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Marlin's fans have their say

YASNY

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YASNY Grand Master

YASNY

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Fed-up Marlins fans fire back

 

 

Ticket-holders take exception to trades, relocation threats

 

By Sarah Talalay

Staff Writer

Posted December 14 2005

 

 

MIAMI GARDENS -- What began as a season ticket-holder holiday party with snacks, a dance number by the Mermaids and raffles for baseballs autographed by the Marlins' two remaining stars, Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera, bubbled over into verbal sparring match once team President David Samson took the stage Tuesday night.

 

While a few fans among the 650 in a tent outside Dolphins Stadium thanked the Marlins for fielding a competitive team the past three seasons, others were far less grateful for what they see as a betrayal of season ticket-holders, the team's most loyal customers.

 

Angered by the trading away of seven stars and a visit last week to San Antonio, where team officials began their search for a new home in case a stadium deal cannot be struck in South Florida, they didn't hold back.

 

"You're giving us a minor league team at major league prices," said Larry Corman, a Boca Raton attorney who has requested a refund for his two club seats. "This is a bait and switch."

 

Samson says the team will not grant refunds.

 

Corman said with the money the team receives from television broadcast rights and revenue sharing, it could afford a $30 million payroll and to keep Paul LoDuca, Luis Castillo and Juan Pierre.

 

Samson said the team has expenses well beyond payroll, and vowed that unlike other perennially poor-performing low payroll teams, "our plan is to get good quickly."

 

One man dubbed team owner Jeffrey Loria and Samson "carpetbaggers."

 

Another accused Samson of talking down to season ticket-holders, rather than treating the team's long-standing fans with respect -- "We're all you've got," he yelled. He was roundly cheered.

 

But no one was spared during Samson's 25-minute question-and-answer session. A man who thanked the team, was met with a cry of "How much are they paying you?" Samson, in talking about how the team's fan base has grown under Loria's ownership, was roundly booed when he said, "In 2002, none of you were wearing Marlins stuff."

 

The reaction startled even Samson, who quickly recognized he was talking to the team's longest-standing fans, who wore teal even when it was considered unfashionable. He reminded fans that the Marlins had been the subject of relocation and contraction discussions.

 

Still one fan yelled, "Sell to Cisneros!" a reference to Venezuelan multimedia magnate Gustavo Cisneros, who has been rumored to be interested in buying the team.

 

"Do you work for Mr. Arriola?" Samson shot back, referring to Miami City Manager Joe Arriola, who has expressed his preference for a local owner for the team. Samson says Loria will not sell the team.

 

"If you're thinking you can have an owner who is super rich, who is all of a sudden going to pour money into the team, I've got a very interesting surprise for you. You had two owners like that and they didn't do it either," Samson said referring to former owners H. Wayne Huizenga and John Henry.

 

One fan even accused the team of acting like an unfaithful husband by flirting with other cities.

 

Samson bristled at the comparison, but said five of the last seven teams that have gotten new stadiums had to pursue relocation to get new ballparks.

 

"We hope a deal will get done in Florida," Samson said. "As I told the mayor of San Antonio, `You are not our first choice.'"

 

Fans cheered when Samson reiterated the team's first choice is to remain in South Florida.

 

But he said little about an offer of land and cash from Dolphins owner Huizenga for a ballpark near Dolphins Stadium, other than talks are "ongoing. All of us want to get a resolution quickly. It's critical that this not drag on anymore."

 

Despite the hounding he took, Samson said he was pleased with the turnout. "It would have been a much bigger problem if five people showed up tonight," he said. "Apathy is far worse than negativity."

 

Sarah Talalay can be reached [email protected].

 

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GoodAsGould Grand Master

GoodAsGould

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QUOTE(knightni @ Dec 15, 2005 -> 01:23 AM)
The fans didn't show up because he has them sit in a s*** hole football stadium to watch baseball.

 

and he wanted a new stadium and they wouldnt give it to him even though the team won 2 WS in not even 10 years time.....They dont deserve a baseball team.

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BHAMBARONS Mentor

BHAMBARONS

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QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Dec 14, 2005 -> 09:00 PM)
and he wanted a new stadium and they wouldnt give it to him even though the team won 2 WS in not even 10 years time.....They dont deserve a baseball team.

 

 

That is 100% Correct if people want someone to blame look to the voting both next year. Loria tried everything to get a new stadium for 2 years to no avail

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Rex Kickass Grand Master

Rex Kickass

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Did he though? Getting good players is only half the equation to making a successful baseball team have a following. You also need a good place to play and a good marketing strategy to get fans to become Fans.

 

How did he market the Marlins in 2004? What promotions did they do to make the team more palatable to Miami?

 

Yeah, the team won 2 world series in the last 15 years. Great. But if you never identified with the team to begin with, why would you come back to it?

 

At least the White Sox have a longer history to tie into then the Marlins do. Something tells me if our franchise was 15 years old, we'd have similar problems building a dependable fan base. It wasn't until we got our marketing turned around that things started to change for us...

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nitetrain8601 Grand Master

nitetrain8601

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QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Dec 15, 2005 -> 12:00 PM)
Did he though? Getting good players is only half the equation to making a successful baseball team have a following. You also need a good place to play and a good marketing strategy to get fans to become Fans.

 

How did he market the Marlins in 2004? What promotions did they do to make the team more palatable to Miami?

 

Yeah, the team won 2 world series in the last 15 years. Great. But if you never identified with the team to begin with, why would you come back to it?

 

At least the White Sox have a longer history to tie into then the Marlins do. Something tells me if our franchise was 15 years old, we'd have similar problems building a dependable fan base. It wasn't until we got our marketing turned around that things started to change for us...

 

He got the players, he tried to fight for a better stadium(has been fighting for once since he got there) and didn't get one. Hell, I wouldn't be suprised if the Marlins drew more on the road than at home. Their team made the same promotions as almost every other team. They're just not drawing. Marlin fans(not the diehards) are not really interested in the Marlins unless they get a new stadium which probably won't happen. That's the reality. Florida baseball fans only care about the teams outside their state like the Yankees and Red Sox most notably.

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Rex Kickass Grand Master

Rex Kickass

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I guess this is my point. The Marlins shouldn't do the same old thing as every other team because they aren't the same old team.

 

A new team needs to do things differently or more specially based on market conditions. I don't think that Loria seems to understand that as an owner. As a result, they have teams that do the same old thing which doesn't work because he's in a market with different needs. They fail.

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nitetrain8601 Grand Master

nitetrain8601

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QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Dec 15, 2005 -> 12:23 PM)
I guess this is my point. The Marlins shouldn't do the same old thing as every other team because they aren't the same old team.

 

A new team needs to do things differently or more specially based on market conditions. I don't think that Loria seems to understand that as an owner. As a result, they have teams that do the same old thing which doesn't work because he's in a market with different needs. They fail.

 

How many owners, then, will it take to fail for you to understand that it's the fans and not the owner?

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MarlinFan84 Collaborator

MarlinFan84

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The city/county passed a bill contributing money for a new stadium. Then a bill asking for a tax break went to the Florida house and passed soundly.

 

After all of this, with the city/county/team/Florida house of representitives all pledging money, the state senate leader wouldn't even let the senate vote on it.

 

The team was 4/5ths of the way to a new stadium, and the senate leader(probably in Hueyzenga's pocket) wouldnt let the senate vote on it and it failed, even though there was much speculation that the bill would pass in the senate easily.

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