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The Marlins' Ballpark Is Nuts For Another Reason And Other MLBullets

By Brett Taylor
A general view of the new Marlins Ballpark shot throught a fishtank behind home plate. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
A general view of the new Marlins Ballpark shot throught a fishtank behind home plate. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
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Anyone else spend all of last evening stewing about failed stolen base attempts, missed third strike calls, wind-hurt triples, and a shaky bullpen?

  • SB Nation's Rob Neyer wonders if the Marlins built their ballpark too big, after everyone got a look at what looks like a really strong pitcher's park. We have all been so focused on the kitsch - the fish tank, the home run sculpture (which we might never see go off, by the way), the pomp and flash - that it seems like no one really considered the impact of the largest park in baseball. The dimensions come in at 340-384-418-392-340, which dimensions have probably devoured a couple would-be Giancarlo Stanton homers already. Neyer thinks that, within a couple years, the Marlins will be forced to move the fences in, as they were in New York and Detroit. It's not that the Marlins will be at a competitive disadvantage because of the deep fences, mind you, but players and fans tend to get sick of seeing homerless stretches.

  • Cleveland Indians starter Justin Masterson was brilliant for eight innings yesterday, but, unfortunately, a standard-length baseball game goes nine innings. His closer, Chris Perez, blew a 4-1 lead, and the Blue Jays ended up winning the game in extra innings. I guess we should be thanking Perez, though - without the blown save, we wouldn't have seen history. Those extra innings? There were seven of them. The 16-inning game was the longest in Opening Day history.
  • Apparently the Joey Votto extension will not preclude the Cincinnati Reds from extending second baseman Brandon Phillips, as many had expected. GM Walt Jocketty says he expects a deal to be done within a week.
  • New York Mets Opening Day starter Johan Santana returned after not pitching in forever, and threw five scoreless innings. His return is a nice story, and would be a huge boon to the Mets (not that it will matter in the NL East this year).
  • MLBTradeRumors gathers the largest contracts in Draft history. Mark Prior is at number two between Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper, which serves to remind us just how good Prior was, and remind Nationals fans just how fragile top young players are.
  • Jonathan Broxton takes over as the closer for the Kansas City Royals, after Joakim Soria underwent Tommy John Surgery.
  • Beyond the Box Score discusses how to land a job in Major League Baseball using social media (it ain't easy).
  • Video of Emilio Bonafacio eating fence.

Brett Taylor is the Lead Writer at Bleacher Nation, and a Contributor here at Bleed Cubbie Blue.

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