On Tuesday we made the 250 mile trip from Orlando to Miami via the Florida Turnpike.  The intention was to grab lunch upon arrival and then take a trip west to give the boys a glimpse of the Everglades.  But omg, the traffic in Miami!  What a mess.
So it was a leisurely lunch at Latin Café 2000, then to the hotel and then to Marlins Park in time for batting practice.  Oh yeah, it was also 92 with a heat index of99 in Miami (while it was also 92 in Denver and with a heat index of 88…I love
dry heat).

Our first glimpse of Marlins Park elicited the reaction that they play in an office building.  A cool contemporary office building but an office building looking structure nonetheless.  But when we got inside, I was extremely impressed.  It is the smallest of the new parks seating just 37,000, is very attractively finished, has a huge concourse with a clear view of the field and with a good selection of concessions.  It has a retractable roof that is of course a dark color as opposed to the white circus tent that matches the ball at the home of the Tampa Bay Located in St. Petersburg Rays.

We were in row 1 behind the visitor’s dugout for a 4 to 3 Atlanta victory over Miami.  We saw three very competitive games on this trip including a 12 inning, 14 inning and two one run margins.  The game in Denver was the only one that was
not competitive to the finish.

So Baseball Tour 2012 is complete.  Four games, 44 innings, first extra inning games, first rain delay, Disney World, Universal Studios, high quality time with Uncle Benjamin and Aunt Fernanda and hopefully a lifetime of memories for these two guys to share with their grandchildren.  We have now seen 16 games in 11 stadiums (four games in Yankee Stadium, two at Citizens Bank Park and two at Coors Field) in our three years on the road.

We are looking at the Mid-West for 2013.  IF the scheduling permits, IF the names fit on our shirts and IF these guys want to spend that much time with their grandfather, our goal will be seven stadiums so we can make the claim to have been to all of the stadiums in the United States east of the Mississippi River together.  A big IF but we just might try it.

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