Travel Blog

The couple at the ticket window next to mine were speaking a language seldom heard at Sun Life Stadium. I asked the woman where she was from.

"The Netherlands," she said.

"And you understand baseball?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "I was a pitcher."

Her husband was still discussing seating with the woman behind the window, so I told the beautiful Dutch hurler that they could buy cheaper seats - bullpen for instance - and then move over to the infield, as not many people came to the games.

"Thanks, but we'll do it by the book," she said.

By the book, I thought to myself as I climbed the circular ramp. How did she know that expression?

The game was a wash. Bad Marlins pitching, bad Marlins fielding, bad Marlins base-running. Why can't the Marlins learn to play baseball the way the Dutch learn to speak English?

But the game ended as all baseball games should, with Louis Armstrong singing - as fans slowly filed out of the stadium - "What a Wonderful World." This is the only tradition the Marlins should take to the new ballpark.