WHY THE NEW MARLINS BALLPARK IS THE REAL DEAL

I was lucky enough to attend the first Major League Baseball game at the new Marlins Park the other day, the New York Yankees beat the Miami Marlins, 10-8. Read HERE. I got to watch most of the action from very good seats and there definitely was a lot to see.

We arrived at the ballpark later than we wanted to so we got stuck in some traffic. We had excellent parking on an on-site lot for a very reasonable price. I recommend you pay in advance online and park in one of the surface lots if you can. The local residents will generally charge you $35 and up to park on their lawn. The decision was made to close the retractable roof so it was shut by 11am. By the time we arrived it was almost chilly inside.

Our Captain, Derek Jeter laced the first pitch of the game to the right field corner to start things off. Starting pitcher, CC Sabathia, started out a little shaky but eventually settled down. Yankee hero, Mariano Rivera, gave up one run, the first Spring Training run he has given up in 4 years. The highlights were plentiful but we really wanted to check out the ballpark and walked around quite a bit. Walking around the ballpark assured me that almost any lower level seat gave you a great view.

Concessions were plentiful, pricey and extremely crowded. The usual ballpark fare was available but you could also get a shrimp sandwich or some sushi if you wanted. The workers seemed overwhelmed by the crowd but they should get better with time & experience. I was able to get some snapshots of our favorite players from the bar that is beyond the outfield.

And speaking of the outfield, the Marlins did not utilize their home run feature on the Gaby Sanchez tater. Either you love it or hate it but it was a no show for today folks.

The crowd was capped at 25,000 even though the ballpark can hold 37,000. They have an interesting feature called The Bobblehead Museum. There are many bobbleheads of players from all around baseball (including many prominent Yankees)that everybody seemed to enjoy.

Overall, it was a lot of fun today and I would definitely go back. There were almost as many Yankee jerseys as Marlins jerseys. Having been to a baseball game at Pro Player/Joe Robbie/Dolphin/Sun Life Stadium, I can say that Marlins Park is a million times better and I hope to see the Miami Marlins do well, but not against our Yankees.

Marlins Park Report Card
Concessions: C+ (First day mayhem will improve)
Parking: A (if you act fast)
View from Seats: A (Lower deck is great even from the outfield)



--Joseph Saucedo, BYB Guest Writer
Follow me on Twitter: @JD_Sauce70

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