Some things, you just can't make up. The Miami Marlins home opener is tonight, and in Clark Spencer's notebook for the Miami Herald heading into year two of Marlins Park, he reveals that the team hasn't hired an organist yet this season. Seriously.
• There will be no organist, at least initially. The Marlins held tryouts for an organist but couldn’t find one to fit the bill. Another audition will be scheduled.
That's just…bizarre. In his notebook, Spencer also reveals that the Marlins lost more than half of their season ticket holders this offseason (dropping from 12,000 to 5,000), and that team president David Samson has said that mroe than 30,000 tickets have been sold for the game (albeit at discount prices, like the Groupon we touched on a couple of weeks ago).
Now, I realize that not having an organist isn't nearly as bad as say, not having a shortstop, but it's still an important part to the experience of attending a baseball game. In lieu of organ music, the Marlins will apparently be playing nothing but pre-recorded music, which kills any of the charm of going to a ballgame. But hey, at least the home run sculpture is still kicking!
