Cardinals will help new-look Marlins christen stadium

MIAMI -- Perched atop the Miami Marlins' multicolored, provocative home-run sculpture is a blue marlin, poised for splashdown whenever the home team hits one out.

Call the artwork what you will -- gaudy, goofy, grotesque, great -- but there's no denying it's new. For the Marlins, that's what this season is all about.

Long overlooked and underfunded, they've become a big-spending, attention-grabbing team as they open the season at home tonight against the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals.

The pop-art sculpture, futuristic ballpark, brisk ticket sales, team name, uniforms, celebrity manager, All-Star shortstop, All-Star left-hander, All-Star closer and starry-eyed optimism are all new.

With the roster significantly upgraded, the Marlins predict they'll contend for the NL East title -- and more.

John D’Amico-Martinez, of Living Color Aquariums, cleans the aquarium behind home plate before a spring training game Monday between the Marlins and Yankees in Miami. (Wilfredo Lee ~ Associated Press)

"We expect to win," new shortstop Jose Reyes said. "The kind of club we have, we're going to compete, no doubt."

When ace Josh Johnson throws the first pitch in the new ballpark, the Marlins will begin trying to supplant the Cardinals, who mounted an improbable late-season charge to the World Series title.

But like the Marlins, the 2012 Cardinals have a new look. Slugger Albert Pujols and manager Tony La Russa are gone and postseason star Chris Carpenter is hurt, so Kyle Lohse will start the opener. But right-hander Adam Wainwright is back from elbow surgery, and the addition of outfielder Carlos Beltran is cause for encouragement.

Plus, only one team has a chance to repeat as the World Series champion, and baseball-crazy St. Louis always is eager for a season to start.

"There's a buzz in every home opener," Cardinals rookie manager Mike Matheny says. "The buzz in our place is ridiculous."

St. Louis Cardinals' Matt Holliday hits during the fifth inning of a spring training baseball game against the New York Mets in Jupiter, Fla., Friday, March 30, 2012. St. Louis won 4-3. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

While the Cardinals will wait until April 13 to play a home game, outfielder Jon Jay is especially excited about the road opener. The Miami native attended Marlins games as a youngster when they played in the Dolphins' stadium, so he can appreciate the new ballpark.

"To be able to play the first game there, it's something I am going to remember forever," Jay said. "The Dolphins' stadium wasn't really a baseball ballpark. It's going to be nice for the community to have a real baseball park."

The centerpiece is beyond the center-field wall -- a 73-foot-tall kaleidoscopic sculpture that will launch into animation when the home team hits a home run. The work, conceived by team owner and art dealer Jeffrey Loria, has drawn mixed reviews.

"There's a little controversy about whether people are going to like it," said Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton, the player most likely to put the thing in motion. "They might not want me to do it. Everyone is saying it's circusy."

New closer Heath Bell dislikes homers but loves the sculpture.

"It's colorful and shiny and awesome-looking, kind of like Miami," Bell said. "You definitely won't see that anywhere else. It's straight Miami. We're not dull. We're flashy, colorful, lively, exciting."

The team's new rainbow logo fits with that premise. So does the matching orange-dyed hair Reyes and third baseman Hanley Ramirez sport.

Fans seem captivated, at least for the moment, and the Marlins anticipate sellout crowds nearly nightly in their cozy 36,000-seat home this year. Heat and rain will no longer be a deterrent, thanks to air conditioning and a retractable roof that gives the ballpark an ultramodern appearance.

The shiny silver roof likely will be open for only about 10 games a year, and today might be one of them. The forecast for first pitch was 81 degrees and partly cloudy.

Plenty of tickets were available Tuesday for less than $100 despite hype surrounding the opener. The Marlins must win to keep fans coming once the newness surrounding the ballpark subsides.

"You can have a beautiful house with a beautiful view, but if the people living in the house stink, it ain't going to be so beautiful," Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen said.

The Marlins finished last in the NL East a year ago, 30 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies, but they've since added Guillen, Reyes, Bell, left-hander Mark Buehrle and right-hander Carlos Zambrano. They even tried to sign Pujols.

Holdovers include 2009 NL batting champion Ramirez, 2010 NL ERA leader Johnson and Stanton.

"When you go position by position, we're going to be able to compete with any team in the league," first baseman Gaby Sanchez said.

Guillen shares that optimism but is well aware of pitfalls after eight roller-coaster seasons with the Chicago White Sox, including a World Series title in 2005.

Yes, the Marlins are new. But at a team meeting Tuesday, Guillen planned to warn his team that new doesn't necessarily mean better.

"I hope it will be my last meeting until the playoffs start," he says. "Bad teams have a lot of meetings. Good teams win games."