Finally got to Marlins Park this month, and liked it a lot. We took a trip down to Miami for an overnight just to get to the park - although stayed in South Beach so did an Art Deco walking tour as well, absolutely worthwhile. I saw what I figured must be Marlins Park from the air as we were coming in for landing, and confirmed in the taxi on the way there that yes, that is what I saw. We thought it was big and flashy, and while it would look awful just about anywhere else, was absolutely perfect for Miami, white and shining.
As usual we arrived early so we could do a lot of walking around - did not get down to the Clevelander (we are absolutely the wrong demographic for that) but were impressed with the number of families with small children at the park. The artwork in the park is strong, by well-known artists - Larry Rivers, Nikki St. Phalle, and Red Grooms designed the jumping marlin home run sculpture out beyond the center field wall, and is fun to see close up.* The roof was closed the day we were there, as were the floor to ceiling bank of windows, which can be opened by sliding them on huge tracks in the floor. The view of downtown Miami out these windows was tremendous. We were impressed by the relative size of the crowd and its enthusiasm - Miami is way down in the standings and Giancarlo Stanton is on the DL, but the new park has generated a good fan base. There were cheerleaders, more so than in other parks, and reminded me of being told that this is the norm at the games in the Dominican Republic. We were also interested to see that after the game, credits were listed on the big board - producer, announcer, etc., as usually recited on television but we had not seen this on a scoreboard before.
Re food, I did have a Cuban sandwich, and would like to have been able to explore food options more.

*All of these artworks are so much better than the tedious artwork at our home Nats Park - a silly "Take me out to the ballgame" mobile designed by someone who has no idea what baseball uniforms look like (colors look like football) and thank goodness they have relegated the vishnu baseball sculptures to the main entrance, which is rarely used.

Marlin Home Run Sculpture mechanics

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Comment by Mary (17) on September 19, 2015 at 9:46am
Mike, I have no ever been to the Trop, have been to Turner Field (wanted to see it before they moved) but have not actually seen a game there, because there was a rain delay until 11 pm or so - plan to get back because I have some cousins there and it is an activity/excuse to get us together. We do like to get to a new (for us) ballpark early to walk around a lot. Turner has more distinguishing features than US Cellular, like oversized Adirondack chairs, but both struck me as fairly generic. Also, any park is a lot more likable per the atmosphere - lots of people that day at Turner Field (August 2014, Nats in town and Braves were in second place) vs being at US Cellular - I was just there this past week because of a business trip to Chicago, and no one was that excited about the White Sox playing the As. I did think pretty highly of US Cellular's food offerings, though, and much better prices than Nats Park or Oriole Park.

FYI, Oriole Park has lots to recommend including good parking coming in from the south (we drive up to the games from DC), sports bars on the north end, about three blocks from the Inner Harbor, and very urban access at the north end of the park. The Warehouse, a long brick warehouse, effectively is the right field wall of the park, and Eutaw Street, which is between right field and the warehouse, is a pedestrian walkway. Big leftie homers are hit out there, about 3 a year, and they are marked in the pavement with metal discs with name, team, year, and distance, lots of fun to walk around and see.
Comment by Mike B on September 18, 2015 at 11:22am

Definitely sounds like a unique ballpark, with the cheerleaders, the credits on the scoreboard, and the artwork you talked about. I hope to get there, plus the new Braves' stadium and the Trop in 2017 or 18. Have you been to Turner or the Trop?

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