Entering their final season at Sun Life Stadium in 2011, the Florida Marlins will yet again relocate a home series.
It won’t be by their choice, but because U2 is having a concert at the stadium on June 29, 2011.
On June 24-26, the Florida Marlins will be facing the Seattle Mariners in an interleague series. Essentially, it wouldn’t give the crew at Sun Life Stadium enough time to set up for the concert stage and seating.
Reports have mentioned that the Marlins would essentially have to take the series north of the border rather than south and down to Puerto Rico for a San Juan Series Part II. Why north? Well, both the Marlins and Mariners have West Coast games right after the series, making it easier to travel than taking the series further south to Puerto Rico.
The Seattle Mariners are slated to face the Atlanta Braves in Safeco Field on the 27th, while the Marlins head to Oakland to face the Athletics the 28th.
The site sought out would be the once domed BC Place stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia. If you know your geography, Vancouver is about a two-hour drive from Seattle, which would make it a road game for the Marlins. If played in Canada, it would be the furthest road game in franchise history away from Miami.
Now I mentioned “once domed” for a reason, and there is a problem with BC Place. The stadium was shut down after the 2010 Winter Olympics and is currently undergoing a $458 million renovation to add a retractable roof. It isn’t expected to be ready until around mid-late 2011. It is still possible it could get finished prior to the time the Marlins and Mariners are slated to play.
If not Vancouver, the Marlins might consider playing further west in Hawaii at Aloha Stadium. Back in 1997, the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres played a three-game series on April 19-20th that included a doubleheader. It would be nothing new, and both teams could easily travel to the West Coast to play their next teams.
Oddly enough, U2 made their final stop at Aloha Stadium for their world tour of their album Vertigo in December of 2006.
If they want to stay closer to home, the Marlins could tinker by playing the three-game series in Champion Stadium in Orlando like the cross-state rival Tampa Bay Rays did in 2007 and 2008. Champion Stadium seats only 9,500, but standing room could raise capacity a bit.
Nevertheless, 2011 is the final season for the Marlins to tinker with a San Juan Series against the Mets or an O Canada Series or Aloha Series with Seattle as they move to their new stadium in 2012.
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