Marlins Get First Home Win on Walk-Off Double By Gaby Sanchez to Beat Astros 5-4

[tr305]

Being at the game it was clear to see the balls were jumping off the bat when hit to deep left but they just lost steam 2/3 of the way out there. Crowd would jump to their feet after contact and then just get let down each time.

[BigGameFish]

Being at the game it was clear to see the balls were jumping off the bat when hit to deep left but they just lost steam 2/3 of the way out there. Crowd would jump to their feet after contact and then just get let down each time.

Doesnt this happen all the time, in all parks? It's called a deep fly ball. Outside of Infante, we didnt hit many home runs on the road at two of the most homer friendly parks in the league. I believe it has more to do with our bats than anything else, and that we've only seen 2 games at home thus far. Arent the dimesions very similar overall to Dolphins Stadium? And I'm curious about how common it is for parks to change thier dimensions. Did Citi Field ever do it? Or PetCo? With numbers generally shifting back to pitchers, I'd assume some parks could be forced to change dimensions for fans.

[tr305]

I think the only way the ball flies out of there is if they open the roof and close the windows.

[MiamiHomer]

Citi field moved their fences in for this season. A number of homeruns that have already been hit there benefited from that move in already. The hits yesterday would have either been gone or off the wall at Sun Life. I'm fine if they want a pitchers park but up to a certain point it's just a bit too much.

[tr305]

Loria wants that sculpture, that god knows costs a fortune, to go off way more than this. He'll move em in, watch.

[Valid]

They'll probably end up moving them in eventually for financial reasons. I don't think it's any secret that home runs sell tickets.

[MiamiHomer]

I give you the moron that is Armando Salguero:

The feared protesters never showed and that’s encouraging for the Marlins because they’re still trying to heal from Ozzie Guillen’s words and picket signs are not the kind of lumber this baseball team needs.

So that, along with a 5-4 victory against the Houston Astros, was Friday night’s good news.

The other news?

There were wide swaths of empty seats at Marlins Park Friday night. Complete sections — 201, 202, 228, 327, and 307 among others — were barren. In all, at least 11 sections in this beautiful, sparkling new facility in Little Havana were more than 75 percent unoccupied.

That simply isn’t supposed to happen this year.

It’s not supposed to be this way in the franchise’s second game here. It’s certainly not supposed to be this way while the paint is still drying and the first waxing is still bouncing a reflection off the tiles.

The Marlins are, by their own estimates, expecting to draw upwards of 2.4 million to 2.8 million fans to their novel new home this season. That means they’ll have to average anywhere from 30,000 to 35,000 fans per game — a number that isn’t outrageous when one considers the team has an expensive new roster and this place has an aquarium, swimming pool, multiple restaurants, artsy-fartsy touches throughout, and of course, a bobblehead doll museum.

Who can stay away from a bobblehead doll museum?

The Marlins would argue there’s no issue because they announced a paid attendance of 30,169 in the park that holds 36,442 seated customers.

Yeah … well, if there weren’t 9,000-10,000 empty seats then I’m carrying only two percent body fat. And I am definitely not carrying two percent body fat.

The empty seats raise questions, especially in light of suggestions a protest is still possible Tuesday when Guillen returns from his five-game suspension and other whispers that a boycott is already under way.

So were the vacancies the product of such a boycott?

That’s impossible to know with certainty.

Maybe folks stayed home because the Houston lineup is practically anonymous, making Billy Beane’s Moneyball squad seem like the Yankees. Or perhaps it was the fact the Astros have a Castro in the lineup.

Perhaps the crowd was reined in by the other events in town. The Panthers were hosting New Jersey in a playoff game and the Heat was busy playing the ever-uncompetitive Charlotte Bobcats.

So nobody knows why the crowd was good by Marlins standards, but nowhere close to Opening Night good. Nobody knows why a Friday night game that wasn’t televised to the entire region surprised by not drawing more.

“We can’t control any of that,” first basemen Gaby Sanchez said. “Of course, we love the fan support. We’d love the fans being out here and supporting us. It does give us energy and extra ‘oomph’ to play the game. Of course, it gets us going and we want that as players. We want the fans to be supporting us, but we understand that some fans might make different decisions.”

Sanchez, the hero who delivered a game-winning double in the bottom of the 11th inning, wasn’t talking about the decision that happens when people weigh playoff hockey versus one of 162 regular-season baseball games. He was talking about the kind of decision that involves Guillen’s much heralded “I love Fidel Castro” comment, which the manager has since explained and apologized for.

Many folks initially hurt or offended by Guillen’s comments — a majority of them, I believe — have moved on. But not everyone has.

“I’m glad [the Marlins] took some action, but I’m not sure a five-game suspension is going to satisfy the community, “City of Miami commission chairman Francis Suarez said. “At the end of the day it’s really on them as far as if they start to see some sort of negative repercussions in the future, they may take a second look at it.”

Suarez called for Guillen’s firing before the manager’s apology. And while he called the apology sincere, it did not satisfy him.

“It did not,” Suarez said. “I was outside the stadium during the press conference and protest and unilaterally, with the exception of one or two out of several hundred, people were not satisfied with the punishment.”

Sanchez, born in Miami of Cuban parents, hurts when he hears that reaction because as a player he wants his town to root excitedly for him and his teammates. But he says he cannot criticize the reaction because he also feels the pain of those affected.

“You have to understand the Cuban community and the hard fact of what that man, Fidel, did and what most of the people of Cuban descent what their families went through,” Sanchez said. “It’s a tough situation to be in. I know Ozzie was sincere. I know what he truly meant to say and how he feels. But it’s a hard topic, a tough topic.”

It’s a topic the Marlins hoped would disappear following Guillen’s apology. But if the empty seats become a trend, the issue will linger as people try to find reasons the place isn’t packed.

That’s why the only thing that can end this conversation is a brand new stadium filled to the brim with fans.

Despite Miami Marlins' big victory at home, empty seats raises many questions

[tr305]

The club sections in right were the main vacant sections. Everything lower was filled nicely and even the upper deck was solid. It was at least 80% filled.

[geemoney]

Speaking of the Herald, their headline in the notebook section refers to the "Florida Marlins"

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/1...f-florida.html

[Fish Tank Frenzy]

Let's see. The Florida Panthers played in their first playoff game in over 10 years at home, the Heat were playing a home game and it was pouring all day in Miami. From what I saw on TV the crowd looked very decent. If this team wins and is competitive attendance wont be an issue. I wonder if that blowhard Salguero will talk about an empty Dolphins stadium this coming football season or will he not talk bad about the shittiest franchise in this town.

[tr305]

The crowd was much better than anything we used to see on a Friday night at Pro Player (against Houston)

[Swifty]

I thought the crowd was fine. I thought the crowd was actually a pretty good baseball crowd (clapping with two strikes, making some noise in a full count). I also did not see the completely empty sections that Clark Spencer and Salguero were remarking about, even when I was purposefully looking for them. There were sparsely populated sections for sure, but every park will have that when the undesirable opponent comes to town.

FWIW, the first weekend new Yankee Stadium opened, my friends and I (four total) just walked up to the window and were able to get four pretty good seats to the Saturday afternoon game. This kind of stuff will happen.

[MiamiHomer]

They took the pictures of the section as the game was starting. Jeff Passan has been making stupid jokes about the pics on twitter.

[Swifty]

Regarding the park and the way it's playing, I think it needs work. If the game were played in a neutral field (and make no mistake, we have an EXTREME pitcher's park) the Marlins hit 3 homers last night. It's one thing to say "no cheapies" it's another to have three balls "gotten" turn into very long outs.

I'd also say that the notion that it saved last night from being a slug-fest is a bit short sighted. That argument, to me, punishes hitters for doing their jobs (hitting bad pitching) and rewards pitchers for not doing theirs (making good pitches).

I also think it's going to be a problem as the year goes on. Last night you could see more than a few players shaking their heads (especially after the Infante shot). If our organization is opposed to players going to the HR derby because of how it theoretically alters the players' swings, how is sending them out there for 81 games at Polo Grounds II going to play. Unless you hit it dead down the line, nothing with any kind of loft is going to get out.

[MiamiHomer]

Regarding the park and the way it's playing, I think it needs work. If the game were played in a neutral field (and make no mistake, we have an EXTREME pitcher's park) the Marlins hit 3 homers last night. It's one thing to say "no cheapies" it's another to have three balls "gotten" turn into very long outs.

I'd also say that the notion that it saved last night from being a slug-fest is a bit short sighted. That argument, to me, punishes hitters for doing their jobs (hitting bad pitching) and rewards pitchers for not doing theirs (making good pitches).

I also think it's going to be a problem as the year goes on. Last night you could see more than a few players shaking their heads (especially after the Infante shot). If our organization is opposed to players going to the HR derby because of how it theoretically alters the players' swings, how is sending them out there for 81 games at Polo Grounds II going to play. Unless you hit it dead down the line, nothing with any kind of loft is going to get out.

That pretty much articulates perfectly how I feel about the park. Also those hits to left field would have probably gotten out at Polo Grounds lol.