MIAMI TIMES
By: Blake Rakestraw
Southern Slugger; Giancarlo Stanton
Do you know who Giancarlo Stanton is? Well, he is a right fielder for the Miami Marlins, a major league baseball team. Giancarlo was born on November 8th, 1989 in the Panorama City section of Los Angeles, California, he is currently twenty-six years old. Giancarlo had two siblings, a brother named Egido and a sister named Kairice. In high school Giancarlo played three sports: football, baseball, and basketball. After he graduated from high school he went straight to the MLB. In 2013, Giancarlo was supposed to participate in the homerun derby, but a knee injury stopped him from participating.
Giancarlo Stanton got hit in the face with an eighty-eight miles per hour fastball thrown by Mike Fiers. The paramedics told Giancarlo to lay on his back but he refused because he thought he would choke to death on his blood. He got carted off the field in an ambulance and went to the emergency room. The baseball broke his nose, cheek bone, and orbital bone. It shattered a tooth and chipped six other teeth. When he returned the following season he had to wear a protective facemask whenever he was up to bat.
In 2014, Giancarlo Stanton and Mike Trout won the Hank Aaron Award. The award honors the best hitter in the National and American league. That 2014 season he led the National league with the most homeruns. The award came to be when Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's record for the most homeruns. The award was presented to Giancarlo Stanton and Mike Trout by the commissioner of baseball Bud Selig and hall of famer Hank Aaron.
Giancarlo Stanton Batting.
Giancarlo Stanton getting hit by the pitch which caused his injury.
Giancarlo Stanton's face mask he wore when he returned from his injury.
Small Field; Big Price
Have you ever wanted to go to one of the smallest major league baseball fields? Only being 36,742 square feet. Probably not, but what if I told you they had a fish tank behind the field, a retractable roof, and private areas with pools, food, and some entertainment. Would you want to go now? If so, keep reading to learn more about Marlins Park.
Marlins Park has been the Miami Marlins baseball field since 2012. Before that the Marlins played at Sun Life Stadium, designed to be a football field. It cost $515 million to build Marlins Park. Being one of the smallest MLB fields, only 37,442 fans can come to a game. One private area next to the bullpen has a pool, entertainment, and food, only 240 fans are allowed in. Marlins Park has two scoreboards. One is a HD video scoreboard, the other is a scoreboard that displays the scores of other MLB games.
There are two saltwater fish tanks behind home plate. Each tank has a variety of fish varying in size and color. The tanks are twenty-four feet long and three feet deep. The tanks have a one and a half inch thick shatter proof glass, incase it is struck by a foul ball. Originally the tanks would have been in the outfield, those tanks would have had Sharks and Marlins.
Another feature at Marlins Park is a retractable roof that takes thirteen minutes to operate. The roof is energy efficient only costing ten dollars to operate. The roof has three panels, each panel can operate by itself. The entire roof is composed of 8,000 pounds of high-strength steel. It is 560 feet across and 200 feet tall to allow for pop-flies.
Marlins Park Information
Email: marlinspark@gmail.com
Website: miami.marlins.mlb.com
Location: 501 Marlins Way, Miami, FL, United States
Phone: (305)-480-1300
Facebook: facebook.com/MarlinsPark
Twitter: @MarlinsPark
Marlins May Schedule
Monday, May 4- Wednesday, May 6 @Nationals
Thursday, May 7- Sunday, May 10 @Giants
Monday, May 11- Wednesday, May 13 @Dodgers
Friday, May 15- Sunday, May 17 vs Braves
Monday, May 18- Thursday, May 21 vs Diamond Backs
Friday, May 22- Sunday, May 24 vs Orioles
Monday, May 25- Wednesday, May 27 @Pirates
Friday, May 29- Monday, May 31 @Mets
MLB Standings
New York Mets
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Houston Astros
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Boston Red Sox
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Arizona Diamondbacks
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Oakland Athletics
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Cleland Indians
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