The Florida Marlins' attack on design and good taste has taken a bold step forward, with an animation of the new stadium's anamatronic centerfield structure going viral after being released on the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs' Facebook page.
The arcade-like structure will light up whenever a Marlin hits a home run in the new ballpark set to open in Little Havana next year.
If you thought the leaked new Miami Marlins cap logo was a ugly, then you might not want to take a gander at the centerfield display.
Animatronic marlins jump and twirl over what looks like a re-purposed ski-ball facade, complete with flashing lights and bright colors.
In 2009 the feature, designed by New York-based designer Red Grooms as a tribute to Daytona Beach (ahem), hit controversy when the team was awarded public art funds to build something county residents have to pay to see.
"[Team owner] Jeffrey [Loria]'s goal from Day 1 was to marry art and baseball," team president David Samson said at the time. If by "art" he meant "day-glo carnival machinery," then this structure is a smashing success.
It is over the top, of questionable taste, and probably cost a lot of Miami. That actually makes it a pretty good reflection of the city of Miami, but probably not the reflection Marlins fans were hoping for.
Indeed, the Marlins have accomplished the impossible: they have given their fans a reason to dread the prospect of a Mike Stanton home run.
