Sun Life Stadium

Miami, FL

Team: Florida Marlins	Opening Day: August 16, 1987; April 5, 1993 (baseball)
Capacity: 42,531 (2001)	Dimensions: LF 330 CF 404 RF 345 (1994)
Surface: Tifway 419 Bermuda grass	Architect: HOK Sport (Kansas City)
Owner: Wayne Huizenga	Cost: $115 million, $10 million renovations
AKA: Joe Robbie Stadium (1987-96), Pro Player Stadium (1997-2005), Dolphin(s) Stadium (2006-09), Land Shark Stadium (2009-10)

Memorable Moments:

1997, 2003 World Series Champions.
September 10, 2000, Randy Johnson (of the Diamondbacks) gets career strikeout 3,000.
June 9, 2008, Ken Griffey, Jr. (of the Reds) gets career homerun number 600.
May 29, 2010, Roy Halladay (of the Phillies) pitches a perfect game.

This stadium was ok. I didn't have high hopes for it since it is a multi-use stadium (the NFL Dolphins play here) and the focus was mostly on football. The retired numbers lining the wall were all of Miami Dolphin players and the street the stadium is located on is Dan Marino Blvd. Compared to the other remaining multi-team stadiums, that are all designed primarily for football, this one converts to baseball the best. If you could tear off the upper-deck it would actually be a not so bad baseball park. The nice thing about this stadium is that since no one comes to see the Marlins play, you can hear the players on the field calling each other off when they go for flys and the crack of the bat is a loud smack.

Where I Sat: I decided to splurge and go for Zone B Club Level. These are the real expensive club seats that are sold for a football games but are reasonably priced for baseball. The view was great, see the picture below, however it felt to fancy to be a baseball seat. There was air conditioning and carpeting. It just didn't feel right. If I could do it over again, I would buy the cheapest ticket and move to where I had the best view since the park is always empty anyway.

December 1, 1985 was a sad day for many sports team owners. Joe Robbie, whom this stadium was once named after, broke ground on the first all privately financed stadium for the National Football League (NFL) Miami Dolphins. The former video rental king, Blockbuster baron Wayne Huizenga, bought the Dolphins and half of the stadium so he could pursue getting an expansion baseball team. He was granted the expansion Florida Marlins who started playing in 1993. In 1994, Huizenga bought the rest of the stadium. In 1996, Fruit of the Loom bought the naming rights and named it "Pro Player" after its sports clothing line. 1998, the year after the Marlins won the World Series, Huizenga dumped all of the team's talent saying he lost too much money and sold the team to John Henry. Henry sold the team to former Montreal Expos owner Jeffry Loria in 2002 (who sold the Expos to MLB) and bought the Boston Red Sox.

A nice thing about this stadium are that when the Marlins win they shoot off fireworks. Also, the left field scoreboard (pictured below) is known as the "teal monster". Fruit of the Loom filed for bankruptcy and reorganized their business. A byproduct of this is that they discontinued the Pro Player clothing line. The name of this park should change soon. In 2005 the name was changed Dolphin Stadium, after the NFL team. Update! In 2009, the park changed its name to LandShark Stadium.

The first baseball game at Pro Player Stadium wasn't actually a Marlins game. On March 11, 1988, the Baltimore Orioles played the Los Angeles Dodgers, before the Marlins existed.

The "Teal Monster".

The Marlins retired number is:

5 Carl Barger (President)(1993)