#21: Dolphin Stadium

RANK: #21 of 22 overall, #15 of 15 current parks
NAME: Dolphin Stadium
A/K/A: Joe Robbie Stadium, Pro Player Stadium, Havana Stadium North
MLB TEAM: Florida Marlins
YEARS IN OPERATION: 1993-Present
CAPACITY: 36,331

• TRADITION: 3 - The only points this place gets for tradition come from the two World Series victories won by the Marlins. The 1997 Series was quite memorable, ending on Edgar Renteria's 11th-inning single in Game 7. Unfortunately, the team was dismantled, fire-sale style, after each of the two championships. Many notable players have taken the field for the Marlins, but none for more than a few seasons. Generally, once a player gets too expensive for the penny-pinching Marlins, he is sold off for younger, cheaper prospects. This is no way to build tradition or a stable fan base.
  
• AMENITIES: 4 - Plentiful parking was available in a large grassy area just outside the ballpark (at least it was in 1997-1998, my only visits). Since the place is built for football, there are enough restrooms, concession stands, and souvenir shops to handle twice the baseball capacity worth of fans. Many concession areas were closed during my visits, as the ratio otherwise might be one worker for every two fans.
  
• COMFORT: 2 - The place is built for football, so it utterly lacks the set-up for great baseball sight lines. The weather forecast varies from humid and uncomfortable (April) to hot and miserable (May) to "I must be a moron for leaving my air-conditioned house" (rest of the season). Seriously, during my August visit, I wondered if we could get a hurricane to come through and decrease the humidity.
  
• FANS: 1 - Quite possibly the worst fans I have encountered. When the team was making its unexpected move to playoff contention late in 1997, the place swelled to almost half-full. Otherwise, the club couldn't outdraw the average high school football team. On September 3, 2008, with the team still in the playoff hunt, Marlins pitcher Joe Nelson and two other players counted 584 people in the stands just prior to game time. In addition to being fair-weather (if there is such a thing in summer in Miami) fans, they are the least knowledgeable bunch I have encountered. I was surprised, as the population is heavily Hispanic, and that demographic is usually credited with a great interest in baseball. Unfortunately, cheers were vastly louder for the between-innings Latin music than for the actions of a very good baseball team.
  
• TEAM: 3 - Aside from the aforementioned championship teams, the Marlins have consistently featured a mix of cheap, potential-laden youngsters and cheap re-treads. Nothing to see here.
  
• FUN: 4 - Billy the Marlin is a pretty decent mascot, and the fans respond to the between-innings entertainment somewhat like real baseball fans respond to outstanding play.
  
• FOOD: 4 - The traditional ballpark food was underwhelming, with ordinary to sub-par attempts at hot dogs and pizza. The only redeeming value here was in Cuban favorites like black beans and fried plantains.
  
• PRICES: 6 - Parking was pretty cheap, and I actually sat in a $4 (if I remember correctly) seat at the very top of the stadium. My first trip to a Marlins game was sponsored by The University of Miami School of Law as part of my orientation program. Nothing like doling out $4 seats to the students paying $20,000-plus per year in tuition. Overall, none of the prices were too high, but as the saying goes, you get what you pay for.
  
• OVERALL FEEL: 1 - To even call this place a ballpark is sacrilege. Simply put, it's a football stadium, filled (well, not exactly filled) with clueless, sweaty fans. Nothing to be proud of, Marlins
  

TOTAL SCORE: 29