It had been 25 years since I went to my first Miami Marlins game, and boy, how things have changed.

The first time I went to a Marlins game was in July of 1996. They were called the Florida Marlins then, and played in Pro Player Stadium, the home of the Miami Dolphins football team.

I remember it was a day game, and it was hot and muggy. We had pretty good seats, but we were in the sun. My wife and I had our two children with us; our son was five years old and our daughter was one.

That was a fun day because I knew the Marlins general manager and assistant general manager at the time. I had worked for both of them in the Montreal Expos organizations. They gave us the tickets and we got to visit with them prior to the game.

During the game, our kids were kept entertained by the Marlins mascot (Billy the Marlin) and a host of other costumed characters that were there that day. I still remember how “Spiderman” went soaring down a zip-line from the upper deck to the field.

However, watching a baseball game in a football stadium is not always a great experience. Our seats were on the first base side, several rows back from the dugout. It was equivalent to about the 30-yard line. That meant we had to sit sideways in our seats to see home plate. Plus, we felt like we were so far away from the action.

The Marlins played in that stadium from 1993-2011, and tried for many years to get their own ballpark. They knew it was difficult to draw fans to a stadium where they would be exposed to the sun and daily South Florida rain showers.

Finally, in 2012, the Marlins moved into a new 37,000-seat Major League Baseball facility that includes a retractable roof to shield spectators from the sun and rain. The new ballpark, known as Marlins Park, drastically changed the way fans could watch summertime baseball in South Florida.

THAT WAS THEN – THIS IS NOW

Recently, I spent some time in Florida, and stayed with my friend Alex and his family for a couple days. While riding in his car one day, we began talking about the Marlins. He was telling me that he enjoys taking his two sons, Aiden (5) and Evan (1), to the games, even though they don’t sit and watch much of the game.

I said, “well, the Marlins are home tonight playing the Yankees.”

To which Alex replied, “We’re going!”

He immediately checked with his wife (for permission), and then ordered the tickets online.

Marlins Park, now has a sponsor name, LoanDepot Park, and it is really a neat ballpark. I like the exterior design of the stadium, and the fact that although it was 90 degrees outside at game time, it was 72 in the stadium.

Normally, I’m not a fan of indoor ballparks because of artificial turf, however, because the roof is retractable and is often opened to let in sunlight, this field is natural grass. That’s really the best of both worlds when it comes to watching baseball in comfort in the hotter regions of our country. This is the same reason the Texas Rangers built a new ballpark with a retractable roof.

LoanDepot Park has a great selection of food concessions, including; Peruvian specialties, Latin and Asian menus, barbeque, Caribbean cuisine, and typical ballpark selections. I had a Cuban sandwich that was really good.

Alex spent time with the boys at Billy’s Boat House play area. The team’s mascot made an appearance there in the fifth inning, and Aiden was excited about seeing Billy up close.

On this night, I saw Anthony Rizzo playing in his first game with the Yankees, after being traded from the Cubs. Rizzo went 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored in the game.

With no score in the sixth inning, Rizzo hit a 449-foot homer over the right-field wall, for his first hit as a Yankee. New York won the game, 3-1.

That brings the total to 14 MLB ballparks in which I’ve attended games. Some of them were in the same city, like Miami and St. Louis, with old and new ballparks, but the goal is to visit all the ones currently in existence. I’m adding that to my bucket list.