"Down in Front" Part One

Going to the ballpark is a veritable wonderland for the baseball fan. It’s of little consequence that it’s a Little League game at a local park, or a Major League game at an elaborate professional venue. The sounds, smells, and sights are for all intents and purposes the same, just varying degrees assault on the senses. However, there are occasionally times the ballpark experience is either lacking something, or something occurs that detracts from the event.
At a Little League game, a loud-mouth drunken father can put a damper on the festivities. Perhaps an obnoxious coach who’s harassing the umpire, and berating his players can also sour the mood. These things can happen at a Major League game, but in this context they often provide comic relief.
A manager losing his mind at an umpire can be quite entertaining. A manager publicly deriding a player can provide fodder for countless headlines for days. It’s always amusing to see grown men acting like children while playing a game. The same can be said for spectators.
A bumbling, stumbling sot affords a momentary respite between innings. This sort of behavior when it turns ugly, gives the car wreck rubberneckers a chance to strain their collective gaze on the hooligans, often egging on the combatants. Under most circumstances these goings on do not detract from the overall fan experience. Then again, there’s watching a ballgame at Joe Robbie, I mean Pro Player, no, Dolphins Stadium.
Just the name of the place should make the true baseball aficionado cringe. It’s named after the football team that plays there. The truly sad part of the naming fiasco is that the Florida Marlins baseball team had been playing their games there for thirteen years when the name was changed to Dolphins Stadium. Nothing like making your tenants feel unwelcome. The stadium owners are only too glad to collect the rent, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to embrace the teams existence. Geez, the least they could do is put up a big sign that says “Home of the Miami Dolphins and the Florida Marlins.” There are other drawbacks about playing Major League baseball at a football stadium, or playing Major League baseball in South Florida for that matter.
Since the venue was designed for football viewing, the seating configuration is typical of any stadium built for football only. There are large sections of seats made up of long rows of individual seats. When the stadium undergoes its transformation to accommodate baseball, home plate is situated where all but approximately 30% of the fans in attendance must keep their heads turned to view the action on the field. This is awkward, and it can be uncomfortable for any lengthy duration. I have rectified this minor annoyance by purchasing seats in a section where turning your head to watch the game isn’t necessary. Granted, occasionally a batted ball will momentarily disappear from sight, but overall less bothersome than a literal pain in the neck.
Some rows have as many as twenty-four occupants. This is quite inconvenient for both those wishing to enter or exit the row, and for those trying to watch the game. Here is where South Florida fan decorum comes into play if you will. You’d think that folks would wait until between innings, or between batters; hell, I’d even be happy if these people would wait until it was between pitches before they decided they had to get in or out of their designated seat. This is compounded by the fact that like Los Angeles Dodger fans, many Marlins “fans” show up for the game anywhere from the first through third innings. They leave anytime after the bottom of the sixth. Most of the fans I have observed have absolutely no idea what proper baseball watching etiquette is, nor do they care. The same holds true for the ushers. At other stadiums around the country, and I have been to many, ushers will hold back those wishing to return to their seats until an out has been made. Employees at Dolphins Stadium seem to be unfamiliar with this concept. They ignore the feelings of those who wish to watch the game with minimal interruptions, and condone the rudeness of the selfish. This shouldn’t come as any surprise really.
New forms of fan displeasure have cropped up not only in South Florida, but it seems to be a phenomenon that can be found happening elsewhere. “Fans” recently started to boo a manager’s visit to the pitcher’s mound. I maybe can understand booing the visiting team’s manager for delaying the game, but booing the home team manager? Throws over to first by the pitcher for either team elicit boos. Is this our immediate gratification society rearing its ugly head? Are these “fans” pissed off because this strategic act prolongs the game and they have some place else to be? I wish they’d avoid the game altogether, and go to that other place to start off the evening. No such luck.
The baseball “fans” in South Florida just like in other cities, like to do “the wave.” I hate the wave. It is disruptive to those watching the game. It began in Seattle during a Seahawk football game. Those in Seattle are welcome to have exclusive rights to “the wave’s” use. The first wave was started during a timeout. Football timeouts can be rather protracted. It makes perfect sense to pass the time by getting the crowd involved in something during this stretch of downtime. Between pitches is not down time, between innings is. But no one starts the wave between innings. It is always started while the game is going on. I refuse to partake. I used to join in the “Let’s go Mets” chant while at Shea Stadium.
This type of cheer is used as a motivational tool for the team that’s at bat in the hope that some offense can generate some runs. Marlins “fans” chant “Let’s Go Marlins” whenever the spirit moves them. Not when the team is trying to produce hits, but also when the team is trying to produce…defense? I don’t get it. I don’t get other stuff that goes on at Dolphins Stadium.
The Marlins have cheerleaders. The Marlins are a baseball team. Cheerleaders are normally associated with football. College and high school cheerleaders are involved in a variety of other sports, but not baseball. What marketing genius thought this was a good idea to have cheerleaders? Especially for a team that averages only 16,000 in paid attendance per game. Many games less than 5000 patrons show up. For this you need cheerleaders?
Dolphins Stadium is grossly understaffed. The last two games I’ve been to, only three vendors total visited our section selling their wares. Two of the three were the same nut vendor, the other hawked beer. This necessitated a trip to the concession stand. The ones nearest the section I was seated were closed in this fan-less-friendly environment. Maybe the new stadium experience will be different.
The Marlin ownership recently got approval from the Miami city commissioners to erect a new stadium in the “Little Havana” section of Miami on the site formally occupied by the Orange Bowl. The only suitable form of accessibility to this area is by helicopter. Driving there will be a nightmare due to the lack of mass transit. Parking your car will be worse. Accommodations are being made for only 5000 cars for a 37,000 capacity stadium. That's over seven per car. And they say SUV's are going out of vogue. If the charge for parking for a Miami Heat basketball game at American Airlines Arena is any indication, prices should be astronomical. As far as I can tell, “fan friendly” this new project is not. I like the team and its players. They play exciting inspired baseball. I wish it was packaged better. Time will tell.