Marlins big on slashing stars, prices
Few major-league baseball teams have had as many highs and lows in as short a time as the Miami Marlins. Over the past 20 years, fans have taken notice.
Founded in 1991, the expansion team — then known as the Florida Marlins — struggled in its early years, finishing five games ahead of the last-place New York Mets in 1993, then last in its division in 1994’s strike-shortened season, fourth in 1995 and third in 1996.
In 1997, the Marlins beat the Cleveland Indians in seven games to claim their first World Series title. In the offseason, then-team owner and Blockbuster Chief Executive Officer Wayne Huzienga (remember Blockbuster?) launched what is still regarded by some as the biggest fire sale in sports history, leaving the team gutted worse than that 18-foot marlin in Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea.
The Marlins finished 1998 with the worst record in the league (54108), a feat they would repeat in 1999 (64-98) before surging back in 2000 with a third-place finish in the National League East. In 2002, the team finished 79-83, its fifth consecutive losing season after winning the World Series.
The next season, the Marlins were back in the World Series, after a hand from Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman and a late rally in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series. They went on to beat the New York Yankees in six games for their second championship.
In 2006, after another round of cost-cutting, the Marlins had a payroll in the neighborhood of $21 million, less than New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriquez made that year. A rash of injuries left Marlins in last place in 2007, a spot they would find again in 2012, despite a half-hearted witness protection plan that included a partial name change, a new color scheme and a new stadium.
All that turmoil hasn’t made it easy to build a fan base. In fact, the Marlins were so worried about filling seats for Monday’s home opener against the Atlanta Braves, they turned to discount website Groupon.com.
For $20 dollars, fans got a seat for opening night; a ticket to another game in April or May, and a $10 merchandise voucher.
“Never once have I ever heard of a team having their home opener on Groupon,” sports radio host Andy Slater told WFOR-TV, Miami’s CBS affiliate.
“A home opener in Major League Baseball is supposed to be a special day where you barely have to promote it, It promotes itself. Its a home opener. People go.”
Unless, apparently, they live in Miami. Not sure even Heningway’s Santiago, a huge baseball fan when he wasn’t fishing, would have taken that bait.