Witness the retraction of the roof at Miami Marlins Park on Opening Night 2012

We are heading down from Broward County on arguably one of the busiest sports days in South Florida history. The Marlins are christening their new stadium while the Heat are also playing the Oklahoma City Thunder, vying for a playoff spot. Even more historical is the fact that both games are on ESPN. It seemed that ESPN had a blackout policy towards both franchises – my how things change.

Even more unbelievable, in fact, is that it’s the Marlins who are pushing the Heat to ESPN2.

Several parking garages surround the new park, but we think better of this strategy. Maybe not such a good idea on a dry run with a packed house and thinking better of it, we opt to head on over to Magic City Casino to hitch a ride. For $5, you can park and ride in an air-conditioned tour bus and arrive, rock star style, at the foot of the new stadium.

Architecturally, it reminds one of the American Airlines Arena – sleek, modern, turbine of a wave crest spun into the ground with soaring glass and promenades. The atmosphere is one only South Florida could provide, luscious percussion and horns thumping to the steamy Latin-inspired beats that are all too familiar to the area. This is an event, you are being told, no punches pulled here. It doesn’t feel contrived, but you do realize that you are being persuaded to join the party. You are compelled, drawn in, seduced. With a slender finger and a wag, you proceed up to the gate, hand over your glossy ticket, get scanned and admitted. You are handed a shiny new lanyard to put your ticket in, for safe keeping, and off you go ascending the stair case or escalators up to the promenade.

Immediately you feel out of place because, in years’ past when you attended a Marlins game, you felt really out of place. You were watching baseball in a football stadium. Now, you can’t take your eyes off the game as you can literally see the field from every nook and cranny while waiting in line for beer, peanuts, and cracker jack. And there were lines.

Once you get to your seat, there is another surprise awaiting you which will make a huge difference for baseball fans here in Miami – you are actually oriented towards home plate. At Joe Robbie/Sun Life/Landshark, you had to screw your neck to get a glimpse of the game as all of the lines were meant for football, not baseball. Not so at the new park where everyone is facing home plate where indeed, all the action of the game is centered.

The atmosphere is very colorful, yet subdued. The drab green wall runs the length of the outfield and mirrors the color of the grass. Yet soaring above the left center field area is the much discussed Red Grooms commission. The very essence of the piece is compelling – it is a multimedia spin, literally, on the event of a home run for the south Florida fans of the Miami Marlins. There are mechanized flamingos and marlins which spin around almost like straight out of some kind of county fair shooting game. Take aim, boys, it screams, daring anyone to take on the challenge of enlivening the crowd with one swing of the bat. Now you can quite literally shake the place.

Then there’s the roof. The very heart of this issue about baseball in south Florida. This one simple feature will redefine the market and make Miami a baseball haven. Or so the hope is. What’s the big deal, after all? The ancient Romans had retractable roof technology – they hired sailors to unfurl sails over the crowds gathered at the Coliseum to witness gladiator blood sport. Why shouldn’t we, us advanced civilized folk, have anything less? Now we do and the roof was pealed back in about 10 minutes. Complete with fireworks and a flyover, the 8 tons of concrete and steel revealed the sky to the crowd in dramatic fashion.

There was a game to be played, too. In fact, in some ways, it was a relief to get to it – to sort through all of the celebrations and pre-game hype. The Marlins were doing more than just playing a game, they were setting a tone. No, they were invoking a call for a new tradition in Miami, a new rite of summer that will begin with the rolling back of the ceiling to show us the sky. An interior blessed with the art of modern masters to help us see things in new ways. The team, the game, all seem to be less the focus and a bit more of the ingredients. The purist will rue the interchanges between innings with dance teams, loud music, cutaways on the jumbotron, and racing sea life around the outfield wall. Yet this is where things are – a soup to be stirred and enjoyed by a diverse community. Some will come for the baseball, some will come as a curiosity, some will come for the event. All will leave impacted and that is what this ownership team is hoping for – new life into the heart of the city. The football past has given way to a baseball renaissance.

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Meanwhile, the Marlins were closing out their 2011 season by losing to the Nationals in their last ever game at the cavernous Joe Robbie-turned-Sun Life Stadium. Yet, you could feel more of a buzz about the Marlins going forward.

A couple of weeks ago the Braves were heading to the postseason while riding the coattails of two ex-Marlins in Dan Uggla and skipper Fredi Gonzalez. It was looking bleak as the Fish were squandering what looked like a promising start to the season into an injury-riddled, listless movement that seemed to show the Marlins were not going anywhere soon.

With Ozzie Guillen’s return to Miami, and getting to inaugurate the new home for the Marlins in downtown Miami, all of that has changed. I have to admit, it was looking like another mistake by the Marlins in that clearly they hired the right manager but for the wrong team. I was starting to wonder if we had been wrong about Fredi and with Joe Girardi leading his team into the playoffs again, it was feeling a bit like rejection at the high school prom.

Funny how perspectives and fortunes can change literally overnight. Now where would you rather be: faced with explaining a huge collapse or asking questions to Ozzie Guillen about the direction of his new ballclub?

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At 20-13, the Fish are off to play the division leaders, the Philadelphia Phillies, for a chance to gain ground on their two game lag behind the Phillies.

“This sets the tone going into the next series,” catcher John Buck said. “We were a little flat, a little stale. For Anibal to step up and do that for the team, that was huge. I definitely feel a lot better now that we played that good game.”

The Phillies got all of the pub, but the Marlins are showing they’re for real. Getting a few wins against the Phillies would be a great way to continue to show that.

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Seems Fredi tricked himself with his moves: in the top of the 8th Chris Coghlan was slated to come out of LF for Alejandro De Aza, who batted for Reynel Pinto in a double switch. De Aza never came into the game and with Coghlan in LF, once Leo Nunez threw a pitch, Girardi came out of the Yankees dugout to protest the game. The Marlins had a 6-3 lead at the time.

Seems the intrigue was for naught as the Marlins held on to win 6-5 and arguably, it wasn’t because of any unfair advantage brought on by the mix up. In fact, Girardi joked he would like to uphold the protest and retain the two runs they gained to drop the lead from 6-3 to 6-5. A ruling will come this week about the matter but it should not overturn the result. Just seems like the Yankees, even if they have just cause, really are just being a bit sour about the result of this weekend’s series with the Fish. Stay tuned to see if the Yankees can rob a result from the Marlins, but it looks highly unlikely at this stage.

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All of this despite rumors that Uggla might be traded to San Francisco. After winning his arbitration case with the Marlins this past offseason, earning $5.35 million for this season, his offense has been somewhat light after looking at his home run production.

Uggla has shown a bit more patience at times at the plate, and his power numbers are right where you want them to be. Nonetheless, congratulations to Dan Uggla for reaching this career milestone.

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The Hall of Fame is calling and they want a piece of the Marlins 2008 infield. Why? Because they are the first team ever to have their entire infield hit over 25 home runs each. And the season isn’t even over yet.

Mike Jacobs, Dan Uggla, Hanley Ramirez and Jorge Cantu have all climbed over that peak but are looking to shatter it now. Cantu, splashing the other night with a grand slam, has 28 on the season. Two more and the Marlins can really set a precedent that will be hard to surpass – unless they all return for next season.

Hanley and Big Jake have 32 a piece, Uggla has 30 and Cantu has tied his career high with 28. The Hall of Fame has requested the lineup card from September 13, when Cantu hit a home run to be the final member of the group to surpass the home run plateau.

Hanley Ramirez Most Likely Out Tonight

Looks like Hanley’s strained left shoulder is going to keep him out of the lineup tonight as well. Last night, Ramirez was benched and replaced by utility wonder Alfredo Amezaga, the ‘Mazin’ Mexican. “Amazing”, as we also like to call him went 0-4 last night, but was 4 for 12 in the Astros series.

With Amezaga at SS, the Marlins unleashed Cameron Maybin for his first Marlin start of his career. All the kid did was go 4-4 with a BB and 2 runs. Maybe we should keep starting him in this series against the Phillies? Why not, couldn’t hurt to get him the experience and see what he is all about.

The Marlins could use the extra offense that Hanley Ramirez provides, but will probably not see HR until Saturday. Expect to see Maybin in CF again, and Amazing back at SS.

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The 6th player ever in Major League Baseball history to do it – and he did it Monday night at Dolphins Stadium as the Marlins were hosting the Reds.

Ken Griffey Jr, who started his career in Seattle, watched his father play for the Reds during their heyday while growing up. Now, he has helped create a bit of Reds history himself, hitting his 600th home run 413 feet into the right field seats. The home run came on a 3-1 count off of pitcher Mark Hendrickson.

The ball, caught by a Marlins fan, surely will be sold to the highest bidder but this makes for an interesting case about Griffey and his hall of fame credentials. He is one of the top home run hitters of all time and surely is a testament to his durability. Next up, ex-Cubbie slugger Sammy Sosa who hit 609 home runs in his career.

A few years ago, this day may have seemed not likely at all for Griffey who was faced with injury after injury in his pursuit of history. Now, he can rest easier – the only question is, how long will he continue to play and did the pressure of hitting #600 weigh on him a bit?

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httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=JoumAUfwnI8

It amazes me how the Cub fans – and players – immediately made him the scapegoat. It was almost instantly and I recall watching the event and immediately recognizing that we were going to win the series because it almost seemed as if the Cubs entire organization and fanbase was looking for a collapse. They found it right there with Bartman who seemed to materialize all their fears. It is also kind of frightful how much he went through, but also just imagine being in his position coming out to see your favorite team. I think we should still build a memorial to the guy – maybe that is something I will propose for the new Marlins stadium.

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Start calling it the Wiley-factor. Frankly, we have already propounded the Midas-like ability he has had in a Marlins uniform as a pitching coach, but this is just more evidence. Miller pitched 7 innings of shutout ball against the Diamondbacks and also struck out 9 snakes along the way. Practically St. Patrick-like.

The Marlins ran the DBacks out of town with their tails in knots. It wasn’t that they didn’t bring their big boys for the job, either. Owens was 5-1, Webb was 9-0 and now Haren took the mound tonight to try and salvage the series and prevent a sweep. But he was out-dueled by the baby-faced Miller who at times beginning the season looked like he was in over his head.

He has now settled in and dropped his once ridiculous ERA (as high as 12.91) to a somewhat reasonable 5.33. Over his last 4 starts he has given up just 4 ERs.

In the sweep, however, it wasn’t just about Miller. Ricky Nolasco went up against Brandon Webb, who was going for his 10th win in a row to start the season, and matched him and stole the game. His only mistake was a hanging curve to Stephen Drew which lead to a home run – the only ER he gave up last night. He also struck out 7 batters.

In the first game it was Mark Hendrickson. And Matt Lindstrom. And Kevin Gregg.

The point is, there was a different hero each night depending on where you looked. It was Luis Gonzalez, mashing a triple to the furthest spot in the park followed by Matt Treanor’s masterpiece of a squeeze. It was Cody Ross’ game silencing home run. Wes Helms base-clearing double. A defensive gem or two from Amezaga.

This team is playing excellent baseball right now and is doing so with some serious talent injured – Josh Johnson, Anibal Sanchez, Josh Willingham. Jacque Jones isn’t even in uniform yet and somehow this team is looking better than most any team in basball. After a sweep from the Reds and dropping two against the Royals, there were some serious question marks for this team.

They have answered them astoundingly. In fact, Nolesmarlin, this better get the Marlins some serious cred in your next Power Rankings! We can’t say the same for the national coverage, as they continue to berate the Marlins attendance figures instead of looking at their crazed-level TV ratings.  This team always seems to find a way to defy the odds. Just ask the DBacks what they think of this Marlin team now.

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Section 102 seat 113 row 1. Steve Bartman must have been extremely excited to get a ticket to the NLCS game 6 when the Marlins we coming back to Chicago to face certain defeat. The entire city was abuzz over the prospect of getting back to the World Series for the first time in literally generations.

But a foul ball, hit over to the seat Bartman was sitting in, would prove to be disastrous for Cub fans’ hopes. Moises Alou raced over and tried to catch the ball in the stands, but it was not to be. Frustrated, Alou begins pointing and shouting and throwing his glove around. Very uncharacteristic for a veteran player who has seen his share of playoff games over a foul ball. And that was exactly why it proved to be something more.

We know the rest of the history. The Marlins went on to score 8 runs in that inning and took Game 6. The Cubs never recovered and squandered the series in what was one of the best postseason matches in MLB history. Certainly, one of the most entertaining.

Until now, however, the book could not be closed. At least, not entirely. Alou, now a member of the Mets, said something pretty significant while on this opening road trip to the 2008 season in Miami. The ex-Marlin, who won a title with the ’97 team, said in regard to the incident some 5 years ago “I wouldn’t have caught it, anyway.”

Say what? Did you hear that Chicago? Did you hear that Steve Bartman? Both of you can finally wake up from your denial and embrace reality. And at the same time, the 2003 Marlins can finally be recognized as a legitimate champion.

Wrapped in all of this is not only the fact that the Cubs and its fans were in denial, or that they were simply cursed. In fact, what had happened is the whole thing led everyone rooting for the Cubs to a massive psych-out. Alou didn’t catch the foul ball, but he did overreact. It was as if he was expressing the intensity of the moment everyone in Chicago was feeling. Alex Gonzalez goes on to boot a perfectly good double play opportunity – and really faces no penalty because of it. What about Prior choking all over that mound? You can still see him pointing vehemently at Bartman and Alou and begging the umpires for some kind of appeasement.

Not to mention all the naysayers of the Marlins title, which there are but a few. They shouldn’t have been there because they had a payroll that was around 52M whereas teams like the Cubs and Yankees had easily double or triple that figure. In Chicago, most of the fans were in a slumber of denial as they continued to say that the Marlins were lucky and they were cursed.

But now you have proof that isn’t the case. Cold, hard evidence. Unlike the ball that was destroyed to somehow release the demons from Wrigley. Or was it all just a cruel April Fool’s joke by Alou on all you Cub fans out there – to make you all actually own up to the fact that your team choked?

Or perhaps the Marlins were really just the better team.

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