Does This Look Like the Bronx?

All of my life I have been a die hard baseball fan.  I have played the game for years and have come to love the Florida Marlins as both my hometown team and my favorite team for life.  Now, it’s okay to have a different hometown and favorite team; however, it is not okay to call your hometown team, a team located 3,000 or more miles away.

Thus, when I attend baseball games it angers and saddens me to see the stadium nearly devoid of fans with a constant majority of those attending, cheering for the opposing team.  Some rightfully blame the stingy ownership of the organization; however, most of the blame resides with the fans themselves.

South Floridians, many of whom hail from the land of the spoiled Yankees fans, have yet to mesh into the fan base of the team just minutes from their homes.  This is not to say that the only team with fans in Florida is the New York Yankees; however, the Yankees fans comprise the majority and will be used as the prime offenders. 

Many of these “loyal” baseball fans have lived here for more than a decade and refuse to venture out of their homes except on the rare occasion the Marlins host a game versus the opulent Yankees.

In 2003, the Florida Marlins defeated the New York Yankees handily in six evocative games.  Having attended four of these games, I can recount that the Yankees fans came out in droves to support “their team”, only to be crushed by a lowly, youthful Marlins team.  I watched in delight as a fearless team from lowly South Florida struck down the vaunted Yankees, and yet there was to be no change.

Ticket sales the following year increased a mere 5%, indicating that somehow the front-runner fans had yet to fully support their true home team.  This baffled me and once again frustrated me, further increasing my hatred of Yankees fans.

The Florida Marlins organization has become the mockery of the league and has recently fought off possible relocation efforts by starting the construction of their new ballpark.  The new ballpark establishes that the Marlins will be a presence in South Florida professional sports for many years to come.  So why do they continue to be ridiculed for their lack of attendance?  It’s certainly not the team’s lack of performance. 

Unfortunately, the Marlins have missed the playoffs again, but were extremely close.  Teams that are consistently found in the basement of the standings continue to garner thousands of fans more a game than the Marlins. 

So if no other reason can be found, it is safe to blame the thousands of whining, spoiled, and conceited Yankees fans for the lack of support for South Florida baseball.    Its time for all you displaced New Yorkers to grow up and get over the fact that you no longer reside in the Northeast region.

“Our No.1 goal is to have the stadium full of Marlins fans,” said Sean Flynn, Marlins vice president of marketing.  So come out and support the home team!  (My deepest apologies to Boston Red Sox fans, you truly deserved mention in this article.)