When I travelled to Miami in 2016, I visited the Marlins park, a baseball stadium that has a retractable roof. This retractable roof is an engineering marvel, for it closes in 15 min from the open position (5th ballpark that has a retractable roof. There are 8 MLB stadiums with this feature). Besides rain, the roof also helps with the triple digit heat in South Florida and humidity. Those watching the game at the park can watch in a comfortable atmosphere. Marlins park has the roof closed for most games. It is open a handful of times in the season.
I still call the Miami Marlins the Florida Marlins, because that is the name they used when they started. As a Florida resident in my past, I have Marlin attire so I was able to look like a local. The team officially changed its name in 2012. The Marlins are in the same division as the Phillies, Braves, Nationals, and Mets. As a consequence, we play them a lot especially because MLB has lots of divisional games near the end of the regular season.
This team was an expansion team in 1993. What boggles me is that this expansion team has the same amount of World Series titles as my hometown Phillies. Marlins won the National League(NL) Pennant and World Series in 1997 and 2003, which happened to be 2 of 3 postseason appearances (all as wild card berths). This is a team you do not want to underestimate. They can get hot and cause trouble if they make the postseason.
As a baseball park, this stadium did not impress me. Food was average fare. Crowd was less than what I typically see at MLB games. Because this is a team that has only been around since 1993, the Marlins do not have much of a baseball history compared to other clubs. The only selling point is the roof, but I prefer the traditional baseball park in which the audience gets rained on along with players. I know that means rain delay if rain is too intrusive on gameplay. That shows my age a bit. This ballpark would allow the teams playing to play on, for the roof can be closed accordingly. At the particular game I attended, the Marlins (aka Fish) played the St Louis Cardinals and the roof was closed for the game. I was hoping the Fish beat the Cardinals. Unfortunately, the Cardinals prevailed.
Now, let us fast forward to September 2023. My Phillies played the Fish at 7:05 pm (night game). Phils lost by 1 home run, by a run allowed to a batter that has only hit 5 home runs all season. It was bad luck for us. I am reminded how these Marlins are fighters and they still have a shot at reaching postseason. They are playing for one of the 3 wild card berths in the National League. Phillies should beat this team; we will see how this 3-game series plays out.
