Wasted Chance?

I attended the Florida Marlins' home opener yesterday, a 9-3 loss to the San Diego Padres. The game was close for the most part, until San Diego put it away in the 8th inning. The team made lots of rookie mistakes, something I'm afraid we'll be seeing a lot of this year. There were also a few non-baseball related "mistakes", such as incorrect information displayed on the brand new HD scoreboards (they look great BTW) and the F-18 fighter jets flying over the stadium before ex-Idol Nadia Turner finished her incredibly long rendition of the National Anthem.

The crowd of over 31,000 was energetic and exited to see the Marlins. There were many signs supporting the team and its young players.

Did I just make that up? Surely, in South Florida where no one cares about baseball, where everyone loves a winner.

Well, guess what Mr. Skeptic? It happened. Sure, it was opening day, but based on all the negative publicity during the off-season, I'm surprised there are still so many people out there who care about the team.

I will say it now, and I will say it again: South Florida can support baseball. This area's fans needs to be nurtured and treated with respect and loyalty. Winning 2 World Series titles doesn't entitle the team's ownership to do or say whatever they please. Good relationships are maintained, enhanced, nurtured...not taken advantage of.

Scanning through the local papers for coverage of the game, I found an article that stood out because of its dead-on accuracy regarding the way the Marlins have been treating the loyal fans. It came from an unlikely source: Armando Salguero, who typically focuses on football and the Dolphins.

Please take the time to read it, it's an 100% correct assessment of how the baseball fans in South Florida feel.

A wasted chance to entice fans

ARMANDO SALGUERO

asalguero@MiamiHerald.com

The fans did their part for this Marlins home opener, ignoring reams of bad publicity and dooming predictions of atrocious play to turn what might have been a melancholy opener into one initially showered with optimism.

The 31,308 people who filled parts of Dolphin Stadium on Tuesday afternoon were not Yankee Stadium-electrifying, but they are to be commended anyway because they brought baseball energy to this football facility.

They showed up -- which itself was something of a surprise -- they cheered, they even stayed until the eighth inning when the game turned into a rout.

But given an opportunity to grab those fans by the lapels and convince them to come back because the team is exciting and entertaining, the Marlins didn't really deliver.

They bumbled on the bases, they threw fat pitches to the plate, they missed cutoff men and dropped fly balls. The team that played games close last week got steamrolled 9-3 by the Padres in their home opener.

And now there will be wrath at the turnstiles because of it.

''I hope,'' outfielder Jeremy Hermida said, ``the fans enjoyed the day and come back.''

EXPECT A DROP-OFF

Some definitely will return. Fans are, by definition, extremists who flow against the tide of logic.

But chances are that starting with today's 1:05 rematch with the Padres, most of the fans who showed up Tuesday will come dressed only as a humid breeze.

And who can blame them?

The Marlins, young and inexperienced and unproven, offer precious little to be really excited about now. Not to criticize these young players, but this is a highly overmatched team.

Sure, shortstop Hanley Ramirez is showing glimpses of being tomorrow's star and the first four players atop the batting order might be a pitcher's nightmare by around 2010.

But my calendar says 2006, and there is no certainty that lineup will be playing in Dolphin Stadium or even in South Florida three opening days from now.

So, excuse fans if they believe owner Jeffrey Loria is sending contradictory signals when he says in one breath that watching this team is an opportunity to see ``a terrific club in its formation stages.''

And then he plunges a knife into that chest puffed up with hope when he says, ``We are going to be playing somewhere [in 2010] and somewhere else if not here.''

He's basically asking the fans to support this team now even though it could be out of here pretty soon -- which is not exactly a great offer for the average fan.

SILENCE IS GOLDEN

A short aside to Mr. Loria: Stop talking about moving the team publicly.

Make whatever deals you need to make behind closed doors and go, if you must.

But if you hope to salvage a legacy here, realize that South Florida doesn't respond well to threats of moving a team.

So talk about the product on the field and nothing else because the conversation about moving to San Antonio or Las Vegas or Podunk isn't brilliant public relations in Miami.

Marlins manager Joe Girardi was asked if he thinks Marlins fans will stay away now that they got their first sour taste of this team in person.

''Fans are smart enough to know we're not going to win every game,'' Girardi said astutely, and that is true.

But although Marlins fans get a bum rap for loving the beach or the backyard barbecue more than a trip to the stadium, they are sophisticated enough to know a team that simply tries hard deserves only so much attention.

And that attention might start to wane.