Marlins home has Miami spice

Marlins home has Miami spice

Alan Diaz/AP

A bird's eye view of the Miami Marlins new home - a true field of dreams for the NL East club.

MIAMI Once everyone was able to get past the sort of kinks you might expect from a dry run grand opening little things like the general manager of the home team being told he couldnt board the elevator upstairs because it was for media only, or Joe Girardi being stopped from attending his own press conference the retractable roof ballpark that was 30 years in the making shines like a brilliant tropical green and glass gem in Little Havana where the deteriorating Orange Bowl once stood.

Indeed, the Marlins and Yankees were merely the backdrop for the first game between major league teams in the $ 600 million Marlins Park Sunday. The ballpark itself, with all its unique features from the aquarium ringing the area behind home plate, to the swimming pool in left, to the 73-foot tall multicolored home run feature in center (which reportedly cost $ 2.5 million but wasnt yet working) was the star attraction. On first blush, youd have to say Marlins owners Jeffrey Loria and David Samson got everything right, even if ever ything wasnt quite working only three days before the official opening of the baseball season here Wednesday night.

The first inclination of that was the specter of dozens of white-shirted Marlins minions milling around the media gate at 8:45 a.m., clueless as to when to allow the media into the ballpark. Finally, at a little after nine, the media door opened and standing there, as the official greeter, was none other than Samson, the team president himself.

Welcome, welcome, Samson said, extending his hand to the media masses as they trudged through the door.

On the field, Kevin Mathis, the Marlins Park maintenance chief, was in the process of scrubbing down the artificial coral in the twin saltwater aquariums that form the wall behind home plate with what looked like an oversized tooth brush.

Weve got 10-12 different species of fish here, he said proudly, adding that each aquarium tank holds 450 gallons of salt water. And if the thought of w ater and fish gushing out all over as a result of a wild pitch or foul tip crashing against the glass is somewhat horrifying, fear not, Mathis said.

Im told they tested it thoroughly with pitching machines, he said assuredly.

Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez, Miami product who grew up within 15 miles of Little Havana and played ball as a youth at Westminster Christian High some 20-25 miles to the south, was almost misty-eyed at the sight of the glistening new ballpark. This is a very special day for someone who grew up in these streets. I used to have to take three to four different buses to get here. Id sneak into the old Orange Bowl to see Dan Marino and (U. of Miami 1992 Heisman Trophy winner) Gino Torretta, A-Rod said. This is such a beautiful stadium for the city of Miami. I know they won two world championships in Joe Robbie or Pro Player Stadium (the Marlins shared a home with the Dolphins from 1993 until last season) and thats pretty amazing. But its not qui te the same. For me, this is the hood.