By: Alina Amaral

What better depicts summer than spending an afternoon or evening at the ballpark enjoying a game with a cool drink, hotdog and popcorn? In South Florida, we have the Miami Marlins where you can get just that and a lot more. I experienced Opening Day; the stands were full and the crowd was excited and optimistic. Although that was their first game in a row, many experts predict the Marlins will be a post season contender for 2016. Even though, in the first few weeks did not have many wins, the Marlins are back on a winning track with 5 wins!
Here are some fun facts about our team and the stadium that hopefully will get you excited to also cheer the team this season.
“¢ The Marlins signed the monster hitter and right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, as the highest paid player in MLB history.
“¢ One of the most popular Marlins is pitcher Jose Fernandez, who is just 22 years old and a Cuban-American who defected from the island in 2008.
“¢ The Marlins have won 2 World Series in their short history; in 1997 as a young team and in 2003 when the underdog Marlins beat a heavily favored New York Mets team.
“¢ Marlins Park opened in 2012 is a beautiful facility built on the site of the famous Orange Bowl, with a retractable roof so you will not get wet or too hot with the Miami summer weather.
“¢ Marlins Park is set to host the 2017 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
“¢ The Marlins have many specials where visiting the stadium is very affordable and fun. Go to miami.marlins.mlb.com for all the details; but here are a few that I like, Half-Price Tuesdays, Kids Eat Free Wednesday, All You Can Eat Seats, Saturday Night Concerts after the game, and many others.
“¢ If you like to party “South Beach Style” visit the Clevelander at the Stadium, with DJs, a pool, and beautiful dancers.
“¢ Ichiro Suzuki just joined the Marlins; he is a legend in Japanese Baseball.