MIAMI, FL --Yes, the Cubs won two of three from the Florida Marlins while I was in the Sunshine State (where they delayed the start of Sunday's game because they thought it might rain!)
I saw the Cubs play at the Marlins last year, too, but several things must've slipped my memory or I might have reconsidered the trip this year:
- The Marlins have cheerleaders (never a good sign for a baseball team).
- They play in a stadium built for and named after the local professional football team.
- When you go to the concourse to get food and/or drink, there is no radio play-by-play to listen to while you order your $10 chicken tenders and chips. The TVs at the concession stands have video of the action but no crawl at the bottom to tell you how many outs or the inning or the score!
- During the break between innings, all of the scoreboards in the stadium shift from baseball info (i.e. score, number of hits, errors, lineup, etc) to advertising. ALL OF THEM!
BUT
- As I mentioned, my Cubs won two of three games.
- While staying up in Hollywood (about 20 minutes northeast of the ballpark), I spotted one of our second basemen and a centerfielder coming out of the ocean. And, yes, they look every bit as good as you'd think.
- The Marlins have a group of seriously overweight fellas called the Manatees who dance to some crazy music between innings. Very minor league, but pretty funny just the same.
- You can get a pretty decent selection of food at Dolphin Stadium, you just have to know where to look. It seemed that practically every concession stand had a different selection including pizza, hot dogs, italian sausage, chicken tenders/wings, rum runners, wine, beer, dippin' dots, etc.
- Despite the preparations for tropical storm Fay, my flight out of Miami went off on time!
