PeteU

I don't know about you but when I'm driving around I don't see teal all over the place. There is only ONE place in south fl you can see some teal, and its south beach. Hardly a true representation of Miami. Hints of teal I'm all for, but too much just looks tacky. So the only thing in South Florida that is representative of the color teal is the beaches along the Atlantic Ocean....which anyone can tell you is the first thing people think about when the words "South Florida" are mentioned. I'm sorry, I don't get where you are coming from.

http://www.seats3d.com/mlb/florida_marlins/ Dare I say that other than winning the World Series twice, this has to be just about the coolest things the Marlins have ever done.

If anyone is home and has access to the MLB Channel, they are replaying Game 3 of the 2003 NLDS vs the Giants. Right now it's in the 4th inning. Hands down the best baseball game I have ever witnessed in person. I can never forget what an up and down game that way. After the Giants went ahead in the top of the 11th, it felt like it was all over. Then Cruz dropped the fly ball and got things going. Marlins loaded the bases but there was a force at home for the second out. Then it was all up to Pudge who homered earlier in the game. He gets two strikes against him. I remember being on my feet the entire game screaming my head off, waiving the rally towel, and watching everyone stand up one last time, almost knowing that as bad as it seemed we knew something great was going to happen. The ball was pitched, we hear Pudge hit it and everyone instantly knows it was going to be a base hit even before the ball lands safely in right field. Tying run scores easily and winning run slides in under the tag. All I remembered seeing at that point was a throng of black Marlins jerseys stream out of the dugout and swarm home plate. I'm high fiving everyone in my vicinity, total strangers. Walking down the dual spiral ramps from the upper deck I can never forget the "Let's Go Marlins" cheers, and every time the fans on one side of the ramp came across the fans on the other side of the ramp, you would just have this huge eruption in cheers. It literally gives me chills describing how that game felt. I'm not lying when I say it was literally one of the most exciting experiences of my life.

Over on the Baseball-Fever.com message board for ballparks, there is a movement by some Marlins fans to petition the Marlins to consider teal seats instead of the proposed dark blue seats, in order to match the team color. There was a similar movement by Cardinals fans before Busch Stadium III opened, as the original plans had green seats instead of Cardinal Red seats. Eventually the Cardinals ownership agreed to put it to a fan vote, and red seats won. Anyways, someone did an edit of the plans and put together what the new Marlins Ballpark would look like with teal seats, and I posted them above. I think it looks pretty nice, a lot more interesting and true to the Marlins and the South Florida area than the boring blue that is planned. If you like the idea of teal seats as well, email David Sampson at D.Samson@marlins.com to let him know. The link to the Baseball-Fever "Project Teal" discussion is here: http://baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?p=1575142&posted=1#post1575142

Isn't this another Camp Day? Should be 10K kiddies there with about 7 counselors. I gave my tix away. I like kids, but......... I saw a couple of camp groups but for the main part it just looked like regular folks. As someone else noted, the area between first and third bases was pretty well packed in but it was more sparse as it went out further. Paid attendance was 19,000+, and I'd probably say it was about 12,000 who showed up at the gate. Not terrific numbers, but it was a fun time for everyone there.....well at least through the first seven innings. My seats were terrific--Section 150 (directly behind home plate), Row 7. Nice that the regular working class folks had a chance to sit in seats they might not otherwise afford.

Bumping again.

Any idea if you can buy this at the box office and save the service charges? They said on the radio you could buy at the box office and at the Marlins Store, so yes.

The Paul and Young Ron website LINKY says that it is true, but when I follow their link to "Buy Tickets" I get a Ticketmaster page with the full prices for everything. I just got through. Row 7, Founders club--$10, plus $6.60 fees. Sweet. Anyone who can get out of work on Thursday I totally recommend it!

I just heard on the Paul and Young Ron show that the June 11th afternoon game versus the Cardinals will have all 100 level seats on sale for $10 each. Is this really the case? It seems too good to be true, but if it is, I'm there.

Even at 9-1 it's still too early to say anything, but say the Marlins are on top of the NL East at the All Star break. With the new stadium coming (hopefully giving Loria the incentive of more revenue in the future), is there a chance any of the Marlins will be offered long term deals a la Hanley? And who?

The first official interior rendering of Marlins Stadium. I'd still love to see some more detail, but it's a good start.

Awesome. I love the teal at Space Coast Stadium (which they unfortunately switched out after the Marlins moved out) and at the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium, so I think that color scheme would look pretty cool. The Marlins equal teal, and teal equals the Marlins. It should be as natural as Dodger Blue or Cardinals Red.

I was at today's game and I could have sworn they flashed an interior concept shot for about a second on the board. When I got back home, I checked the team site and the new ballpark site but couldn't find a thing. Perhaps it was just in my head....

http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/articl...sp&c_id=fla "Making his Marlins debut, Bonifacio had a dream beginning -- four hits, four runs scored, two RBIs, three stolen bases and an inside-the-park home run. It was his first homer in the Majors, and if you blinked, you missed it. Bonifacio, clocked at 3.86 seconds from home to first base, blistered around the bases, prompting the crowd to cheer on a curtain call." Holy friggin Jesus! I knew he was fast, but to see that time is simply incredible! No joke--I was at the game and as soon as I saw the center fielder picked up the ball, I looked back to second, but then had to turn my head as Bonifacio was already rounding third.

Now that things appear to be more official with the official city and county votes of approval, I was wondering if we'll be getting any detailed interior renderings, with--for example--how the place would look if you are standing at home plate. The images they released a few weeks ago were nice, but I want more!

They were/are both exciting, young teams. Of course I'll always have a soft spot for the 2003 Marlins, but the 2008 Rays are very fun to watch and as a Florida team I hope they go all the way. I just hope that unlike the Marlins, the Rays ownership keeps the 2008 team together for years to come, because it's a talented bunch. Perhaps we'll see a Sunshine State World Series next year....that would just blow MLB's mind and serve as a nice F.U. to anyone who talks bad about Florida baseball.

Actually, I'd love to see the Marlins relocate their AAA team to Jacksonville, now that they have a contract with the ownership of that team. Beautiful stadium that's up to AAA standards in a good sized market that's only 5 hours away. I say leave Las Vegas out in the cold--the sad reality is that baseball (and pro sports in general) is secondary in Las Vegas, the stadium is outdated and attendance is near the bottom of all AAA franchises. That the city is somehow touted as a possible relocation or expansion city for MLB is a joke.

Shouldn't Judge Cohen have released her final order by now to make the ruling in the Braman case official? From what I've heard the Marlins have tied that into when they will make public the new ballpark plans. I heard the final order was supposed to have gone out after Monday, but so far I've heard nothing.

Braman say he will appeal Yes we should expect another trial in a different court. It's not an actual trial in the appellate court, just a review of the trial court's decision. They don't have to call witnesses again or anything like they did at the trial level. All you have is lawyers for both sides at a one day hearing, one arguing that the trial court's decision should be upheld, and the other arguing for a reversal. The only way there is a new trial is if the appellate court found that there was some inproper consideration in evidence or legal argument. With this being a bench (non-jury) trial, that is highly unlikely. Plus--and I'm corssing my fingers here--appellate judges typically don't like to rock the boat. They don't like to reverse a trial court unless they really find it warranted. So let's hope for the best, and play ball. And to Norm Braman, I can only say one thing--Go sell me a car, bitch!

The second version (pure white as opposed to beige, with the home hat being black with a teal brim) is just about perfect. Good job to whomever designed it. Marlins Teal is about as natural as Dodgers Blue or Cardinals Red. I am disappointed in the current uniform's minimization of this team's true primary color. Marlins fans should be able to say they bleed teal! Seriously, we should all forward the second version of this proposal to the Marlins FO. It just about nails it.

The next one? We can hope...

I admire the effort that the fan took and think he did a good job at designing a ballpark; however, with that being said it looks rather out of place for Miami. Too much classical column work; other than perhaps the Miami Dade Courthouse, I can't think of any significant building in Miami that has a similar sort of architecture. This looks more appropriate in Washington than Miami (and would have probably made a nice exterior than the boring outside of Nationals Park.) I think it is useless trying to design a ballpark that doesn't fit in its city. For the same reason, the "red brick, green seats" that works in Baltimore and other Northern cities wouldn't work well in Miami. Miami should have an art deco inspired exterior.

As someone who has argued before Judge Cohen in the not too distant past, she is careful and deliberative as to the arguments of both sides. She reads all the motions and the supporting case law. She is not one to give into superficial emotional appeals. So assuming that the law is on the county's side, and their attorneys are competent in articulating their postition, I think it will end up well for the Marlins in the end. At least I hope.

Greg Cote of the Miami Herald has a really good editorial on the Braman lawsuit: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_n...ory/599483.html Braman lawsuit threatens more than Marlins stadium Posted on Wed, Jul. 09, 2008 BY GREG COTE gcote@MiamiHerald.com We are an overly litigious society whose nuisance suits and frivolous suits keep lawyers in expensive suits. Sometimes the plaintiff is a person who scalds himself with hot coffee but decides suing McDonald's for millions is nobler than cursing his own carelessness. And sometimes the plaintiff is a 75-year-old Miami multimillionaire who got rich selling cars but now wants to slam the brakes on progress. Norman Braman does a lot of good around here. Let's admit that first. He is a philanthropist whose generosity has touched education and breast-cancer research. He was instrumental in realizing a Holocaust Museum in Miami Beach. It doesn't mean he always is right, though. And it doesn't look like he is right in Braman v. Miami-Dade County, his lawsuit that goes to trial Thursday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. Braman's effort, if successful, would derail the county's $3 billion redevelopment ''megaplan'' for Miami -- the area's long-needed and most ambitious public-works initiative in decades, one that includes a new Marlins baseball stadium. Here is local government, for all of its history of scandal and inefficiency, trying at last to think big and be big, and finally haul Miami into the 21st Century in terms of urban revitalization and renewal. And here are the Marlins, after 11 years of trying, through three ownership groups and several evolutions of county and city commissions, finally on the cusp of breaking ground on a ballpark all its own. Only to have the whole grand package jeopardized by one guy's nuisance suit. This continues Braman's dubious track record of suing over how local government spends money. In 1982, he led a campaign to defeat a city sales tax that would have renovated the Orange Bowl for the Dolphins. It was what led Joe Robbie to soon after announce he would build a stadium and move the team north. It was a harbinger of years of OB neglect that would lead to the Hurricanes also moving out and the old stadium being demolished. With that, Braman had drawn his line against public dollars for stadiums. Yet barely a decade later, in 1993, he owned the Philadelphia Eagles and offered to build a stadium only if the city would donate the land. Evidently, Braman had by then developed a moral distinction between getting public money and getting public land. In 1999, Braman helped defeat a one-cent sales tax earmarked for a $1 billion mass transit plan for Miami. Hmm. Imagine that. A car dealer fighting mass transit! No vested interest there, right? Now Braman is aiming his slingshot at big government again, but unlike the Biblical David, the little guy is no hero. He is just a rich little guy with a slingshot and a team of lawyers, slinging a lawsuit because, well -- because he can. (And perhaps because part of the Miami megaplan includes streetcars. Imagine! The car dealer is against mass transit again! What a coincidence!) This trial's judge will rule against Braman (it says here) because so much of the suit's premise is on shaky legal footing. For example, he claims the megaplan should have been subject to a public vote, and yet the courts already have ruled the county/city vote was legal and not requiring a public referendum. He also claims it is unconstitutional to pledge public credit to a private enterprise (such as a baseball team), and yet the Florida Supreme Court ruled otherwise in the 1990s, allowing $318 million in public money to build a stadium for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and explaining the expenditure would be ``substantially beneficial to the public.'' ''Beneficial to the public'' is fundamental here. This is about our civic responsibility to see the larger picture and put the public good over individual wants. A Marlins fan should support a new, 37,000-seat retractable dome stadium (even if not thrilled about the OB site in Little Havana), but even nonfans should appreciate the benefit of how a thriving big-league sports team can knit a community. Similarly, you do not need to be a connoisseur of opera or ballet to see that a performing arts center improves our overall quality of life, just as you do not need to be a parent to support better schools. This $3 billion initiative, now on trial, would rejuvenate Overtown and transform Bicentennial Park into a waterfront jewel, among many other projects. As for the new Marlins ballpark, the club would pay roughly $155 million of the $515 million cost, and the rest would come from tourists' hotel bed-tax dollars. That is a pretty painless deal for us locals, wallet-wise. So let's get out of the courtroom and into the future, shall we? Let's swat this silly trial that sits on our ambition like a mosquito. Let's get to building a better Miami. Sure beats that piece of crapola David Hyde spewed out a couple of weeks ago in the Sun-Sentinel, singing the praises of Norm Braman and his wonderful lawsuit. But then again, that's David Hyde for you, never missing an opportunity to take a shot at the Marlins on any sort of subject.

I can't stand the hack, personally. Waste of good newspaper space. The man seems to be humanly unable to write about the hometown baseball team without it either being just a nasty hit job or poorly done snark at the team's expense. I know the column was a lame attempt at satire, but what bothered me about it was the whole "Thousands of tickets are still available" jab. Yeah, Dave, like how 195,000 tickets sold out in 2003 in about two hours flat. Let me know when he's done humping Norman Braman's leg.