Miami Stadium’s Grand Opening Gala

Abstract

It took nineteen years, but on April 4, 2012, the Marlins opened their own sparkling new stadium, appropriately named Marlins Park, to a chorus of rave reviews from baseball officials, the public, and the press. No longer tenants in Sun Life Stadium, a football stadium adapted for baseball, the Fish, as some like to call them, are proud of their new digs and rightfully so. Thousands of South Floridians are flocking to the state-of-the-art stadium and enjoying such niceties as the impressive retractable roof that provides protection from the elements, two 450-gallon aquariums built into the wall behind home plate, and the colorful home run celebration display in centerfield that is a show in and of itself when a hometown player hits one out of the park. Lost in all of the hype and hoopla many fans have forgotten that before Marlins Park there was another stadium that served as a home to professional baseball and that it was not that far from where the new stadium stands today. On the corner of Northwest 23rd Street and loth Avenue, less than three miles from its successor, another simply named ballpark, Stadium, opened its gates for the first time on August 31, 1949, to throngs of eager fans. Just like the new ballpark, the stadium's construction was followed by the local citizenry with great anticipation and excitement, and it too had amenities that were unique to its time. Major League Baseball was still forty-four years away from arriving in South Florida, but minor-league baseball was thriving. In fact, supported two ball clubs in the eight-team Florida International League. The Sun Sox played their games on Field, which was adjacent to where the Orange Bowl once stood, while across town in aptly named Flamingo Field, the Beach Flamingos played in the heart of South Beach at 15th Street and Michigan Avenue. The eight teams in the league represented Fort Lauderdale, Havana, Lakeland, Miami, Beach, St. Petersburg, Tampa, and West Palm Beach. Although the Florida International League was classified a Class-B League, it could be argued that the caliber of play was much higher. Forty players would make the jump to the big leagues or carry with them previous major-league experience. A few of the more notable names in the league were Joe Medwick (Miami Beach), Wes Ferrell (Tampa), Johnny Beazley (St. Petersburg), Sandy Consuegra (Havana), and Connie Marrero (Havana).(1) On a seasonably pleasant August evening, absent the familiar rains that have a tendency to come during the summer season, the large crowd ambled up to the turnstiles in anticipation of seeing the Sun Sox take on their archrivals, the front-running Havana Cubans. As they approached the new ballpark, anxious fans were greeted by what would become one of its signature characteristics, the twenty-foot red neon letters spelling out Miami Stadium on its facade. As they entered, fans were surprised to see potted palms and flowers judiciously placed throughout the stadium, accompanied by a large mural depicting various athletic endeavors adorning the stadium's entrance wall.' Walking up and through the ramparts and into the grandstand, all eyes were immediately drawn to the emerald grass, the modern electric scoreboard, and the palms trees swaying in the breeze just beyond the outfield fence. Onlookers were in awe of Stadium's most distinctive feature--its unique cantilever roof that arched over the majority of seats. This design, absent of sight-blocking steel girders, allowed for a clear, unobstructed view of the field from every seat. The uniquely curved overhead structure wrapped itself around the infield portion of the playing field from the first-base side to the third-base side providing umbrella-like protection from the wind, sun, and rain. Open-air bleacher seats were available along the left- and right-field areas at a lower price, but years later, most patrons would opt for the general admission and box seats. …