10(11) Suggestions for the New Ownership Group

[Party]

I posted this on the @BringBackTealandBlack Facebook page. Keep in mind it does not include any suggestions for baseball operations.

1. Bring back teal and black. Yes, the old uniform and logos are distinctly 90s. However, teal is still a fashionable color and black is timeless. More importantly, it ties the team to its history in South Florida. People remember Charlie Hough throwing out the first pitch in that beautiful teal cap and black stirrups. People remember celebrating two championships in teal and black. People remember Al Leiter, Kevin Brown, and Anibal Sanchez throwing no-hitters in different variations of those beautiful colors. The Blue Jays successfully brought back a beloved identity with modern adjustments that has been universally praised. There is a lot of value in nostalgia.

2. More retro uniform nights. The Marlins have participated in only few retro uniform promotions over the last 10 years. The Marlins have NEVER worn all teal set used in 1993 for a retro night. Next year is the 25 anniversary of our first season. How cool would it be to watch Giancarlo Stanton homer in a teal helmet and pinstripes? There is also a rich collection of uniforms from the minor league Miami Marlins, Sun Sox, and Miami Beach Flamingos. Offer more retro uniform promotional nights and make the merchandise more available to purchase. See point above about nostalgia.

3. Remove the green walls. It has never matched the current identity and will likely not match any rebranding that is planned. The park looked great during the World Baseball Classic when the walls were temporarily changed to blue. Something similar to the teal used at Joe Robbie Stadium would also be welcome. Make it our home, not something that was inspired by the owner's favorite artist.
4. New championship banners. Remove the banners currently in left field with something more fitting of two world championships. The park is conducive to hanging banners like the Heat. Our past should not be an afterthought.

5. Remove the home run sculpture. There are better ways to make the stadium distinctly Miami that does not involve the Red Grooms sculpture. I would pay money to get a chance to take it down.
6. Offer Saturday packages. Many years ago the team offered a ticket package to all Saturday home games. Make this option available for families and working professionals that cannot commit to a weird assortment of weekend and weekday games currently available in the 20 game package. We should not be told “you can always exchange games on the website” by sales reps as a “solution.”

7. Make all types of ticket packages available throughout the stadium. Non-full season ticket packages are not offered in the outfield reserve or home run porch.

8. More youth baseball games and tournaments at the stadium. In 2012, the first game played at Marlins Park was between Belen Jesuit and Christopher Columbus High. It was pitched as the first of many youth baseball games involving local schools at Marlins Park. Do more of this with local high schools and travel teams. Reignite the baseball community's love affair with the Marlins.

9. Bring back out of town scores. We understand every square foot of real estate on the field wall is a potential revenue source, but out of town scores should be posted somewhere in the stadium for easy reference. It's not a baseball stadium without scores from around the league! Have the scores up constantly.

10. Cut back on all the sound effects. Some are ok, but dont ask us to clap or make noise for a 2-0 pitch in the 3rd inning. We have lost track how many times clapping or chanting started by fans has been interrupted by the sound effects.

BONUS. Push for pace of play measures. Games are over 3 hours long. Encourage the Commissioner and MLBPA to make rule changes that lower time of game. The goal should be to end games around 9:40pm to allow working families to be home at a sane hour during the week. People should be happy to sit through an entire game. 3-2 games going on until 10:15pm is neither fun nor realistic for families that have to wake up at 7:00am the next morning for work.

Join the revolution: https://www.facebook.com/bringbacktealandblack/

[fish16]

I like the current uniforms and the sculpture. Also, im pretty sure there is an out of town scoreboard in left center. Or at least there used to be.

Agree on the championship banners though. What they presently have is pretty pathetic.

[geemoney]

I just hope they're able to sell the naming rights to the park. I can't believe we're this far into the existence of Marlins Park and they don't have a corporate sponsor for it yet.

[rmc523]

1. As much as I love the teal and black, I think we're past that (though I will say the teal and black hats I've seen with the current logo do look good). That said, I wouldn't necessarily be surprised to see the logo slightly updated.

2. 100% agree. Loria did whatever he could to distance the team from the old colors. It's definitely time for more retro nights - I think this would've happened anyway with it being the 25th anniversary next year.

3. Personally, I've gotten used to the green walls. And when you see it on TV, you immediately know it's Marlins park by those green walls. Change them to blue, and it could become any other park. I didn't watch the WBC, and didn't know they made the walls blue, and while they don't look bad, they're not as unique. If they go for a blue, they need to use the bright blue in the logo.

4. 100% agree on the banners. Since the park opened, I've wondered why they didn't hang something (whether fabric or metal) spanning between the columns in the outfield up toward the roof rather than the tiny "flags" where they are now.....don't even get me started on Conine raising the limp flags indoors on Opening Day 2012. Division (I know we don't have any yet) or league pennants could be displayed by the "flags" that we use now as World Series ones, and it'd be appropriate. There are too many other areas that larger/more prominent World Series banners could be displayed to keep what they have now. If I get a chance later, I'll render something of what I'm thinking.

5. I disagree. I'll post what I put in the other thread - At this point keep it - it adds something to the experience of going to the park. Sure it's big and cartoon-y and you can laugh at it, but it's kind of fun and exciting for it to go off when a home run is hit. Plus what would you put there?

Here's the park without it:



Boring.

You said there are better ways to make it distinctly Miami without the sculpture. Like what? I'm all ears for an alternative, but you didn't propose one. So far all you've proposed is to take away the things that make Marlins Park unique - the green walls and home run sculpture.

6. I agree. I think (a few years ago at least) they had some sort of saturday/weekend plan. Did they discontinue it?

7. Really? I didn't realize they didn't offer partial season packages in the outfield. Doesn't seem very smart. And it's not as if day of game ticket sales are high enough to render ticket plans useless. I guess that's their way of pushing people into higher priced plans.

8. Sounds good to me.

9. 100% agree. They changed that this year, and it's terrible. I can't tell you how many times I've looked where they used to be only to remember it's just advertising.

10. Eh, the sound effects haven't ever really bothered me that much. Hey, they got rid of the energy team this year.

Bonus - I've never understood these arguments. Sure, there are some games where the players go at a snails' pace. But if it's flowing and/or there's offensive action, it's not that bad. I guess my point is more this - the moves that the league has made and that people argue for all the time don't do much. They shave off maybe 5 minutes MAX. I'm sorry, instituting all these rules to finish a game in 2:55 instead of 3:00 is not going to bring in some new wave of fans. Start the games on the hour instead of 7:10 if you want to finish at 10, but you can't do that because of TV, broadcasts have to start on the hour and have their 10 minute intro.

I like the current uniforms and the sculpture. Also, im pretty sure there is an out of town scoreboard in left center. Or at least there used to be.

Agree on the championship banners though. What they presently have is pretty pathetic.

The out of town scoreboard WAS right below the sculpture on the video board there, and was constantly updated with the score, who was pitching, men on base, outs, etc.. This year, they display nothing but advertising on that video board below the sculpture and pick one narrow video board on the home run porch that displays a single game score occasionally, and it's terrible.

100% agree on the banners. See above.

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I'd be interested to hear everyone's thoughts on how to increase attendance. I think the non-Loria and Jeter effects will cause their own bumps. Obviously a consistently competitive team will help. But beyond those, what can they do to drum up interest? Would redeveloping the surrounding area help?

[Namaste]

I like the current uniforms and the sculpture. Also, im pretty sure there is an out of town scoreboard in left center. Or at least there used to be.

Agree on the championship banners though. What they presently have is pretty pathetic.

Agree with all of this but do like Party's idea of bringing the blue walls back.

[rmc523]

I just hope they're able to sell the naming rights to the park. I can't believe we're this far into the existence of Marlins Park and they don't have a corporate sponsor for it yet.

Eh, I don't know if I view it as a bad thing - what I'm surprised with is that Loria and Co. didn't sell the naming rights to Frank & Bob's Roadkill Museum just because they were willing to pay $5 for it. Probably to the contrary, Samson held out for some outrageous deal that wasn't worth it. So now new ownership can come in and sign a decent deal and look better for it. Let's just hope it sounds good though, and not some of these bizarre names that sound terrible. Guaranteed Rate Field? No thanks! The Angels, Nats, nor Dodgers have naming rights deals either, so it's not unprecedented.

[tjfla]

HR sculpture has to stay. It cost 2.5 million and was paid for with some "art" money. But yes it looks terrible

They wanted to sell the rights but waited so the new owners could make the deal since Jeff wouldn't be getting any of the cash

Top Suggestion is Spend on IFA/Scouting. We have 5 million every year now with possible up to 3.5 million more(8.5 million total) We need to spend in the market and invest in our DSL Academy. Instead of signing 26 yr old A Ball Players use that cash and sign 16 yr old guys.

[rmc523]

Haha, look at this Aaron Judge bobblehead.

[tjfla]

Happy they put HR Derby Champ otherwise people might just think he struckout again

[fish16]

Cant believe they would put advertisements where the out of town scoreboard was. So minor league. And by i cant believe it I mean that I can totally believe that Loria did that.

[tjfla]

This ownership group might be the same as Jeff in regards to ad/sponsors. Some people think the ownership change is gonna be like LA where billionaires are throwing around cash. The Jeter group is pretty cash poor so any chances to get outside cash they will take. Big difference is they are willing to spend what cash they have on the product and aren't looking to get rid of guys just to have the lowest payroll in baseball.

[fish16]

This ownership group might be the same as Jeff in regards to ad/sponsors. Some people think the ownership change is gonna be like LA where billionaires are throwing around cash. The Jeter group is pretty cash poor so any chances to get outside cash they will take. Big difference is they are willing to spend what cash they have on the product and aren't looking to get rid of guys just to have the lowest payroll in baseball.

Loria's problem wasnt being cash poor, although by no means was he cash rich. It was a lack of willingness to invest in areas that the best teams invest in, and instead he would just end up spending more money on worse players in free agency whenever he felt like he wanted to. Loria spent money at times, the problem was he completely ignored the draft, player development, IFA, and scouting. That is the main reason this team hasnt made the playoffs since 2003.

Loria was an owner for so long that its completely embarassing that he couldnt realize that if he invested in those areas he would save money in the long run by not having to spend on shitty average free agents like Volquez, Ziegler, Tazawa, etc.

[fish16]

Also, to add onto my last point, does anyone know at what point that ended? Or was it just that the talent we had developed in the past all came from trades? Because there was a point in time during Loria's tenure when developing young players was what we were known for. Specifically young pitchers.

[Nick]

Only thing I can think of is when Josh Johnson, Scott Olsen, Anibal Sanchez and Ricky Nolasco all came up around the same time. I think Johnson and Olsen were the only two we drafted, though.

[fish16]

Only thing I can think of is when Josh Johnson, Scott Olsen, Anibal Sanchez and Ricky Nolasco all came up around the same time. I think Johnson and Olsen were the only two we drafted, though.

Ya, the more i think of it, the more i realize that is was mostly trades that gave that reputation. Sanchez was in the Hanley deal and Nolasco I want to say was in the Juan Pierre to the Cubs trade. Dontrelle was a trade acquisition, Uggla was a rule 5 guy, Willingham we developed, Jacobs was acquired for delgado i believe. Jason Vargas was a trade acquisition too as was Sergio Mitre and his one solid first half for us before injuries took their toll. So to answer my own question, we've never really been a team that drafts/signs and develops its own players in Loria's tenure.