Via the Miami Herald on the new Marlins stadium and its fancy retractable roof:
The Marlins plan to meet 3 1/2 hours before first pitch every home game to decide if they will close the roof to help cool the stadium down before possibly reopening shortly before first pitch. Such was the case Monday against the Yankees. But the Marlins expect to close the roof for about 70 of 81 games a season, even when rain is not an imminent threat.
Call me crazy, but if you’re going to keep the roof closed for 70 of 81 games, wouldn’t it have been cheaper to just build a domed stadium?
I will say this, though: the stadium does have a lot of food choices:
The Miami Marlins season officially opens Wednesday, April 4 and fans will finally get to experience all the hoopla over the new, $634 million ballpark. That also means checking out the new lineup – the culinary lineup.
Any stadium can serve hot dogs and hamburgers (and those will be here), but how many fans can order plantain chips with garlic sauce? Lime n’ Lobster rolls or fresh-shucked oysters?
There’s even talk of sustainability and herbs (from Paradise Farms). Team execs boast of tomatoes from Homestead, shrimp from Florida and buzzwords that foodies, if not fans, will appreciate, like cage-free chickens, Niman Ranch ground pork and Paradise Farms produce.
You’ll find more than 100 menu concession items, including corned beef sandwiches at the kosher stand. There’s a cover-all-the-bases approach, but the big power hitters represent the team’s new location in the heart of Little Havana. Taste of Miami, on the Promenade Level by third base, features items from three Miami restaurants: Papo Llega Y Pon, Don Camaron and Latin American Grill, chosen from 43 candidates. They’ll serve everything from ceviche to Cuban sandwiches.
Even transplanted fans can get a taste of home at Burger 305, which will be selling fare representing visiting teams, like bratwurst when Milwaukee’s in town or cheese steaks for the Phillies, along with patties we’re told are hormone and antibiotic-free.
All the ballpark fare can be washed down with a choice of six beers on tap at 10 stadium bars. The list expands in the Diamond and Dugout Clubs and The Clevelander (a South Beach outpost) will be bringing in craft beers (and making signature Marlins cocktails). If you don’t want to fork over a bundle to feed the fam, the Kids Shack offers a $3.75 combo (with a hot dog, soda and sliced apples).
Hate standing in line? You can use MLB’s “At Bat” app on your smartphone to order food from one of seven concessions, pay from your seat and find out when it will be ready (pickup is at an express line). Service is now free but will have a nominal fee by June, with expanded locations inside the park.
The rest, with pictures, here.