Game #4-Miami Marlins vs. Giants

On Wednesday, April 19 we visited our 4th ballpark, LoanDepot Park located in Miami in an area called Little Havana. The structure looks very modern and is the sixth MLB stadium to have a retractable roof. The roof takes 13-15 minutes to open, however, due to weather it is rarely open with only 15% of their games being played with the roof open. This ballpark is the third smallest in Major League Baseball with a capacity of 37,446. On our game day the attendance was 8,272 with about 2,000 being school-aged children on field trips. The Marlins struggle with attendance averaging just under 12,000 per game. Interesting that the Marlins did not have much activity going on for fans. I am not sure if it was due to it being a day game or if this is always the case. I only saw their mascot one time just before the game. Usually mascots are seen throughout the ballpark entertaining the crowd. I also never saw a cheerleader and they do have the Marlin Mermaids. So the energy in the park was rather low but not for me as I was so excited to see the Giants play for the first time this season. I know I have mentioned in previous posts that I have written every MLB guest services and even followed up with a second letter to gain information and recommendations for our visits. I never heard from the Miami Marlins Guest Services so we sought out the guest services desk once we got to the park. We talked with a very nice gentleman, Patricio who gave us a few tips, suggestions and a first visit button. One thing we felt was very unique was "The Bobblehead Museum." More than 600 bobbleheads of players, mascots and broadcasters of all MLB teams. They reside in a glassed-in, two sided display case. This is the largest permanent and public display of bobbleheads. We noticed the bobbleheads moving and that is due to the vibration plates that cause them to bobble. While we were walking around the stadium we spotted a man and woman wearing t-shirts that said 30 in 2023. You all know how shy we are so we approached them and introduced ourselves. We exchanged information and plan to follow each others journeys. After walking around the stadium we found our seats, which were right behind the visitors (Giants) dugout. No surprise to Jim! As we approached our section we always take a few minutes to chat with the usher. When we asked the usher his name he said, "Curtis." The look on my face must have shown great surprise as he asked why the look. I told him that Curtis were my dad and late brother's names. I then told him they both were huge Giants fans and would be so happy I was attending this game. It was kind of a sign to me that they were both with me for the game. Sitting in our section we were surrouned by Giants fans. We talked with several and found out about all of our connections to California. Many of the Giants fans we talked to had relocated to Florida but still remain loyal to the San Francisco Giants. As per our norm we arrive very early to the games to watch warm-ups and batting practice. We saw the newest Giant, Brett Wisely who was just called up from Triple-A the day before. There were two gentlemen with Wisely jerseys on talking to Brett Wisely at the fence. Of course I was curious so after they finished talking I asked them if they were related. The older gentleman's chest puffed up with pride as he announced, "That's my son!" I congratulated him and watched as he just radiated with happiness. Now on to the food. Jim did his usual hot dog review which you can see on our Instagram @ourfieldofdreams2023. I enjoyed very flavorful carnitas tacos which I would give a 10 out of 10! Usually I'm not that big of a lunch eater but I polished off two of those bad boys with no problem. The game was a long one going into extra innings. The Giants were first to put a score on the board in the 4th innning with Darin Ruf driving in a run on a hard hit double. The Marlins answered back with a run in the 5th inning. There it remained tied 1-1 with several threats to score until we went into extra innings. In the top of the 11th Michael Conforto and Mike Yastremski hit two-run homers off Devin Smeltzer, lifting the Giants over the Marlins to stop a five-game losing streak for the Giants. Thank goodness! I was a happy crazy Giants fan high-fiving all the Giants fans around me. Jim cheered too, but not nearly as enthusiastic as this Giants fan. That's our rule we have to cheer for each others teams. We ended the evening with a trip to Hollywood Beach Boardwalk near our RV park. We walked along the boardwalk and dipped our toes in the Atlantic Ocean. As we continued our walk we heard this guitar music coming from one of the restaurants. We decided to go in and have a bite to eat. The guitar player took a strong liking to Jim as he could tell he was a fellow guitar player by his song selection, namely, Neil Young. We sat for over an hour listening to his great music. It was the end to a perfect day. Now off to Saint Petersburg where we will see the Chicago White Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays on Friday.