HawkFan

Just was watching Nat Geo Wild with my son (his favorite channel) and they had a commercial for a brand new show premiering tomorrow night (5/12) at 10 pm called Fish Tank Kings. First episode is all about the backstop aquariums. It showed Samson going to town on the lexan with a bat and I think Volstad rifling fastballs. Thought you all would like to know if you didn't already.

A question for any of you larger guys like myself - if I take a XXL replica jersey, what size does that equate to if I go for an authentic? Probably a 52

Who's this Andre Dawson fellow?

I just made played with some of these. Wow, Qban, those mockups are (I can't believe I'm saying this) are actually pretty slick. While I'm still not sold on the colors, these made me realize what I hate so much about the new logo: the "Marlin." It looks more like a squirt of Crest toothpaste than a fish, and I personally think it doesn't fit stylistically with the "M" (which is far more "classic" or "art deco"). In the end, it looks like they threw a dart and photoshopped it in when they realized they needed some kind marine element in the logo. Judging by the progression which seemed to drop the fish completely, I don't think i'm too far off. That being said, what we ended up with is far better than the garbage that didn't make it. My hope once they get the "Miami" out of their system is that they go with this other fish on the "M," put "Marlins" on more merchandise (including the home jersey) and emphasize the blue more than the orange.

Holly- Fish used to be on 660 am a long time ago, buy haven't been on the wire in Orlando since '03 or '04. I highly recommend getting the MLB At Bat app for your phone as the Magic/Marlins conflict will drive you nuts till June/July. Also, all MLB subscription video services (cable, internet, satellite and phone) black out the Fish in Orlando, even during free previews. We're still considered home territory, something I was hoping would change with the Miami rebranding. My advice would be to find an Ale House or Buffalo Wild Wings since they have Satellite.

The same Yahoo Sports that is condescending?

I mean, fine. But who is synonymous with baseball in Miami? Andre Dawson, Ron Fraser or Lenny Harris. I think it would have been a great gesture to the African-American community, had they let Dawson, Harris and CJ do a triple throw out 1st pitch. Especially in the wake of the Trayvon Martin scandal. Not a single one of those people would have been a good choice, IMO. Wait, what? Fraser and Harris I can understand, but clearly you are trolling me by saying Andre wouldn't have been a good choice.

The Hawk, of course. Hometown hero, first Marlins HOF'er. I'm being purely objective on this.

Also, does anyone know where the supposed tribute/plaque for Carl Barger is? I walked around the stadium a couple of times and couldn't find it.

Just got back home in Orlando in one piece (though a few drivers on 95 tried their darnedest to change that) and here are my thoughts. 1) Stadium is exactly as advertised and more. Quite beautiful and striking. The view of downtown in LF is much more artistic than the albatross in CF (which, despite everyone telling me I had to see it in person, is still crap). 2) I know this was a trial run and there are still kinks to iron out, but the concession team ABSOLUTELY needs to get it together. I spent way too much on these tickets and drove too long to see only 4 complete innings of the ballgame. I experienced all of the problems others did, and in addition twice received stone-cold food after waiting 10+ minutes after paying. As a former Chef, I would have been embarrassed to not only force my customers to wait as long as we did, but to put out sub-standard product. Levy runs a pretty good operation (they have both Tropicana Field and Amway Centre), so I fully expect this to be corrected sooner than later. I also would put the bathroom attendants in this group, as the restroom behind my section (15) did not have paper towels after the 4th inning and the garbage cans were overflowing). 3) Concourses are definitely smaller than I was expecting. It was pretty hard to navigate in there at times. As such (since space is at a premium) there's plenty to "see" there, but not much "to do." This I could see hurting attendance by families, as those of you with small children know it's a challenge to keep them engaged throughout an entire game. I appreciate the little family activities the Trop has (and even Dolphins Stadium had) for kids for those times when they need to get up and moving. 4) I have to agree w/ squall about the atmosphere, it didn't have the feel of a ballgame. I can't place my finger on it, but when you ask an employee in a giftshop where the programs and scorecards are and she replies "What's a scorecard?", you know you're in trouble. You definitely know you're in for trouble when they don't have any programs or scorecards to sell, on the end. At a baseball game. All-in-all, it was a mixed bag for me. My hope is given time, some of the negatives will turn around. But, our permanent home has been established, and that's something we all can celebrate and agree upon. Go Fish!

Since I wasn't able to swing Opening Day, my wife, son and I came down for tomorrow's game instead. Anyone else going?

Yeah since I instantly think of turn-of-the-century penny arcade games or carnival attractions when I think of a Marlin or the city of Miami. I must say, his original intention of the different levels of the fish corresponding with a single, double, triple or HR makes A LOT more sense considering the overall aesthetic.

Whether you hate it or not, here's to hoping that feature is used often It's still trash, but there's wisdom in your statement. Thankfully, after Sunday's game I will move back to my normal OF seats for future ticket purchases so I can cheer for the Marlins without having to look at this monstrosity head-on. It's been driving me crazy what this thing reminds me of, and I just thought of it: the 1988 cinematic masterpiece "High Spirits" starring the immortal Steve Guttenberg and some Irish guy. Jump to 3:10 in this clip to see the Homerun Feature in action. Red Grooms must have been the Art Designer for this film.

All I'm going to say if the Marlins can turn a Catcher into a Reliever, they can turn a franchise favorite (with a decent bat) into a Backup Outfielder. There's very little risk in taking a minor league flyer on him.

Samson was just on the LeBetard show and said he had never heard this before and that it wasn't the song. Of course, he said the same thing with the logo leak, as well.

Just to be clear, the in-app MLB.tv video is blacked out w/in the Marluns' home territory.

Of course, the whole concept of this being "public" in the first place is highly debatable. I know the Marlins, county and supporters on this board will point to the visibility and high-traffic language to justify it as such, but I consider a public installation (be it art, playground, etc) to be accessible by the entire public at any time, without restriction. I seriously doubt at 7 pm on gameday the Marlins would allow you inside the stadium without a ticket to view this and the other "public" art. I doubt they'd let you in on non-gamedays either. I don't know why they couldn't give us the robotic, leaping Marlins w/ fountain effects like in the original stadium agreement and rendering. Throw in some lasers and fire and it would be pure triumph, not the eyesore we got. Just another example of how this franchise can't get out of its own way in some respects lately.

I personally would go with Viera as the best place for autographs. As fanofthefish stated, they let you go in the camera wells before hand; since it's field level, the players have a harder time avoiding eye contact. Plus, you don't have to reach over the dugout or rely on a 10-person-deep line of people on the ends to *hopefully* pass down your stuff. Finally, the visiting buses pull up right in front of the stadium outside the club house door. There are waist-high fences flanking the walkway, and they let people line up along both sides if the walkway. Players have to "walk the gauntlet" to get on the bus, thus even the biggest players stop to sign a few after the game. 2 years ago, I got every Marlin that was there (including Hanley, Gaby, Cogs and Maybin) except Stanton. All of the other facilities, the visiting buses are behind fences and the players get right on the bus. Plus, the Marlins have so much history there (as do I), I will always favor Viera. However, you can't go wrong ib Kissimme, either. That andthe their ticket prices are still some of the lowest in the Grapefruit League Too bad the best ST facilities for autos have long since closed, though. Dodgertown and Baseball City account for nearly a third of my 2,000 signatures over the years. Also, I say it every year, but there quite a few of us on this board that live in Central FL area; we need to get some meetups/watch parties going.

Oldtimer, add me to the list praying for you and your wife. We might not have a big fanbase, but I believe this board proves it is extremely close-knit. Let us know if there is anything we can do.

Piazza- Sucks about Stanton; I've been passed up several times by him, and gave yet right get his auto. Wish you luck through the year that you track him down. Regarding Hanley, did others in line get the same signature? The reason I ask is it's been my experience that athletes have two different signatures: their full signature for charities, vip's and commercial signings and a shorter (more messy/abstract) signature for mass fan signings. I got his auto at a Brandsmart appearance a couple years ago and it was a pretty atrocious H squiggle R squiggle, but it wasn't like this. It's possible he's also changed it. I remember every spring Edgar Renteria changed his up, and I want to say I have three different variations of Luis Castillo.

Was anything mentioned about pre-game autographs by the dugouts during BP? One of my favorite activities, but I'm concerned that area looks completely separated and unaccessible from the rest of the seats. Any ideas where the player parking lot is?

Not that I like this hideous lime green color (and I think it WILL impact games w/ glare) but something just occurs to me. What else uses this same shade of green? Weatherman green screens. What if they're planning to make the whole ballpark a giant advertisement ala the backstops we've been seeing the past couple of years? I've had a stadium drawing as my work desktop background since they came out, and I want to say a lot of the walls and facades kind of have a rainbow pattern. I always thought that meant LED ribbon panels, but perhaps they have something else up their sleeves...

yeah, I like that regular ^ helmet. the patch one looked weird. edit: they're replaying a Mets/Marlins game from last season on FSN right now. the old Marlins uniforms are straight black/silver. ew. can not wait to watch this team play in a uniform with color And that would be Loria's fault by marginalizing the teal to a thin outline. The 97-02 set had perfect balance of color, black and white.

Interesting Ozzie's not toeing the company line on the Uniforms and colors. So it begins... I love that he's calling out and challenging the city as the fairweather sports town that it is. In a somewhat related note, saw a woman wearing a blouse this weekend that was covered in a zig-zag pattern very similar to our new "M." What was interesting was that it was teal, silver, black and white. Looked pretty good. Does anyone know if there's a mock-up of the new logo and old colors?

The only thing for sure is Sir Pizza and a "Taste of Miami" food court in the OF concourse that will feature latin cuisine, sushi and seafood. I bet the arepas stands will move over, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see more Kosher.