June 30, 201115 yr The day we have all been waiting years for! APNewsBreak: Marlins open stadium April 4 vs Cards BY RONALD BLUM AP SPORTS WRITER NEW YORK -- The Marlins will open their new $515 million ballpark against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 4, a person familiar with next season's draft schedule told The Associated Press The person spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday because Major League Baseball does not plan to announce the schedule, which is still preliminary, until September. "That's cool. It's the first I heard of it," Florida catcher John Buck said after a 5-4 win at Oakland. "It's fun to have an opening day in your home stadium, period. Then to have the excitement of a new stadium is only going to heighten it. I'm looking forward to it." Florida's downtown ballpark, which has a retractable roof, will be the first to open in the majors since Minnesota's Target Field in 2010. The franchise is to be renamed the Miami Marlins next year. "It will be quite a show," Marlins manager Jack McKeon said. "To open up a new stadium that Miami can call their own, a true baseball stadium, a beautiful facility. What else could you ask for? They're going to have to be happy." Many teams prefer to open on the road in the years they move into a new ballpark, giving them extra time to get the stadium ready. Since the Marlins began play in 1993, their home games have been at what now is called Sun Life Stadium, about 16 miles north. The Marlins say they have had 191 rain delays during games in Miami, an average of more than 10 per season - although none this year. When the Marlins move out of Sun Life, where the Miami Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes play their home football games, Oakland's Coliseum will be the last stadium shared by MLB and NFL teams. In the early 1990s, about two-thirds of major league clubs shared ballparks with NFL teams. With the opening of the new Miami stadium, Oakland and Tampa Bay will be the last big league teams hoping for new ballparks. Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/30/2293826/apnewsbreak-marlins-open-stadium.html#ixzz1QnxZLFlC
June 30, 201115 yr WOO! YEAH! OH YEAH! UH HUH! 3 DAYS AFTER WRESTLEMANIA! I'M GOING TO MIAMI! PLANNING IT NOW!!!!!!
June 30, 201115 yr Author AP is also reporting that the Marlins will hold an Exhibition Game vs THE YANKEES before the Cardinals opener. April 4 lands on a Wed which looks like it will OPEN the BASEBALL season as well. Reports are saying that the Cardinals game will only be a 1 game series. Interesting
July 1, 201115 yr April 4 lands on a Wed which looks like it will OPEN the BASEBALL season as well. Reports are saying that the Cardinals game will only be a 1 game series. Interesting Game is expected to be on ESPN. Reports are it will only be a 1 game homestand to be more specific. Very strange.
July 1, 201115 yr April 4 lands on a Wed which looks like it will OPEN the BASEBALL season as well. I thought the season was supposed to start earlier?
July 1, 201115 yr April 4 lands on a Wed which looks like it will OPEN the BASEBALL season as well. Reports are saying that the Cardinals game will only be a 1 game series. Interesting Game is expected to be on ESPN. Reports are it will only be a 1 game homestand to be more specific. Very strange. What is the deal with that?
July 1, 201115 yr Author April 4 lands on a Wed which looks like it will OPEN the BASEBALL season as well. Reports are saying that the Cardinals game will only be a 1 game series. Interesting Game is expected to be on ESPN. Reports are it will only be a 1 game homestand to be more specific. Very strange. What is the deal with that? I think it allows the Marlins to get exposure on the new ballpark to open the MLB season. Then the ballpark can make adjustments for the rest of the season while the Marlins go on the road for let's say 9 games. Gives them time in case things go wrong opening night. That's my only guess is to why its a one game homestand.
July 1, 201115 yr Maybe its to be one of those play a game then skip a day affairs like they do with a lot of team at the beginning of the year. So we open Wed, and then play Fri, Sat and Sun. against the Cards. Could it be like that too?
July 1, 201115 yr WOO! YEAH! OH YEAH! UH HUH! 3 DAYS AFTER WRESTLEMANIA! I'M GOING TO MIAMI! PLANNING IT NOW!!!!!! I just may have to fly across for those few days.
July 1, 201115 yr Maybe its to be one of those play a game then skip a day affairs like they do with a lot of team at the beginning of the year. So we open Wed, and then play Fri, Sat and Sun. against the Cards. Could it be like that too? Plan is to hit the road after one game. It's what the Nationals did when they opened their new park. It's a draft schedule though so it's possible things change especially if baseball goes ahead with realignment.
July 1, 201115 yr Maybe its to be one of those play a game then skip a day affairs like they do with a lot of team at the beginning of the year. So we open Wed, and then play Fri, Sat and Sun. against the Cards. Could it be like that too? Plan is to hit the road after one game. It's what the Nationals did when they opened their new park. It's a draft schedule though so it's possible things change especially if baseball goes ahead with realignment. Also are we sure its the 1st Wed of the season? Didn't the season start this year on Mar 31st? I am hopeful we'd get that spotlight, but we never seem to get any love from baseball. In fact they often have treated us as an annoyance rather than as an equal member. I can't believe Bud Selig will allow this.
July 1, 201115 yr The Nationals did the same thing for their park opening in 2008. http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/schedule/_/name/wsh/year/2008/half/1/washington-nationals They played Sunday Night Baseball at home on ESPN before Monday's true opening day. It's a nice gesture by MLB, especially considering us and the Nats are never on national TV. So if we can't get on for a stadium opening then we may as well never be on.
July 1, 201115 yr A friend of mine informed me of this yesterday, why the Cardinals? Oh wait... ... It gives ESPN more of a reason to televise the game on ESPN, as if they didn't have enough reasons. Hope we win, I believe we won our first game at Pro Player 6-3.
July 1, 201115 yr Maybe its to be one of those play a game then skip a day affairs like they do with a lot of team at the beginning of the year. So we open Wed, and then play Fri, Sat and Sun. against the Cards. Could it be like that too? Plan is to hit the road after one game. It's what the Nationals did when they opened their new park. It's a draft schedule though so it's possible things change especially if baseball goes ahead with realignment. Has there been any other news about the realignment other than the thought of going to a 2 league 15 team each set?
July 3, 201115 yr The Nationals did the same thing for their park opening in 2008. http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/schedule/_/name/wsh/year/2008/half/1/washington-nationals They played Sunday Night Baseball at home on ESPN before Monday's true opening day. It's a nice gesture by MLB, especially considering us and the Nats are never on national TV. So if we can't get on for a stadium opening then we may as well never be on. This means that the Marlins might have a home game on opening day/night and then go on a road trip. For the Nationals it was 2 series.
July 3, 201115 yr Is the opener completely sold out already? No, because only full season ticket plans are available still.
July 3, 201115 yr Is the opener completely sold out already? No, because only full season ticket plans are available still. Interesting...maybe my Wrestlemania-Opening Day double header could still come to fruition
July 3, 201115 yr Will we have to listen to espn commentators? yeah kind of a petty thing but for the team's very first game there I sure would like to hear Rich & Tommy calling it.
July 3, 201115 yr Is the opener completely sold out already? No, because only full season ticket plans are available still. Do you know when tix will be on sale? (Individuals)
July 3, 201115 yr Author Is the opener completely sold out already? No, because only full season ticket plans are available still. Do you know when tix will be on sale? (Individuals) I heard sometime in Jan. but that's not confirmed or anything
July 4, 201115 yr Is the opener completely sold out already? No, because only full season ticket plans are available still. Do you know when tix will be on sale? (Individuals) I heard sometime in Jan. but that's not confirmed or anything I will pay top dolla for viewing pleasure!
July 4, 201115 yr Is the opener completely sold out already? No, because only full season ticket plans are available still. Interesting...maybe my Wrestlemania-Opening Day double header could still come to fruition I'll be there with ya... and with my brother in law who's a paramedic cuz I'm pretty sure those two events in the same week will give me some medical trauma that I'll need emergency help for.
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