The Florida Marlins Have No Fans

[jaybird2001wi]

jlau, I rest my case in who has come from Gary, IN. Especially considering Michael Jackson is from Gary, IN. He went from being a "singing idol" to a total freak within 20 years. Everytime I see the Thriller music video and his current picture, I say to myself, "This is not the same guy."

[jlau20]

The ironic part is Big Dog went from being a somewhat decent basketball player to not really a basketball player within like 10 years.

 

I saw someone suggested San Antonio...that would be somewhat interesting, it could probably work, atleast post as big of crowds as Houston and the Rangers I would think. Really, I think almost anywhere would be better though. As much as I love baseball, I probably wouldn't go that many games in Miami. So much other stuff to do, such an atrocious stadium for baseball, firesales after every winning season...just not a winning combination to earn a large fanbase.

[UndraftedFA]

Holy crap. That is the single most embarassing thing I've ever seen in terms of attendance. Portland has been campaigning to try & bring in a MLB franchise, and I'd imagine that there must be at least the initial phases of investigation into purchasing that franchise by several different owners/hip groups. The attendance problem is not a new discovery, but this instance is - simply put - rock-bottom. Whoa.

I'd have to imagine some other interested cities would include

Charlotte, NC
San Antonio, TX
New Orleans, LA
Memphis, TN

Any others?

 

Gary, IN

Roanoke, VA

Jackson, MS

Flint, MI

I can't believe how much this made me laugh! It might be the funniest post I have seen on here!

 

[Braminano]

To be fair, that stadium is in the middle of nowhere, roughly 40 minutes from Miami. It is easy for fans to go there for 8 football games, but at this point in the season, with the team not performing, on a weeknight, I get it.

[gypcasino]

http://www.fishstripes.com/story/2007/9/13/84412/7218

I've got news for the ump and Mr. Schneider: fans heckling the ump happens all the time in every park everywhere. Just because you can hear it doesn't make it more egregious. I can only imagine what a Yankee Stadium crowd would sound like with just a few hundred people. I can almost guarantee this: it would be worse than "you don't make more than me."http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/laugh.gif

[jaybird2001wi]

gyp, your resourceful statement cites a problem in Miami... NO ONE CARES. The Marlins have no team identity anymore. They never have and it is sad since they won TWO World Series titles (which were bought, but that is debatable). Since the Marlins change identities so much, why should fans even care in Miami anymore. Every Opening Day, I would envision a "couple diehard fans" carrying around that season's media guide trying to figure who is still with the team every year. Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera are the teams two most marketable players, and because the fan apathy is so bad, it doesn't surprise me that they just don't even care anymore.

I remember when they beat the Braves in the post-season to head off to the World Series with LIVAN HERNANDEZ as their ace among other well known players like Sheffield, etc.

The people are Miami have given up all hope after they won the 1997 World Series and had a firesale. After 1997, just look at the attendance trends linked before. Miami folks gave up knowing the ownership group would just sell off after every pennant drive. When you look at the whole picture, despite the fact that they won Two WS titles, they never even won the division in any of their years of existence. They won the World Series by claiming the Wild Card in the two years they won it all. Think about that.

The Marlins will ALWAYS be a team without an identity and without a player the fans love because they know the player will likely be dealt the year after. Dontrelle Willis is being put on the "trading block" while Miguel Cabrera is not too far behind in that regard.

The Marlins and Major League Baseball need to stop with the whole stadium deal and realize that Miami is not working.

I hate to bash Bud Selig and his "accomplishment" of not relocating a team in his tenure, but in this day in age... it has to happen sometimes. It took Selig a couple years to realize that Montreal was not working. How much longer will the Marlins suffer before they get taken out of the prison they call Miami.

It has to happen. How long have the people and public officials been battling for a new stadium for the Marlins? Five years? Ten years? Something has to give. And take into account of the horrific attendance figures, it is basically like a baby crying for baby formula. It has to happen within the next two or three years or else Selig and MLB officials will look like goats in this whole battle.

Message to MLB officials: Things are not working in Miami, the ownership group stinks, the stadium stinks, the climate stinks, and you will not... I REPEAT... not get a stadium to support a team that has single-handedly alienated the entire population of South Florida. When will Major League Baseball and Bud Selig get this memo that the Marlins are not working right now?

[Invader3K]

The problem with the Marlins relocating is that if they have the same ownership group, they're probably just going to mismanage and ruin things yet again, but in a new city, probably in a new stadium.

[Patrick425]

Nothing good ever came from Gary, IN

What about professor Hill?

 

http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/bb02535968799f369221d5c3665ab1df9c2335b.pjpg

 

 

[BrewCrewForever]

I can't believe that. With all the young exciting good players on that team and people dont go watch them? That's bad. If I lived in the Miami area I would go to Marlins games all the time. I would not have a single problem watching guys like Cabrera, Ramirez, Hermida, Uggla, etc.

[crewcrazy]

How about just moving them to Memphis or Nashville and just have them switch divisions with the Pirates, putting the Bucs back in the NL East? I think Memphis or Nashville could support baseball pretty well, or at least better than the outskirts of Miami have.

[JohnBriggs12]

Major League baseball made a huge mistake putting teams in Florida.

 

A large percentage of baseball fans in Florida lived or grew up in other parts of the country and have their loyalties elsewhere. To a large extent, they have the same problem in Phoenix where the Diamondbacks are 11th in NL attendence despite being in first place.

 

Going back a bit further, Atlanta never really embraced the Braves the first 25 years they were in Atlanta because much of Atlanta's population (at least the people with the disposable incomes) during that period was made up of transplants from other parts of the country.

 

It might take another generation or so before the Florida teams establish a loyal following.

[recte44]

Why the Marlins are still in Florida is beyond me. Several cities come to mind: Indy, maybe. Vegas? Probably not (after the Donaghy NBA scandal it'll take longer). Portland, Maine? Nope.

 

Why not Nashville?

[BrewCrewForever]

Yeah they got to move that team. They have to much young talent to have it go to waste in a city taht just does not support them even after two world titles in the past 10 years.

[1992casey]

A huge problem with the two Florida expansions was that MLB went there with inadequate stadium situations. Neither stadium is in an ideal location and both had to be retrofitted (inadequately). If MLB decides to expand or move a team, there needs to be a new stadium that's ideal for the fans of that community.

 

The problem with places like Nashville, Indy, and many other cities named as candidates for teams is that they're going to face the same small market issues that places like Milwaukee do. One location that probably could support a team is New Jersey. Las Vegas is small now, but is growing so rapidly that market size should eventually cease to be an issue. Portland could probably 'grow into' being a comfortably mid-sized market, too.

[MJLiverock]

About 6 or 7 years ago I was in Miami visiting friends and tried to turn on the Dolphins/Ravens (I think it was the Ravens) NFL playoff game and it was blacked out in Miami because they didn't sell out. IWe were in shock, we couldn't believe a playoff game didn't sellout. If a city can't sell out an NFL playoff game what are the odds of good attendence at weekday MLB game that may have a few rain delays?

[davego]

I'm with Casey. If MLB could get it by the Mets and the Yanks, NJ or upstate NY would be the place for one of these teams to go to.

 

I wonder really if putting a MLB team in Vegas would work out. Tons of people there, but I wonder if they are going to take teh time or make a connection with a local team. NFL should work anywhere, but I;m not so sure about baseball.

 

Just wondering, but what about another team for the New England area?

[crewcrazy]

I'm with Casey. If MLB could get it by the Mets and the Yanks, NJ or upstate NY would be the place for one of these teams to go to.

 

I wonder really if putting a MLB team in Vegas would work out. Tons of people there, but I wonder if they are going to take teh time or make a connection with a local team. NFL should work anywhere, but I;m not so sure about baseball.

 

Just wondering, but what about another team for the New England area?

The problem with the New England area is that so many people already have strong ties to the Yankees and Red Sox. You could stick a team in Connecticut, but that state is the dividing line between Red Sox territory and Yankee territory -- southern CT is full of diehard Yankee fans, while northern CT is full of diehard Red Sox fans. I don't think they'd be able to abandon those two teams so easily if a new team came to town.

 

How about moving the Marlins into Brooklyn? http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/wink.gif Baseball is the biggest thing in New York now with both football teams scuffling, the Knicks being in the cellar, and both hockey teams in the dumps. The problem is that with the Mets and Yankees doing so well recently, you'd be hard-pressed to get fans to abandon those teams and follow the Marlins as "their team." If the franchise hopes to develop a loyal fanbase, they'd probably be better off not intruding into another market and head to a city that has no real ties to an existing team -- that's why a team in Tennessee might be possible, since they don't have strong ties to anyone. Maybe a team in Oklahoma City would work out, looking at how well they supported the New Orleans Hornets while they were homeless for a year and a half.

 

Upstate New York is another idea, although that would probably require a stadium with a roof -- April baseball in Buffalo could be rough. http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/laugh.gif

[Invader3K]

I really don't want to see another team in the New York or New England area. That area has enough sports teams as is.

 

Really, looking at a map, there is a huge gap in the south that could be filled in with a team in Tennessee, or somewhere like that. Basically right now, Atlanta and St. Louis get to claim the entire Mid and Deep South for their fan bases. A team in Nashville or Memphis could really fill in a hole. I know minor league baseball is very successful there, so why not an MLB team? Plus, that still leaves MLB with their favorite red herring of Portland to hold up if any city doesn't want to help build a new stadium.

[colbyjack]

The Marlins situation is pretty sad. They need to build a new stadium within the next year or two or be re-located. I wouldn't blame Florida for not being big baseball fans, because baseball really thrives at every other level.

 

Nashville can't even figure out how to build a new stadium for their AAA team, I don't think they're in the running for a big-league club.

 

Portland, OR makes a lot of sense to me. I don't see MLB allowing Las Vegas to happen.

[billyhallfan]

florida is a huge baseball state, the FSL draws pretty well, that is just shocking. Indianapolis, i don't think is going to get a team, portland would make sense to me.

[TheBwaz]

Having lived in Indy, I don't see a team going there. The city is still slightly irked over the Colts holding them over the fire for a publically financed stadium (while IPD and IFD went years without a contract or a raise). As decently as the AAA Indians draw, central Indiana is just not a baseball area. Football, basketball, and racing, that is their passion. Rare is the day the sports page publishes more than the basic box scores, and that is with Cincy 90 minutes one way and Chicago about 3 hours the other.

 

As for the Marlins, they have a real bad Loria problem. After what that guy did to the Expos, I am surprised MLB let him have another team. After what he did to Girardi last year, he should have his team taken away.

[TooLiveBrew]

fwiw, Girardi was fired likely due to his overworking of young arms, and they even had a few/couple significant injuries due to overuse.

 

NJ? http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/roll.gifThey already have a team - the Yankees. No way that goes down. Obviously I agree on LV, not gonna happen. Tenn. makes sense, as does Ok. City. It's really cool to see that many people think Portland makes the most sense - I obviously hope that happens, but I guess it's easy to forget that all this is hypothetical. For now, the Beavers will suffice.

[bucks2281]

The Marlins issue is going to become a big problem for MLB as the years pass. They were planning on building a downtown stadium near the American Airlines Center, which is a beautiful, but I just don't see it happening. They won't and shouldn't move to Las Vegas. After the failure that was the NBA All-Star game last year, and the Tim Donaghy scandal, pro sports in LV are going to have to wait. The Northeast and Midwest are hands-off (strong allegiances to their teams), so the only areas I could see maybe would be Portland, OR, Oklahoma City (quite unlikely--the market isn't big enough for MLB), Charlotte, or maybe Monterrey, Mexico, which I have heard mentioned. To me, the option of moving the Marlins to Monterrey is thought-provoking, at the least.

[Braminano]

fwiw, Girardi was fired likely due to his overworking of young arms, and they even had a few/couple significant injuries due to overuse.

Girardi was fired because he called out Jeffrey Loria for berating the umpires. Both Girardi and Loria are hot heads and while Loria wanted to fire him in August, the team was still in contention so they kept him.

[TooLiveBrew]

hadn't heard that, thanks.