thing we did when we flew out here for job interviews was attend a Marlins-Nats afternoon tilt on Sunday, May 2, 2010.  Josh Johnson bested John Lannan 9-3 in front of a reported crowd of 13,169.  We could have sworn that we were two among 2,000, tops.

BUT that was OK by us.  We are A's fans, and we are used to a multi-purpose concrete bowl for a stadium, perfect baseball weather, a small group of dedicated fans, an ocean of better seats to sneak down towards, and a playoff-caliber team that doesn't get enough local love.  We were riveted by Hanley's smile and two-homer power display, the six-hitter, and the team's loose camaraderie.  We were over 3,000 miles away from Oakland Coliseum, but it started to feel like home.

In 2011, we will attend as many Marlins games as possible.  We're devoted Logan Morrison tweeps, and we are sure that Javier Vazquez will return to his 200+ strikeout form.  We will buy beers from the vendor wearing the weird blow-up hat, and we will seat weasel closer and closer to the Founder's Club seats.  In less than six months, we've learned to love key lime pies at Joe's, bike rides across Rickenbacker Causeway, The U, fried plaintains, the entire Pitbull ouevre, and Materva.  Burke Badenhop and Arquimedes Caminero are next.  Come join us, as we learn to love the Marlins.

Your Friends,
Key Lime Drives