Marlins Fans: Stupid
Posted July 8th, 2004 @ 10:04am by Erik J. Barzeski
One would think that the fans of a team which has won the World Series twice in the past seven years would possess a rather decent amount of baseball knowledge. Not so of the Florida Marlins.
Their fans are some of the dumbest fans I've ever encountered in my years of attending baseball games. They booed when, twice, the left fielder let line-drive singles fall in front of him. Never mind that diving and missing (which is quite probable on short line drives) tend to go for triples or home runs. They booed at nearly every crucial ball or strike call that didn't go their way, regardless of how much the catcher had to move (or didn't) his glove. Hint: if the catcher sets up outside and has to move his glove another foot outside to make the catch, it's a ball. They booed at every checked swing call that didn't go their way. They cheered when their team popped up just beyond the infield.
Silliness! I don't mind fans that root for their team (as a visiting Pirate fan in southern Florida), but I don't want a bunch of ignorant people. Watching baseball in Miami is more a social event than a gathering of fans.
At least I got a free hat and a 4-3 Pirates victory out of the deal. Despite the fans, it was a great game.
Donate Life
Posted 08 Jul 2004 at 10:50am #
People go to Marlin's games?
Posted 08 Jul 2004 at 11:02am #
I find that it is getting harder and harder to find intelligent baseball fans. Part of that has to do with the lack of high quality baseball programs at the college level.
Most of the younger generations get much of their sports knowledge during their days at the University watching their teams slug it out with other schools. Unfortunately, there are few schools where baseball is a popular sport, especially in the South where football (American) is king and basketball is a distant second. LSU and Mississippi State are about the only ones that qualify for serious fan support (seeing as how they own nearly every one of the NCAA attendance records in baseball) even though other teams like Miami, FSU, and Florida may have better teams at any given point. For some reason winning doesn't bring the fans like it does in other sports, which I can't understand because if you haven't skipped afternoon classes to go to a baseball game on campus then you have missed out on one of life's real pleasures.
Add to this the fact that baseball isn't the television spectacle that football and basketball are and you have a good cocktail for less and less fan interest in today's world.
Posted 08 Jul 2004 at 12:25pm #
As Florida and Miami native, I can tell you this: Erik's 100% correct. But it doesn't end with baseball either. South Florida fans only go games for two reasons: a) the team is a winner and b) it's the playoffs. I've been to a more than fair share of Marlins game, and most people there don't know the first damn thing about baseball. It's a shame, really. They wonder why the owner doesn't spend more on the team by getting better players. Maybe if more people showed up that would be possible.
I've said it once, I've said it a million times: South Florida is (one of, if not) the worst sports town in the country.
I remeber after the Marlins lost Game 3 of the World Series, I heard quite a few "fans" saying that team sucks.The team was in the World Series, isn't that good enough for ya? It's tough being a baseball aficionado in this part of the country...
Posted 29 Jul 2004 at 7:50pm #
Carey and I went to the Pirates/Braves game on Wednesday, July 28th. I took a few shots of the game, and this is my favorite. The Pirates left 11 men on base and Perez pitched wonderfully, but a solo HR...