Why are the called the Marlins?
The Marlins take their name from the minor league Miami Marlins that called South Florida home from 1956-1960, 1962-1970, and 1972-1988. Owner Wayne Huizenga hoped to give his expansion team, which entered the league in 1993, more regional appeal by including Florida in the name.
Why am I excited to see their city?
If Northern Florida is white trash, Southern Florida is where the Caribbean meets the United States in a melting pot of all that is cool in Latino culture.
Down here, guys get away with wearing white pants, convertible low-riders are the norm and there’s a certain flashy ego that you either love or hate – no in-between!
It’ll be great to be back here, especially at the end of the trip and hit the super clubs, relax on South Beach, and try sell my car (which I’m planning on buying in Vancouver Canada) to a scrap metal yard after I’ve driven it cross country.
Lastly, who could forget the mass immigration of retired Jewish new Yorkers who now call Miami home. Yes loyal readers, it is truly a melting pot of cultures down here, and one I’m looking forward to getting back into.
“eh the air it’s so humid down here!”
“can’t find a matzo ball soup here like back home, oy vey!”
What is a tradition at their ballpark?
Miami have one of the newest ball parks opening in 2012. Being Miami and having the melting pot of cultures, sights and sounds as above, they’ve modelled the joint with a bunch of neon colours and over the top “flash” you’d expect from Miami.
One interesting tradition is the giant mechanical sculpture thing outside of centre field, that does a whole bunch of crazy shit whenever the Marlins hit a home run (in a similar vein to the Marlins division rival Mets who Raise the Apple – which you of course read about previously).
Who is a famous fan?
First things first, you don’t go to Marlins games to watch the baseball. In fact, I’m not sure you even go to baseball games in Miami to be seen! The city simply is not a massive baseball town – despite the Cuban influence (it’s Cuba’s national sport).
However, recently ownership has changed to former Yankee legend Derek Jeter and his group, so expect things to change here.
Famous fans include, Pitbull, DJ Khaled and The Rock (legend) amongst others. But I’m going with the guy who perhaps isn’t your typical celebrity, but boy, is he humble.
This guy goes to different baseball games all around the country, wearing his obnoxious orange Miami Marlins jersey behind home plate just cause he can (read: he’s got a shit load of cash), the one and only MARLINS MAN!!
God I hope I get the opportunity to meet this guy!
A fun/weird fact about the Marlins?
Prior to 2012, the Miami Marlins were known as the Florida Marlins to appeal to a wider fan base and garner support outside of Florida. Further, compared to what they wear today (all those neon colours), the Marlins were relatively tame rocking a teal/grey/black combo in a similar vein to the Seattle Mariners (coincidently the first post of the 30 teams).
Not very Miami wouldn’t you say? So even though a lot of people felt the changing of logo/colours was a bit ridiculous, it’s now here to stay and I reckon it looks pretty good and suits the city well.
Thirty before 30 
Oh to be so cool! 😄💃🏻
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