I’m not saying the Miami Marlins might not also play some decent baseball at some point, but over the past five-ten years, they’ve not had a lot going for them outside of playing in a cultural center. Miami offers unique opportunities for a sports team to be and have fun, and the Marlins always could’ve taken advantage with their stadium.
For a while, they did. Marlins Park, constructed almost ten years ago, was a beautifully bizarre tribute to the vibrance of Miami, with eye-popping colors, fish tanks behind the plate, and the wackiest dang sculpture in the outfield you’ve ever seen. When the Marlins hit a homer, this thing would go off:
But then the dark times came – also known as the Jeter Era – and Marlins started systematically stripping away the things that made them weird and fun. That home run sculpture? Gone. The bright lime green walls? Gone. Completely standard and corporate-sponsored seating areas, in:
#Marlins Park new outfield renovations — Centerfield zone, Ivy, blue walls & new standing room only section in RF. pic.twitter.com/aAS9cjYwnb
— Wells Dusenbury (@DuseReport) March 26, 2019
And now they’ve done it again. This time, it’s those sublimely absurd fish tanks behind home plate. They’re gone:
https://twitter.com/MikeCugnoCBS4/status/1372588077634424837
Crimes. The Jeter Marlins are committing crimes.