Miami Marlins Make ESPN: Three Keys To Watch For

As some of the more alert Miami Marlins fans might have noticed, our beloved team hasn’t gotten a great deal of national spotlight over the years.

Unless of course, it’s to either ridicule penurious owner Jeffrey Loria or crack jokes about poor attendance numbers. To be fair, the two do tend to go hand in hand for the Miami Marlins.

But real attention? Coverage of the Marlins like they’re a real team with real players and real fans? That’s been a battle. Tonight though, the Fish square off against the New York Mets on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.

And I’ll be honest- I’m pretty jacked. Cuban coffee will be made, sleeping in will be swapped out for accomplishment so I can enjoy the game in peace, caps and jerseys will be broken out. Happily tossing aside all past bitterness to embrace the ESPN love, even if it will be mostly bestowed upon the New York Mets fragile but golden rotation.

Marlins fans outside the friendly confines of South Florida can rejoice in being able to watch their team without resorting to apps or sports bars, and all fans can enjoy watching their team get the national treatment. Fans in Miami can just enjoy not having to deal with transplanted Mets fans in person- always a plus.

In any event, the ESPN spotlight is a great way to kick off the season. What follows are three key storylines to watch tonight as the two NL East rivals square off.

Storyline One: Will The Marlins Mail It In? 

Happily enough, the Fish have won three in a row heading into tonight’s finale, and have already secured their first series victory of the season. But will the result of that be a game not worth watching after the first inning?

Typically, when teams have already won the first two to three games of the series, the manager tends to pump the breaks a little bit. This is especially true on Sundays. There’s a real chance this could end up being our first Ichiro Suzuki start of 2017, and we might see the red-hot J.T. Realmuto taking a seat as well in favor of backup backstop A.J. Ellis.

However, this is a Sunday night game, meaning the Marlins are getting their regular amount of rest. Plus, Monday is an off-day. When you throw in the fact the players will probably be a little pumped about the national coverage, it will be interesting to see how Don Mattingly handles this one. All-in? Or rest up?

Storyline Three: Where’s The 2017 All-Star Game Again? 

That’s right, it’s in Miami. While one of the two additional patches on Marlins jerseys this year is commendable and heartfelt, there’s also that fairly shameless bit of product placement going on on the right sleeve.

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Grant it, I couldn’t be more excited South Florida is finally getting their All-Star Game. Promote away Jeff, promote away.

It seems entirely possible then, that especially as ESPN covers the Home Run Derby (buckle up for statue jokes) and that can’t miss celebrity softball contest, that the Marlins have made the early season schedule to start promoting the Midsummer Classic.

On the other hand, tonight’s game is being played in New York, not Little Havana. So it could be a bit awkward to have to keep cutting away to shots of another ballpark, and not spotlighting Citi Field as much as they would on a regular night.

I feel like that’s a hurdle ESPN executives might be willing to overcome though.

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We’ll just have to wait and see. At any rate, enjoy the game: thanks to the heroics of the past two days, there’s no pressure. Just baseball.