February 13, 200521 yr Btw, I don't know if any of you guys have read this yet but: Excitement runs deep at FanFest Delgado, other Marlins ready to get season started By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com tickets for any Major League Baseball game MIAMI -- Where Carlos Delgado went, large crowds followed. For the most part, pretty much all of the Marlins and team executives received star treatment as they milled about the six-hour BankUnited 2005 FanFest Saturday at Dolphins Stadium. Their every step was shadowed by the throngs of fans who flocked to the stadium on the first day individual game tickets went on sale. As expected, the arrival of Delgado was a highlight. The prize free agent first baseman recently signed the richest contract in franchise history, $52 million over four years. A cheerful group of fans in the audience screamed to Delgado: "Welcome to Miami!" "I can't wait until next Sunday (Feb. 20) to report to Jupiter, meet all the guys and get down to business," Delgado said. Pitchers and catchers report to Marlins Spring Training in Jupiter on Feb. 17, with position players arriving Feb. 20 and the first full-squad workouts slated for Feb. 22. Asked by a fan how many home runs he would hit in his debut season with the Marlins, Delgado remained non-committal. He actually used the question to challenge fans to see for themselves. "I guess you're going to have to come out and watch," said the power-hitting first baseman, who spent the first 12 seasons of his big league career with the Blue Jays. Delgado and his new teammates engaged in some entertaining interaction with fans in an afternoon town hall session. In front of about 150 packed into the Dolphins' locker room, Delgado sat with some of his new teammates. In one lively discussion, the powerful Delgado was seated next to the speedy Juan Pierre. The most obvious similarity Pierre and Delgado share is both are left-handed hitters. Aside from that, they are as contrasting as a fastball and breaking ball. Yet, before an energized gathering, they shared some fun moments playing off each other. When a fan asked Delgado about being the lefty "cleanup" hitter in the lineup, Pierre interjected: "OK, as long as you said cleanup hitter." With seven career home runs, Pierre will never be confused with Delgado, who has smacked 336 as a Major Leaguer. But in a playful moment, Pierre joked about wanting to bulk up in the offseason to fill the lack of home run power from the left side. "I was changing my whole workout routine," Pierre quipped about lifting more weights. "I figured if they wanted a lefty home run hitter, then maybe they could have had one under their nose." But after Delgado signed, Pierre added: "Instead of going for 35 home runs, I'll hit my three to five." Aside from the light-hearted exchanges, Delgado made it clear that players like Pierre played a significant role in his signing with the Marlins. With Pierre leading off, followed by fleet-footed Luis Castillo, the Marlins offer the balance of great speed at the top of the order followed by power in Miguel Cabrera, Delgado and Mike Lowell. "This is a really balanced lineup," Delgado said. Lowell, a three-time All-Star, who spoke to fans earlier in the day, praised the arrival of Delgado. "He is a bona fide home run hitter," Lowell said. "He's our Jim Thome or Manny Ramirez. I think we've got another one of those type of guys in Miguel Cabrera. But I'm not sure he can drive yet." Cabrera, who turns 22 in April, comes off a 33 home run and 112 RBI season. In another interesting exchange, pitcher A.J. Burnett was asked if he would consider a "hometown discount" to sign a long-term contract with the Marlins. Eligible for free agency after the season, Burnett said: "I don't want to go nowhere, bro. Don't be surprised if a couple of months into the season we work something out. Everything is cool." Over the past few seasons, FanFest has ballooned in terms of attendance, activities and attention. The estimated crowd, which topped last year's total of 30,000, took advantage of Select-A-Seat, autograph sessions and town hall meetings with players and team officials. The team announced 25,000 individual-game tickets were sold, an increase of more than 50 percent over the number of tickets sold on the first day of individual-game sales last year. Of that total, an estimated 50 percent of the tickets were purchased online. Tickets are available for all Marlins games at floridamarlins.com. "We are pleased to have surpassed last year's first-day sales by 50 percent," Marlins president David Samson said. A World Series championship is always important for the following year's sales, but our numbers today prove that fielding a highly competitive team, while continuing to secure the franchise's future, is even more critical for our fans." Along with the interaction with players, fans made their voices heard to Marlins management. As expected, a hot topic for Samson was the team's quest for a new stadium. Samson is spearheading the Marlins' negotiations for a retractable-roof stadium with city of Miami and Miami-Dade County officials. The team is optimistic that a local deal for the $420 million project will be finalized when county commissioners vote March 1. To finalize the project, the team is seeking $60 million from the state Legislature in the form of a tax rebate. If everything is approved, the Marlins would move into a new stadium next to the Orange Bowl in Miami on Opening Day of 2008. Samson said owner Jeffrey Loria has given two directives to the front office. To general manager Admin Beinfest, Loria asks for a winning team for years to come. And to Samson, Loria has stated he the new stadium to get done in order to ensure the long-term stability of the Marlins in South Florida. FanFest officially opened at 10 a.m., when individual game tickets were sold at the stadium and online at floridamarlins.com. By 10:30 a.m. ET, more than 4,000 tickets were sold. The totals kept increasing rapidly throughout the day. Samson noted that there were no barricades to sort the lines in 2002, after Loria took over. In 2003, there were two barricades. On Saturday, the number of barricades again doubled. "This is bigger than after the [2003] World Series," Samson said. "The people are surprised that we don't have some of the seats available that were available in the past. We're a different club than we were a few years ago. People are wearing more Marlins stuff." The signing of high-profile players like Delgado and Al Leiter helped generate interest. "There was a ton of excitement before we signed Carlos," Samson said. "What that signing did was it just made people more excited and added more credibility to what we are doing." Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. Some really great numbers for tickets sold today :thumbup
February 13, 200521 yr No Lowell pictures or autographs? What did you guys get in terms of autographs? I couldn't go =\
February 13, 200521 yr No Lowell pictures or autographs? What did you guys get in terms of autographs? I couldn't go =\ 684145[/snapback] Autographs? The setup was worse than last year. You had to be really, REALLY to get any type of autograph.
February 13, 200521 yr Really Really what? I got like 7 autographs and didn't even have one of those VIP thingies.
February 13, 200521 yr Really Really what? I got like 7 autographs and didn't even have one of those VIP thingies. 684162[/snapback] Well then you were one of the lucky few.
February 13, 200521 yr Really Really what? I got like 7 autographs and didn't even have one of those VIP thingies. 684162[/snapback] Who'd you get? Did you wait on autograph lines the whole day?
February 13, 200521 yr No i waited a while but not the whole day.... I got harris, wayne, conine, spooney, lieter, and some other new dude...... didnt know his name.
February 13, 200521 yr No i waited a while but not the whole day.... I got harris, wayne, conine, spooney, lieter, and some other new dude...... didnt know his name. 684167[/snapback] lol you were busy. :thumbup Great pickups
February 13, 200521 yr Autograph lines were horrific.... wasn't going to wait for over an hour and a half to get a ticket and then another half hour to go in the tent without knowing who you're going to get.... it wasn't a good way to get autographs at Fan Fest
February 13, 200521 yr Why does JP have a Brave hat? 683753[/snapback] I was wondering the same thing 683754[/snapback] cuz hes a fan. just cuz hes a marlin dont mean he has to close his world to every other team. or maybe he likes how he looks in it
February 13, 200521 yr i couldnt go. i woke up at 11, which was plenty time but my sister wouldnt get up for shnit. when she did get up it was 2. it takes a while to get to the stadium, leaving too little time to spend over there. i was anticipating the tours and the autographs. i dont see any pics of miggy, so thank god i didnt miss too much. im ondering how the auditions for the commercial went. i hope its not TOO annoying. anyone know when the next autograph things are coming up?
February 13, 200521 yr Why does JP have a Brave hat? 683753[/snapback] I was wondering the same thing 683754[/snapback] cuz hes a fan. just cuz hes a marlin dont mean he has to close his world to every other team. or maybe he likes how he looks in it 684330[/snapback] :plain
February 13, 200521 yr Why does JP have a Brave hat? 683753[/snapback] I was wondering the same thing 683754[/snapback] cuz hes a fan. just cuz hes a marlin dont mean he has to close his world to every other team. or maybe he likes how he looks in it 684330[/snapback] :plain 684384[/snapback] I second that :plain
February 13, 200521 yr Why does JP have a Brave hat? 683753[/snapback] I was wondering the same thing 683754[/snapback] cuz hes a fan. just cuz hes a marlin dont mean he has to close his world to every other team. or maybe he likes how he looks in it 684330[/snapback] :plain 684384[/snapback] I second that :plain 684406[/snapback] I third that :plain
February 13, 200521 yr Why does JP have a Brave hat? 683753[/snapback] I was wondering the same thing 683754[/snapback] cuz hes a fan. just cuz hes a marlin dont mean he has to close his world to every other team. or maybe he likes how he looks in it 684330[/snapback] :plain 684384[/snapback] I second that :plain 684406[/snapback] I third that :plain 684407[/snapback] I must also agree :plain
February 13, 200521 yr I went with 3 of my friends and 2 cousins. We all have the 20 saturday game pack in fish tank. I wasnt able to make the 2:00 press conference because it was full even after I got there half an hour early but it was still a good time. Only player I saw was the Octupus and got autographs from all 3 announcers. The new guy Rick Waltz looks like a cool guy. Overall the VIP perks were pretty cool since we also got to sit in the press boxes. 683805[/snapback] I got to the 2pm conference at 1:15 and they were already turning us away. Then they tell us there will be a 3pm conference, so I got into line for that, then word is the 3pm conference was in Spanish only. As a season ticket holder, I think their should have been an autograph session just for us. The lines to get a mystery ticket for autograph ran half way around the stadium. In the sun for that amount of time, then no guarantee that you would get a ticket for whom was a terrible ordeal. I stood on the outside of the tent and got some pics of the players as they left and from the photo booth. Isn't there a special event for season ticket holders for autographs and such?
February 13, 200521 yr I the townhall thing was one of the highlights of the day, we were on the left side of the room in the 3rd row we were sitting right next to that old woman that started yelling at Samson. As for autographs I got Bump, Alfonseca, and most importantly I got Delgado twice.
February 13, 200521 yr I the townhall thing was one of the highlights of the day, we were on the left side of the room in the 3rd row we were sitting right next to that old woman that started yelling at Samson. As for autographs I got Bump, Alfonseca, and most importantly I got Delgado twice. 684442[/snapback] What was she yelling at Samson?
February 13, 200521 yr That he need to talk to the cheif of the Miccosuke and ask him for the money to build a stadium because they are very nice people and that he will probley help out, she kept going on and noone really said anything but she kept telling Samson not to brush her off, it was pretty crazy.
February 13, 200521 yr Why does JP have a Brave hat? 683753[/snapback] I was wondering the same thing 683754[/snapback] cuz hes a fan. just cuz hes a marlin dont mean he has to close his world to every other team. or maybe he likes how he looks in it 684330[/snapback] :plain 684384[/snapback] I second that :plain 684406[/snapback] I third that :plain 684407[/snapback] I must also agree :plain 684411[/snapback] I fifth that :plain and I raise you :plain ^2
February 13, 200521 yr That he need to talk to the cheif of the Miccosuke and ask him for the money to build a stadium because they are very nice people and that he will probley help out, she kept going on and noone really said anything but she kept telling Samson not to brush her off, it was pretty crazy. 684444[/snapback] Psycho. :plain
February 13, 200521 yr That he need to talk to the cheif of the Miccosuke and ask him for the money to build a stadium because they are very nice people and that he will probley help out, she kept going on and noone really said anything but she kept telling Samson not to brush her off, it was pretty crazy. 684444[/snapback] Psycho. :plain 684467[/snapback] Hilarious.
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