Wisch: Marlins Don't Deserve To Be In Florida Anymore
By Dave Wischnowsky –
(CBS) Major League Baseball is considering expanding instant replay. It's thinking about adding two more Wild Card teams to the playoffs. And it's even considering plucking the Houston Astros out of the National League Central and plopping them down in the AL West.
But what does Bud Selig do about a problem like Miami?
In case you missed the news this week (don't worry, most of South Florida did, too), on Wednesday afternoon the Florida Marlins drew such a small crowd for Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Reds that one fan in attendance was able to count the rest of them.
By hand.
On Thursday, the New York Daily News detailed the exploits of Marlins fan Justin Cohen, who noticed a few empty seats while at Sun Life Stadium – you know, just a handful – and decided that he'd instead tabulate the number of that actually had a butt sitting in them.
Cohen then posted his unofficial head count on Twitter (@790Justin): 347 fans.
Three. Forty. Seven.
At a Major League Baseball game. For a franchise that has won two World Series championships in the past 15 years. And at a stadium that seats 38,560 for baseball (75,540 when the Miami Dolphins play football).
The most disturbing thing is that, in his tweet, Cohen claimed that the crowd of 347 may not have even been the smallest in Marlins history. He wrote: "Unofficial count of 347 at SunLife for first pitch ... myself included! Counted by hand. Still not the smallest crowd I've seen here."
In its story, the Daily News asked, "If a baseball game happens in South Florida and no one is there to see it, does it still count in the standings?" But what I'm wondering is, with crowds like Wednesday's, does South Florida even deserve a Major League ballclub any longer?
Last Friday, I wrote a blog entry theorizing that disgruntled Chicagoans Ozzie Guillen and Carlos Zambrano might "retire" down to Miami together this offseason and join the Marlins for 2012. My tone in that piece was tongue-in-cheek, although I do think it's a possibility.
However, this Friday, I'm dead serious in saying that I think MLB made a major mistake in approving a new 37,000-seat, $515-million stadium for the Marlins, set to open for the 2012 season – even if it does feature a retractable roof.
Certainly, part of the reason why the Marlins draw so poorly – a Major League-worst 18,241 paid fans per game – is the weather in South Florida. I've been to SunLife Stadium three times for Cubs-Marlins games, including twice in October 2003, and the heat and humidity are truly oppressive.
That said, even with an air-conditioned ballpark, I don't expect that the Marlins will suddenly pack the place on a consistent basis. After all, how much has A/C helped the Tampa Bay Rays' attendance figures?
The fact is, there's too much else going on in the Florida sun for residents to want to spend three hours at a baseball game. The Sunshine State is built for spring training and tourists, not MLB and die-hard fans. And, like Los Angeles with pro football, if the Marlins were to leave, I don't think Miami would miss them at all.
Portland and perhaps Las Vegas, on the other hand, would likely welcome them with open arms.
Now, I'm not in favor of MLB realignment (don't like the thought of rolling interleague play). But if Selig really is serious about moving an NL team to the AL in order to even out the leagues, it would have made much more sense to take the Marlins out of Miami and send them out west where they might be more appreciated.
In Portland, for example, residents have a website set up at oregonstadiumcampaign.com with the intent to raise funds to attract a big league team to the Great Northwest.
Vegas, with its many vices and transient population, is a much more complicated option. However, in May, a local developer in Sin City announced that he has designs on constructing a mega sports complex that would feature a 17,500-seat arena designed to house an NBA team and a 36,000-seat stadium for a Major League Soccer squad, which also could expand to be used by a MLB team.
Or even the Marlins.
In the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Reds, the official attendance announced by Florida was 22,505. But, as the Daily News wrote, "don't try convincing one of the few actually at the game in person." And Cohen, for his part, later tweeted that his attendance count was, "Only for Game 1. Remember, it was a rescheduled game on a workday with a hurricane coming… but still."
Yes, but still…
Alas, with the new ballpark, the Marlins are stuck with Miami. And Major League Baseball is stuck with the Marlins.
What a shame.
If nothing else, Dave Wischnowsky is an Illinois boy. Raised in Bourbonnais, educated at the University of Illinois and bred on sports in the Land of Lincoln, he now resides on Chicago's North Side, just blocks from Wrigley Field. Formerly a reporter and blogger for the Chicago Tribune, Dave currently writes a syndicated column, The Wisch List, which you can check out via his blog at http://www.wischlist.com. Read more of his CBS Chicago blog entries here.
