This is part of an MLB.com/FloridaMarlins.com exclusive series with Marlins president David Samson chronicling the progress and developments of the new retractable-roof stadium that is set to open in 2011. As part of the series, which will run twice monthly, fans are encouraged to e-mail David. The fan who presents the best suggestion for this two-week period will receive free tickets to an upcoming Marlins game.
MIAMI -- Good news was delivered in pairs last Saturday for the Marlins.
On a baseball diamond across the street from where the Orange Bowl once stood, the organization announced the signing of shortstop Hanley Ramirez to a six-year deal that expires after the 2014 season.
For the organization, the announcement provided the opportunity to broadcast a benchmark signing while drawing attention to the fact that, in 2011, the club will be moving into a retractable-roof, 37,000-seat stadium on the Orange Bowl grounds.
The Orange Bowl, for 70 years a football stadium, has been demolished. Still standing amid the rubble is a scoreboard with the name "Orange Bowl" on top.
With each passing week, more and more of the grounds will be cleared in preparation for the baseball park groundbreaking in November.
"When we knew we were signing Hanley, we sat down and tried to figure out the best way to unveil this good news to our fan base," Samson said. "The best two things that have happened to this franchise recently are, No. 1 by far, the new stadium.
"And No. 2 was securing Hanley for the next six years, and guaranteeing that he will be here when we open the new stadium. It's exciting to marry those two pieces of news into one great event. He actually signed his contract across the street from where the new stadium will be."
The Ramirez news conference is the first of what likely will be many announcements that the team plans to make at the Orange Bowl.
"Many people around Florida did not realize the Orange Bowl had already been demolished," Samson said. "We wanted to draw attention to the fact that things are getting ready, and construction is going to begin soon. The next things people are going to see on that site are cranes. The design is ongoing, but it's important to show people that this is where the Marlins will be, in Little Havana."
Among the guests at the news conference were city of Miami mayor Manny Diaz, city commissioner Angel Gonzalez, city manager Pedro Hernandez, and Miami-Dade County commissioner Bruno Barreiro.
"The best thing I heard from a fan was, 'I'm happy that we have a roof [on the new building], because, boy, it's hot out here,' " Samson said. "And that fan was mayor Manny Diaz. His work, along with Bruno Barreiro and [Miami-Dade County manager] George Burgess has been an unbelievable boon to this franchise. They have taken ownership to this project, and that sort of political leadership is what you need.
"Now people around Florida and around the country realize that the process is moving forward, full-speed ahead, regardless of what you may hear from anybody else."
The reason the city and the county feel that it is important to have a stadium in the Little Havana section of Miami is because the building projects to be a central part of the revitalization of the area.
"Little Havana will finally have its turn in the spotlight, and it will become the neighborhood that everyone envisioned it could be," Samson said. "Having 81 games there will completely turn it around, and it will become a destination 365 days a year.
"We're in a rural site right now [Dolphin Stadium]. We're moving to an urban site that will lead to urban renewal."
The vision is to have shops and restaurants around the park, making the surroundings similar to Wrigley Field or Coors Field.
As the remains are removed from the grounds, the next stage in the stadium planning process is announcing exactly where on the Orange Bowl grounds the baseball park will be built. An announcement is expected in about two weeks.
"We're now going to show you exactly where the stadium will be, and how it will show the downtown skyline," Samson said.
With the project moving forward, there remains a landmark for what has been part of football lore in South Florida.
The last indicator that football was played at the Orange Bowl is the scoreboard. In time, that too will be removed, but the team plans on preserving a piece of that board.
"The sign that is on top of the scoreboard, that says, Orange Bowl, the team is going to save," Samson said. "We're going to incorporate that into the new building. We don't know how yet, but we recognize the historical importance of that site. We're going to combine that with the history of the Marlins, and our two World Series titles. We're going to have some sort of homage to that."
As for the scoreboard itself, efforts are being made to see if it can be recycled and used by another school.
Once it is time to break ground on the baseball park, fans will actually be able to follow the construction, courtesy of streaming video.
"There are going to be cameras on the site, and people are going to be able to follow [on floridamarlins.com] the actual streaming of the stadium being built when we start construction," Samson said.
Right now, the process is going in stages. Securing a franchise-caliber player like Ramirez was one of the steps towards a new future for the organization once it is in a new home in 2011.
Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
