Bolstered by announced crowds of more than 31,000 for each of the last four home games of the 2009 season, the Florida Marlins saw their attendance rise 12.5 percent from 2008.

The Marlins drew 1,465,109 fans for 78 home dates or an average of 18,783 fans a game. That’s up from 1,335,075 or 16,688 fans a game for 80 dates in 2008. This season three games were postponed due to rain and doubleheaders were scheduled in which attendance was counted just once. The team wrapped up its home schedule at Land Shark Stadium Sunday getting shut out 4-0 by the New York Mets.

That’s still last in the National League, but up one spot from the basement, where the team dwelled (in attendance) for the past three seasons. The Oakland A’s, who are in 30th place right now, play three more games at home this week, but it’s unlikely their home attendance will surpass the Marlins'.

The past four Marlins games had announced crowds of 31,042; 39,031; 35,666; and 31,167. Remember, Major League Baseball teams announce the number of tickets sold, regardless of whether the tickets are vastly discounted, included as part of sponsors’ deals, or stamped with a $1 figure and donated to charity.

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Wondering about that attendance figure of 31,042 at Wednesday’s Florida Marlins-Philadelphia Phillies game at Land Shark Stadium? So were we. Several people told me that although the stands looked fairly crowded in person and on TV, the actual attendance in the stadium looked more like 20,000 to 22,000.

We all know it’s not unusual for announced attendance to be larger than the actual crowd. Major League Baseball attendance is announced based on the number of tickets sold, even if those tickets are vastly discounted or say, part of a sponsorship package or if the team stamps a $1 figure on them and donates them to charity. Read more about how attendance is tabulated across the leagues in this piece I wrote in 2006.

So, why if the announced attendance was 20,039 for Tuesday’s double header against the Phillies and the team is averaging 18,109 a game this season, would Wednesday’s figure be more than 30,000?

Looks like the Eye on Miami blog may have found an answer. The blog reports Miami-Dade County and city of Miami employees were offered up to four free tickets each to Wednesday’s game. A copy of the email sent to county employees describes the offer as the team’s “thank you to the many organizations in South Florida that make this a great community.” How about a thank you for the hundreds of millions of public dollars going to the team's new ballpark?

The county email also says the “value of the tickets falls below the gift reporting threshold under the County Code.”

No idea how many county or city employees took advantage of the offer, but it’s likely the team accounted for government employees – even if they didn’t show -- in the attendance announced Wednesday.

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Thanks to his partnership with Sharp Electronics, Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez will be stopping at Brandsmart in Miami on Saturday to sign autographs and pose for photos.

Sharp included Ramirez along with a dozen other Major League Baseball players last summer in promotions for its Sharp Aquos, MLB’s “official High Definition television.”

Ramirez will appear from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday at Brandsmart, 16051 S. Dixie Highway, Miami. He will only be allowed to autograph signature cards that Sharp will be providing at the event.

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Spring training pumped more than $750 million into Florida’s economy this year – or an average of $47 million per team that spends the spring here – according to a study released by the Florida Sports Foundation.

The study by the Bonn Marketing Research Group of Tallahassee says Florida realized $752.3 million in economic impact from the annual spring influx of Major League Baseball teams. That’s up from the $453 million that was estimated in a 2000 study. This spring, 16 teams trained in 15 venues across the state.

Spring training drew 1.56 million fans – or an average of more than 6,000 fans per game. The study estimated that out-of-state attendees represented 48 percent of the total. Those who came to Florida specifically for spring training spent a total of $571.7 million, the study says.

“Major League Baseball has a following that transcends economic downturns,” Dr. Mark Bonn, president of Bonn Marketing Research Group, said in a statement released by the Florida Sports Foundation. “People make their decisions to travel almost a year out and many of the respondents were repeat attendees at Spring Training Games. Economic conditions have little effect upon their decision to come to Florida for spring training. It’s more about loyalty than economics.”

The new study nearly doubles the estimates of spring training economic impact by tourism officials, who typically say the community realizes about $25 million annually. With the Baltimore Orioles moving from Fort Lauderdale to Sarasota next spring, the community will miss out on those extra dollars.

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The rich history of spring training in South Florida has been slowly wearing away during the past two decades as teams that once made Florida’s southeast coast their spring homes have moved elsewhere to fancy new venues. The news this week that Sarasota has lured the Baltimore Orioles to the west coast next year, means Jupiter’s Roger Dean Stadium, where the Marlins and Cardinals train, will be the closest place to watch spring baseball.

But there are plenty of memories from the years that saw the Orioles in Miami (1959-1990) and Fort Lauderdale (1996-2009), Yankees in Fort Lauderdale (1962-1995), Washington Senators/Texas Rangers in Pompano Beach (1961-1986), Atlanta Braves in West Palm Beach (1963-1997) and Montreal Expos, also in West Palm (1968-1972; 1981-1997). The dozens of star players: Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Jim Palmer, Hank Aaron, Cal Ripken Jr. and on and on. Ted Williams managed the Senators from 1969 to 1971, when they trained in Pompano Beach.

Spring training actually stretches back nearly a century in South Florida with teams playing the in the teens in Miami and in the 1930s in Miami Beach, but its glory days followed World War II.

Here are some memories, with help from Marlins beat writer Juan C. Rodriguez, that didn’t make this morning’s story in the paper:

“We’re losing our rich tradition, that’s the sad part about it. We loved it. You could play a week without ever having to leave the area ... The tradition in that part of Florida. It was unbelievable. Thurman Munson, Bobby Murrcer, Yogi Berra. Billy Martin was my manager there, Mickey Mantle. All the guys, Gene Michaels, George Steinbrenner was always around then some.”
Rick Dempsey, catcher for the Yankees, 1973-1976, Orioles, 1976-1986, now a broadcaster with the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network

“One of the most enjoyable times I ever had broadcasting a game at Fort Lauderdale Stadium was with my partner [former Brooklyn Dodger] Duke Snider when the Expos were playing the Yankees. Mel Allen had come down to visit the Yankees … He sat in the broadcast booth for about an inning and I just let Duke and Mel tell stories about the old days. Here I am with the voice of the Yankees, Mel Allen, and the Duke of Flatbush, talking about the old days.”
Dave Van Horne, Marlins and former Montreal Expos radio broadcaster

“Back then the fan accessibility was a little bit more lax. They were close to you. They were down close to the field. Every morning you’d go out to stretch and there would be a bunch of people. There was more accessibility to the players back then."
Marlins hitting coach Jim Presley, who trained with the Atlanta Braves in West Palm Beach in 1990

“It was Bobby Maduro with the Orioles and now Fort Lauderdale with the Yankees and Orioles, now that’s going to be gone. Growing up down there, that’s where you went to see games before we had a Major League team. As players, it was great. You have the beach there for spring training, great restaurants, great cities. It wasn’t a little sleepy town like Vero Beach. That was nice. When the Yankees were there in ’87 it was packed every night, every day. I remember playing a lot of night games there in spring training. It was a packed house every night and I thought it was a state-of-the-art building at the time in ’87.”
Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez, who attended spring training with the Yankees in 1987

“Over the years I got to know a lot of the Yankees because I was also the director of administration at Pompano Harness Track. I’d leave them passes and programs. It was very interesting to have that personal touch with them. One night I had Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Elston Howard, Whitey Ford and later on, Catfish Hunter. The thing about the Yankees more so because of the tradition than the Orioles, is they brought a lot of old players back to camp.”
“I picked my seats behind the visitors’ dugout so I could see all the visiting teams. I took my ballplayers from Lauderdale High out to the games, especially if they got a lot of hits. It was a real fun thing. They kidded me my first year, being from West Virginia I’d take a mason jar of chili and sit there watching spring training … It’s just a little bit special time March down here, starting the season. That’s when you smell the flowers, the rosin bag and pine tar, and the crack of the bat. We’re going to miss that.”
Jack Trainor, retired Fort Lauderdale High School baseball coach

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Entries in the Marlins’ “What’s Your Reason?” video contest that challenged fans to come up with unique uses for rival teams’ jerseys have been narrowed to two.

The public has until July 29 to vote for its favorite. The choice is between using a New York Mets jersey as a birthday party pinata and a Washington Nationals jersey to help clean up a barbecue. Watch and vote for the videos here.

The winner will be determined by a combination of fan votes and a panel of team judges. The winning video will be shown on the video board at the Marlins-Chicago Cubs game at Land Shark Stadium on Aug. 1. And the winner will receive a prize package that includes a night at a Marlins game in a suite for up to 10 people and a Marlins jersey for the video creator.

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Negotiations and threats to leave Fort Lauderdale Stadium seemed to drag on for years. But on Wednesday, the Baltimore Orioles made an abrupt exit.

The Sarasota City and County Commissions approved agreements that made way for the team to move its spring training operations to Sarasota’s Ed Smith Stadium next spring. And with that, the team is on its way out of South Florida, taking with it the tradition of spring training.

Major League Baseball teams used to be ubiquitous in South Florida. The Orioles made their spring home at now-demolished Bobby Maduro Stadium in Miami from 1959 to 1988. The New York Yankees trained in Fort Lauderdale from 1962 to 1995. The Texas Rangers spent the spring in Pompano Beach; the Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos in West Palm Beach.

Now the Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals, who share Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, will be our closest teams.

“Anytime you lose an athletic team of that magnitude, whether it’s for spring training or whether it’s for the Super Bowl, athletics is a large part of what makes quality of life issues so important,” Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom said. “I really enjoyed having them here, they were part of the fabric of our community.”

At one time it seemed certain the Orioles would stay in Fort Lauderdale. In 2007, the team, Fort Lauderdale and Broward County reached agreement to fund a major overhaul of aging Fort Lauderdale Stadium. But that plan stalled last year when the Federal Aviation Administration said the team would need to pay $1.3 million annually to maintain adjacent Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.

Despite the city’s efforts, the FAA didn’t budge. And the team continued negotiating with other communities from Vero Beach to Fort Myers, before hammering out the Sarasota deal. The $31.2 million, 30-year deal includes $7.5 million in state funds and $23.7 million from an increase in the county tourist tax. The agreement includes renovations to Ed Smith Stadium and minor league venue Twin Lakes Park and plans for a Cal Ripken Baseball youth academy.

“It is with great excitement that we announce that Sarasota will be our new long-term spring training home,” Orioles Executive Vice President John Angelos said in a statement released by the team.

Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau President Nicki Grossman, who was in Oregon, got a call from the Orioles early Wednesday informing her of the Sarasota deal. While Grossman said she understood the team’s financial predicament, she’s disappointed the region will be losing what the bureau estimates are 19,000 visitors who travel here annually specifically to see the team and pump $25 million into local hotels, restaurants and other businesses. The Orioles also promoted the region in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., area.

“It’s a huge disappointment,” Grossman said.

When some 50 members of the public signed up to speak at a public hearing at the Sarasota county commission, it seemed as though the agreements might never get to a vote. Residents weighed in on whether the deal had been struck in secret and the use of taxpayer dollars for the project when there are other needs in the community; others urged passage of the agreement to preserve baseball in Sarasota and to fund other sports. The commission voted 4-1 for the agreement; their vote came after the city commission voted 3-2 to transfer ownership of the stadium from the city to the county.

The Cincinnati Reds held spring training in Sarasota this past spring, but are moving to Phoenix next year. Rodstrom wished the Orioles well and said at least they will remain in Florida.

The 16 teams that trained in Florida this year drew 1.56 million fans, down from the 1.67 million fans 18 teams in the state drew in 2008. The Orioles averaged 4,588 a game this spring.

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This morning, the Marlins will make history, holding the official ceremonial ground-breaking for their loooong awaited ballpark.

The ceremony is expected to be full of optimism and forward-looking, but it will also include a tinge of history: the Marlins’ first-ever pitcher-catcher battery of Charlie Hough and Benito Santiago will perform a ceremonial first pitch at the former Orange Bowl site.

With that in mind, when the Marlins take their new field, expected in 2012, they’ll be making another nod to the past -- changing their name to Miami Marlins. It’s a requirement of the ballpark deal struck with Miami-Dade County and city of Miami, which are paying the bulk of the ballpark’s price.

While the name isn’t expected to change until the new ballpark opens, the team is already quietly easing into the transition. Its Web site is now just marlins.com without the Florida.

As for the original Miami Marlins, they were a minor league team that played in the International League from 1956 to 1960 at Miami’s famed and now-demolished Miami Stadium (renamed Bobby Maduro in 1987). Satchel Paige pitched for the team. Later, there was a Florida State League team named the Miami Marlins, which played at the stadium from1962-1970 and then from 1982-1988.

The original Miami Marlins are immortalized in a T-shirt produced by Ebbets Field Flannels, a Seattle mail order company (ebbets.com) that sells authentic flannel and felt-lettered reproductions of minor league baseball jerseys, jackets and caps, favored by the likes of Spike Lee, David Letterman and former Sex Pistol John Lydon. As you can see, the shirt’s orange – one of the Major League Marlins’ colors - and shows a baseball bat-wielding marlin popping out of old Miami Stadium.

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Yahoo Inc. has dropped its lawsuit against the NFL Players union over paying for the right to use players’ names and statistics in its fantasy football games. The two sides reached a settlement, but the details weren’t disclosed.

Yahoo filed suit in federal court in Minneapolis last month, following the lead if CBS Interactive, which sued the players union last year on behalf of Fort Lauderdale-based CBSSports.com. A federal judge ruled in CBS’ favor in April that the names and stats are protected by the First Amendment.

That ruling followed an earlier federal appeals court decision in a case involving Major League Baseball that said MLB players’ names and stats are in the public domain. Both CBS and Yahoo believed the baseball ruling applies to football games as well.

The players association has appealed the ruling in the CBS case.

The Fantasy Sports Trade Association has supported Yahoo and CBS in their legal action, but has contended repeatedly that the fantasy game providers and leagues should work together to promote the games.

Andrew Feffer, the union's chief operating officer and executive vice president, told the Associated Press the NFLPA and Yahoo "continue to explore additional opportunities to work together."

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The Marlins have been giving away mortgage or rent payments or $2,500 each at Saturday games and offering free tickets to unemployed South Floridians on Mondays this season.

Continuing its "Economic Relief " programs, the team is offering out-of-work fans a chance to make money by selling ticket plans. Qualified registrants, who are at least 18 and will be paired with sales executives, can earn commissions of up to 10 percent and bonuses.

Register for the Marlins Community Sales Force through July 19 at marlins.com or at Land Shark Stadium. The program runs July 20 to Feb. 15, 2010. The team will consider hiring successful sellers full-time.

The Marlins are just a game out of first place in the NL East, but selling tickets to the team has never been easy. The team, which is averaging 18,117 tickets sold per game, currently ranks last in attendance among baseball’s 30 teams.

Given the state of the economy, is it more difficult to find a job or sell a Marlins season ticket plan?

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When I wrote a story in March about how sports fans and teams were using Twitter to do everything from play-by-play to sharing promotion and ticket discounts, I included a reference to a friendly wager.

This was before Twitter essentially exploded – teams were just getting their feet wet using the social messaging system and fans were clamoring for them to keep up. Plantation marketing executive and Panthers fan John Sternal had put the Panthers logo on the line in a bet with a couple of Chicago Blackhawks fans. When the Panthers lost the matchup between the two teams, Sternal had to put the Blackhawks logo on his account the following day.

Avid tweeters, Sternal and Toby Srebnik, a sports fan from North Lauderdale and public relations executive, have now significantly upped the ante. Sternal, a Marlins fan, and Srebnik, a Tampa Bay Rays fan, have been betting the Marlins-Rays series this season. Of the two three-game series, the fan of the team that loses each series must post the rival team’s mascot on his Twitter page for the following workweek. The Rays won the first series in May, so Sternal had to post a photo of the Rays’ mascot Raymond as his avatar.

They’ve even named their bet #billyrayavatar – in Twitter parlance – after Billy the Marlin and Raymond.

They each began sporting their team’s mascot this week. And Srebnik is already ahead again with the Rays beating the Marlins 7-3 in St. Pete last night. They’ve been trash-talking much of the past few days. Follow their adventures at #billyrayavatar. Sternal is @SternalPR; Srebnik is @fsutoby.

And don’t forget to follow me @sarahtalalay

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UPDATED
The Marlins have scheduled their ceremonial ground-breaking for Saturday, July 18 and the public’s invited.

That’s assuming, of course, that financing for the new ballpark can be secured, but officials are optimistic given the ratings the bonds received so far from the rating agencies last month.

Miami-Dade County officials were to begin selling the bonds Tuesday and Wednesday, but those dates have since been moved to June 17 and 18. Marlins President David Samson says the delay isn't cause for alarm.

"The ratings were positive," Samson said. "We’re confident there will be individual and institutional buyers for these bonds."

Assuming the bonds are sold, grading and site preparation are to begin July 1 at the former site of the Orange Bowl. Then the ceremonial ground-breaking will be held on July 18, complete with team, county, city and Major League Baseball officials, and, of course, those fancy shovels. Fans are invited, too.

"It’s going to be, and we try not to over use the word, but a historic day," Samson said Monday afternoon before the Marlins-San Francisco Giants game at Land Shark Stadium, where rain was threatening once again. "It’s a day we’ve all been working toward, seven years personally, and our organization for over 10 years."

Samson said team officials along with representatives of their architect and construction manager have been putting in long hours -- as much as 18 a day -- to prepare for the ballpark. He said on Monday, for example, the ballpark team worked on finalizing seat counts, including ensuring that no sections have rows with only one seat: "We don’t know of many people who would buy a season ticket of one," he said.

The team examined entrances and exits and the time it takes to get from section openings, known as vomitories, to seats, and the sightlines for fans when people are walking to and from vomitories. Then there is permitting for the 70 or so bid packages for construction; and for the 16 trailers that will be on-site during construction. The trailers have to be placed carefully to allow for the movement of trucks and cranes at the location, Samson said.

There was also a discussion, Samson said, of the actual ground-breaking event -- how to get power to the site and what kind of shovels to order. And yes, Samson said he feels enormous pressure.

"We cannot have a delay," Samson said. "We will not go over budget."

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Concerned about threats that it would be sued, Yahoo Inc., became the second major fantasy sports provider to sue the NFL Players union over use of players' names and statistics in its fantasy football games.

The suit filed in federal court in Minneapolis on Monday is similar to one filed by CBS Interactive on behalf of Fort Lauderdale-based CBSSports.com last year. A federal judge ruled in CBS’ favor on April 28, saying the players’ names and stats are protected by the First Amendment.

That ruling followed an earlier federal appeals court decision that said Major League Baseball players’ names and stats are in the public domain. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear that case.

Last week, the NFL Players Association and its marketing arm, Players Inc., appealed the ruling in the CBS case.

Yahoo, whose last licensing agreement with Players Inc., expired March 1, cites the CBS ruling in its suit. Yahoo believes the ruling should apply to all fantasy providers, just as the judge in the CBS case ruled the baseball ruling also applies to football.

“In the CBSI case, the court held that the provider of a fantasy football game did not require a license from Players Inc. in order to operate a game that used player names, statistics, images and other information,” Yahoo’s case states.

The Yahoo case was filed in Minneapolis, which is where the both the baseball case and the CBS case were decided. Friendly courts, anyone?

The Fantasy Sports Trade Association is supporting Yahoo’s case, but as it has said repeatedly, it hopes the leagues and game providers can work together to promote fantasy gaming.

“The fact that the NFL Players Association continues to demand licensing fees is disheartening news for the industry, and for fantasy sports participants,” FSTA President Paul Charchian said in a statement. “The Players’ Association is seemingly oblivious to the obvious and tangible benefits derived from the proliferation of fantasy sports, along with the many cases that have already been decided in favor of fantasy operators. While the FSTA will support Yahoo in this case, we also hope to cooperate with each of the players’ associations to help maximize fantasy sports products.”

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The Phoenix Mercury will become the first WNBA team to wear a corporate sponsor’s logo prominently on its jerseys this season. In a deal being announced today, identity-theft protection company LifeLock Inc., will sponsor the team for three years in a deal said to be worth at least $1 million a year.

The Arizona-based company, which also sponsors NASCAR, will be the team’s presenting sponsor and get its name on the team’s warm-up jerseys and its arena. It is also to offer complimentary membership to WNBA season ticket holders.

The WNBA did a deal prior to last season with McDonald’s in which the fast food giant sponsored Tip-Off for the league’s 12th season. Players wore the Golden Arches on a Tip-Off logo on their jerseys during the home openers, but the logos weren’t as prominently displayed as LifeLock’s will be on Mercury jerseys.

The Mercury will still wear its team logo, but Mercury will be a much smaller badge-style logo on the upper left – similar to the way the L.A. Galaxy’s logo appears on the MLS team’s jerseys since Herbalife began sponsoring that team in 2007.

So, while we’re used to seeing corporate logos on jerseys overseas, they are beginning to seep into U.S. sports more frequently than they have in the past. The Boston Red Sox and Oakland A’s wore sponsor logos on their jerseys and helmets during the two games that opened the 2008 MLB season in Japan. The Puerto Rican team wore Best Buy logos on their jerseys during the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Since we used to seeing logos just about everywhere these days, does this bother you? Do you think the uniforms for NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL teams are still sacred?

Also, I’ve just joined the masses on Twitter. Follow me there: @sarahtalalay

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Those ubiquitous red baseball caps with snippets of the American flag included in each MLB team’s logo (the Canadian flag was in the Toronto Blue Jays’ red caps) weren’t just worn during Monday’s games in honor of Memorial Day or to sell even more merchandise.

The New Era caps are part of a fundraising campaign for Welcome Back Veterans, a program that helps veterans returning from war with employment and mental health issues. The organization, launched last year and funded in a partnership of MLB, MLB Advanced Media (the sport's interactive arm), and the McCormick Foundation, provides grants to organizations that help veterans.

The Stars & Stripes cap program started last year with blue caps players wore on July 4 and Sept. 11. This year, Memorial Day was added and the red caps will also be worn on July 4 and Sept. 11. Major League Baseball is donating 100 percent of the proceeds from its portion of the caps to Welcome Back Veterans. MLB.com is donating $1 from the sale of each cap purchased through mlb.com to the organization. The caps are selling for $36.99 apiece.

Three-quarters of the number of caps sold last year have already been sold this year, an MLB spokesman said. Counting last year's and this year's sales, MLB is on pace to donate $1 million to Welcome Back Veterans.

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“Some say that Judge Sotomayor saved baseball,” President Barack Obama is quoted as saying of his Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Obama explained that the temporary injunction she issued in 1995 ended the baseball players strike that wiped out the end of the 1994 season as well as the playoffs and World Series.

Sotomayor, then a federal judge, issued an injunction against the owners requiring they restore free agency and arbitration. Players agreed to return to work and the injunction set the stage for a new labor agreement to be reached.

It may have been the only case of Obama cited in announcing his choice of the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals judge to replace Justice David H. Souter, but it’s far from her only case dealing with sports. She was also on a panel that reversed a ruling that made former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett eligible for the 2004 NFL draft.

There are several other notable cases. Check out the Sports Law Blog to see a rundown of other sports cases she ruled in.

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Catching up from a couple of days away:

+ As you no doubt know, items from old Yankee Stadium are now up for auction through July 24. The auction includes 1,500 distinct pieces, ranging from stadium signs to the dugout bat holder to the actual seat Jeffrey Maier occupied during the 1996 playoffs. New pieces will be added each week. Visit auctions.steinersports.com to register and check for updates.

Other items for sale include 1 square foot pieces of live sod for $120; pairs of stadium seats from $1,499 to $1,999; and bricks from Monument Park in a glass case for $150.

+ And SI.com says South Florida is lucky enough to have two of its four pro team owners included among the worst five owners in the four major sports.

The Web site placed Panthers owner Alan Cohen as second worst among NHL team owners ahead of only MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment) owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Web site says Cohen hasn’t connected with fans and made the “wrong hire” with Jacques Martin.

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria was ranked fourth worst among MLB owners. Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos was worst, followed by Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks, and Kansas City Royals owner David Glass. The Web site says Loria may have overseen a shocking 2003 World Series championship over the New York Yankees, but blames him for letting go of his young talent when it gets too expensive.

Do you agree with SI.com’s assessments?

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Wondering what those Q’s are in left field at Dolphin Stadium during Marlins games? No, they’re not some obscure translation of the K’s that represent strikeouts.

Marlins fans sitting in the power alley are keeping track of yet another baseball stat -- what’s being called “Quick Outs” – outs recorded in three pitches or fewer. Nancy Olson, executive director of the Marlins Community Foundation, who came up with the idea, has a group of loyal foundation volunteers putting up a white sign featuring a black ‘Q’ every time a Marlins’ pitcher records a quick out. There’s one teal sign that’s used to delineate when a relief pitcher comes into the game. (See photo by Kelly Gavin, courtesy of the Marlins). The radio and TV broadcasters are aware of it -- and even asked that the Q's be clumped in sets of three to make it easier to keep track of them, Olson said.

Olson was urged by her brother, who saw Q’s at Arizona Diamondbacks games, to adopt the idea as a fundraiser for the foundation. Olson is hoping to secure a corporate sponsor, which would get its name on the Q’s -- and she hopes make a donation to the foundation either on a per game or per Q basis.

The team has 20 Q’s, which is typically plenty for a game, but when Monday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds stretched to 14 innings, the supply just ran out, Olson said.

Perhaps a sponsor will help pay for more signs, too. Some ideas for potential sponsors? A couple of suggestions I’ve heard are Sir Speedy and Jiffy Lube.

But what about the Nasdaq-100, former title sponsor of the tennis tournament on Key Biscayne? The Nasdaq-100 is an exchange traded fund similar to a mutual fund, but trades like a stock. It holds shares of the 100 largest companies on the world’s largest electronic stock market. Its ticker symbol? QQQ.

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As part of Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig’s “Fan Initiative” aimed at providing ticket discounts and special offers, teams will give fans two free tickets to an upcoming game this season with the purchase of a replica jersey.

The Marlins launch the program starting at Monday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds at Dolphin Stadium. Majestic Athletic replica jerseys cost $99.99. With the purchase at the stadium or the Marlins En Miami store, fans will receive two tickets in the stadium’s Bullpen Box seats.

For more details on about Marlins and other teams’ special offers, check out the MLB’s Fan Value Corner.

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Fort Lauderdale-based CBSSports.com scored a victory this week when a federal judge in Minneapolis ruled CBS Interactive does not have to pay to use NFL players’ names and statistics in its fantasy football games.

U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery said in her April 28 ruling the names and stats are protected by the First Amendment. Her ruling follows an earlier federal appeals court decision that said baseball players’ names and stats are in the public domain. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear that case. Montgomery said the ruling applies to football as well.

“The court declines to indulge in a philosophical debate about whether the public is more fascinated with baseball or football,” Montgomery wrote in her ruling.

“CBS is pleased that the court confirmed the use of player names, statistics and other materials in CBS’ online fantasy games is protected under the First Amendment,” CBSSports.com’s General Manager Jason Kint said in a statement. “CBSSports.com, along with the rest of the fantasy sports industry, looks forward to continuing to provide the fun and excitement of fantasy sports.”

The baseball case began in 2005, when a fantasy baseball game provider sued Major League Baseball seeking the right to use player statistics without a license. The district ruled the First Amendment applied to the information. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed.

CBSSports.com took the ruling in the baseball case to apply across sports, and even added college players’ names to its college fantasy football game. When its agreement to pay for the use of NFL players stats expired in February 2008, the company declined to renew.

The players’ union threatened to sue, but CBS struck first, filing suit against the NFL Players Association Sept. 3 in Minnesota, where the baseball case had been decided. Players Inc., the marketing arm of the players union, counter-sued Sept. 9 in Florida, where CBSSports.com is based. The Florida case was stayed until a decision could be made in Minnesota.

“We are evaluating the decision now and we haven’t determined what our next steps are going to be,” Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney representing the players, said Thursday.

The union clearly thought a different district court might rule differently and chose Florida because of where CBSSports.com is based.

Where the sports leagues and their players unions have supported the notion the players’ identities require licensing, the fantasy sports providers have lined up squarely against the need to pay licensing fees. Those providers have to be rejoicing: the fantasy sports industry counts some 27 million players in the United States, who spend an estimated $800 million annually on magazines, draft boards and Web site game subscriptions.

“This victory further cements the autonomy of fantasy sports operators from sports leagues and player unions,” newly-elected Fantasy Sports Trade Association President Paul Charchian said in a statement. “The ruling ensures that the industry’s hundreds of fantasy companies will continue creating wide ranging products to serve the needs of fantasy players."

According to an FSTA release, Charchian and Glenn Colton, a New York lawyer who filed friend of the court briefs on behalf of the FSTA in the baseball case, both said they hoped the fantasy sports industry and leagues and players' associations could work together.

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Sharing a few bits of tid:

+ On behalf of UF, the Collegiate Licensing Co., sent a cease and desist letter to Teebows.com, which is selling underwear bearing the letter ‘T’ and a bow, in honor of the school’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Tim Tebow. The school’s logo and Tebow’s image have been removed, but the site is still selling three different styles of panties for $6 apiece.

+ The Los Angeles Dodgers debut “Mannywood” starting with today’s homestand at Dodger Stadium against the San Diego Padres. It’s two sections of seats closest to the Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez in which fans can buy two field box seats and get two free limited edition Mannywood T-shirts for just $99 in honor of the enigmatic player’s No. 99. On May 5, for Cinco de Mayo, the shirt will say “Yo estuve en Mannywood,” meaning “I was in Mannywood.”

+ And those interested in a rather intimate – in a TMI sort of way – portrait of former Marlins and current Boston Red Sox owner John Henry’s courtship of second wife-to-be Linda Pizzuti can check out Boston Magazine’s lengthy and revealing piece in the May edition. With photos. The wedding is planned in June.

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UPDATED
My mother still gets emotional when she remembers how Sandy Koufax chose not to pitch the first game of the World Series in 1965 because it fell on Yom Kippur.

An old friend gave me a baseball with a photo of Shawn Green on it that has a place of prominence on my desk.

And determining if there are enough Jewish players in the Major Leagues to form a minyan (maybe if you reach down into the minors) is something akin to a parlor game.

Well, apparently there have been enough Jews in the Major Leagues for a fifth edition of “Jewish Major Leaguers” baseball cards, which Upper Deck is to begin shipping next week. The 2009 edition of 50 cards purports to include all Jews in the majors in 2008, including Milwaukee Brewers left fielder and former Hurricane Ryan Braun; Scott Schoeneweis; Gabe Kapler; Brad Ausmus; Ian Kinsler; and Kevin Youkilis (who knew?). Actually, as it turns out, lots of people knew -- check out Denis Leary discussing Youkilis' faith a few years ago here.

The set also includes “a newly-discovered player from the past,” according to a release: Bill Hurst, who was born in Miami Beach and pitched in two games for the Marlins in 1996. The set includes three former team owners – Andrew Freedman of the New York Giants (1895-1902); Julius Fleischman of the Cincinnati Reds (1902-1925) and Judge Emil Fuchs of the Boston Braves (1923-1935). Also in the set: Jerome Holtzman, MLB’s official historian, who died last year.

Jewish Major Leaguers is selling 3,000 of the sets for $36 apiece plus $3 for shipping. Find out more at jewishmajorleaguers.org.

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Tidbits:

+ The Heat dancers still own the NBA’s dance bracket competition, winning the title for the fourth time in the contest’s four-year history. The teams are judged by fans who vote online. Wonder if Pat Riley has plans to trademark something with the number four...

+ In Dunkin’ Donuts bracket contest, Florida Donut Champ is … Boston Kreme. But runner-up Coconut gave the favorite a good run. And apparently there’s also precedent for Boston Kreme… in 2000, in honor of Dunkin’s 50th Anniversary, Americans voted Boston Kreme their favorite doughnut.

+ Win the World Series and your mascot gets an ice cream flavor. Or so it is for the Phillie Phanatic. The popular mascot for the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies now has his own “Phillie Phanatic Double Play,” which is: “Bavarian cream-flavored light ice cream with caramel corn and caramel swirl” according to a release. It joins Turkey Hill Dairy’s official team flavor, Phillies Graham Slam. “Just like the Phanatic, this ice cream is a little unusual but it's something you can't help but love,” Turkey Hill President Quintin Frey said in a statement. The mascot flavor will be sold at Citizens Bank Park.

+ And from BankAtlantic Center, increasingly energetic Panthers President Michael Yormark has added blogging to his early morning duties. His “Sunrise Edition” blog is on the team’s Web site. Even after last night’s loss to the Philadelphia Flyers that hobbled the team’s playoff hopes, Yormark tries to push optimism, while he also touts a new sponsor, Fontainebleau Miami, and his personal trainer, whom he says he works out with most weekdays at 4 a.m. Sunrise edition, indeed.

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AmericanAirlines Arena is bathed in green for tonight’s Heat-New Orleans Hornets game, in honor of the venue receiving LEED (which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The coveted designation was bestowed upon the Miami venue and Philips Arena, home of the Atlanta Hawks and Thrashers, this week. Heat and Miami officials announced AmericanAirlines Arena’s “green” stamp of approval Tuesday morning. My colleague Doreen Hemlock, who covers “green” business, was there to capture the sentiment.

Among the green features at the arena are its roof paints and sealants that reflect the sun, instead of absorbing heat; drought-resistant plants and irrigation system; and its purchase of chilled water from a nearby plant for more than $100,000 a month rather than building a water plant that would have cost about $30 million and requires high energy to operate.

Eric Woolworth, Heat president of business operations, said the decision to seek LEED certification was "strategic" to differentiate the arena from others and boost business.

"This is a really challenging time to attract sponsors, and this is one way to separate ourselves from the pack," he said, noting that Waste Management already has signed up as a partner in a multi-year deal. "And hopefully, it will attract entertainers and acts that want to play green venues and visitors who want to support green venues."

Costs for certification were minimal, because nearly all paperwork was handled in-house and few improvements were needed to qualify, said Kim Stone, the arena's general manager. The nearly 10-year-old building already boasted many of the electricity- and water-saving features to earn the certification, such as underground parking that produces less heat than above-ground asphalt lots.

Green has now reached the consciousness of sports teams and leagues. BankAtlantic Center has adopted environmental measures, and has explored LEED certification, but it not pursuing it at this time. The Sunrise venue that is home to the Panthers uses green cleaning products, recycles everything from cardboard to light bulbs to cell phones and is considering adding solar panels on the venue’s roof, arena officials said.

And Silver LEED certification is a requirement of the Marlins’ planned $515 million ballpark in Little Havana. Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami have agreed to contribute up to $1.75 million each toward the certification; with Major League Baseball pledging $1 million to the cost. The team would pick up any additional costs. The ballpark would become the second silver LEED certified building in the league, after the Washington Nationals’ ballpark.

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Michigan State and North Carolina will close out the 2009 NCAA tournament with the title game in Detroit tonight. But the question remains, will South Florida host a portion of the tournament again?

Despite crowds that barely broke 10,000 at 20,000-seat AmericanAirlines Arena for the March 20 and 22 first and second round games last month, South Florida officials hope to bring men’s college basketball tournament games back. Bid specifications for the first and second rounds and regionals for 2011, 2012 and 2013 are to go out shortly, NCAA officials say.

“Most certainly,” Pete Garcia, athletic director at host school FIU, said of bidding again, “because it’s not just good only for FIU, but it’s good for the entire basketball community in South Florida.”

But it wasn’t lost on the hosts that the colleges assigned to AmericanAirlines Arena held scant attraction for South Floridians, who aren’t hugely supportive of college basketball to begin with.

“You worry about the things you control, what we couldn’t control was the matchups,” Garcia said. “We did the best with the teams that got awarded to us, it’s nobody’s fault. Team like Florida didn’t get to the NCAA tournament.”

Mike Sophia, executive director of the Miami-Dade Sports Commission, said he was disappointed with ticket sales, but understood the matchups weren’t a draw.

“This year, we had first and second round and you wound up with the eight teams that may or may not sort of fit,” Sophia said. “I think Syracuse was an interesting team for us, a Big East team for us, but the rest of the group, was certainly strange.”

South Florida also lost out on the destination factor with two teams from warm weather Arizona.

“I just think now, we’ve got to look at it and I think they [the NCAA] should look at trying to make sure all the sites have some sort of geographical or national attractiveness to the teams that are playing at each site,” Sophia said.

As a result, Sophia said the host group will look at whether to apply for first and second round games (like those it hosted last month) or a regional (Sweet 16 and Elite 8), or both.

Jeanne Boyd, NCAA director of Division I Men’s Basketball, praised the hosting of the games at AmericanAirlines Arena and said a host of factors are considered for hosting in the future.

“They’ve done a very good job, the building has been very responsive,” she said.

Boyd said a thorough evaluation of everything from the experience at the arena to hotels will be taken into consideration, as well feedback from the hosts, the schools and others.

Meanwhile, the World Baseball Classic second round games at Dolphin Stadium last month didn’t draw as well as hosts had hoped – in part because the Netherlands were among the four teams, rather than the Dominican Republic. But officials were pleased with the turnout and are planning to bid for games in the next WBC in 2013, perhaps even the Finals. The Marlins hope to be hosting games in a new ballpark in Little Havana, scheduled to open in 2012.

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When tourism officials and World Baseball Classic organizers spoke of Miami as a natural location for second round games in the Olympic-style baseball tournament, they weren't counting the Netherlands among the teams that would attract locals and international tourists to the games that start Saturday at Dolphin Stadium.

"The diversity of Miami corresponds very well to all these teams," Claude Delorme, a Marlins senior vice president who is coordinating the Classic, told me before the WBC started.

USA, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, even Canada, perhaps. But the Netherlands?

The Netherlands beat the heavily favored Dominican team -- whose roster read like an All-Star lineup, including David Ortiz, the Marlins' Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, and Miguel Tejada -- last night for the second time in the WBC's first round. Last night's game qualified the Netherlands for a trip to Miami and sent the Dominicans home. The game, which the Netherlands won in the bottom of the 11th inning, is being re-aired this morning on the MLB Network.

The Netherlands joins the US, Puerto Rican and Venezuelan teams for the second round at Dolphin Stadium that includes six games starting Saturday and running through March 18. Tour operators in Venezuela had already purchased hundreds of strips of tickets for the games. Ticket sales should pick up now that the competing teams are known, but how much will the Dominican team not appearing hurt sales? Dominican fans at the Marlins-Dominican exhibition game in Jupiter last week were sure their team would be among those at Dolphin Stadium.

Anyone think there might be an A-Rod curse? The New Yankees haven't won a World Series since Alex Rodriguez has been on the team. Dominican fans told me Dominicans tore down posters of Rodriguez in their native country when he chose to play for the US in the inaugural WBC in 2006. This time he was to play for the Dominican team, but bowed out and had surgery on his hip this week.

Is the Netherlands knocking off the vaunted Dominicans one of those feel-good stories that fans like, even if organizers and broadcasters worry about ticket sales and viewership? Will you root for the underdog?

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H. Wayne Huizenga bid farewell Tuesday to nearly two decades of sports team ownership, including 19 years with his favorite team, the Dolphins.

When he completed the sale of the Dolphins to New York real estate developer Stephen Ross last month, Huizenga’s remarkable tenure owning three professional sports franchises - including two expansion teams that took the field and ice within six months of each other - came to an end.

His biggest regret: that his Dolphins didn’t win a Super Bowl. He also said in hindsight perhaps he should have waited a year to dismantle the Marlins after they won the 1997 World Series.

He oversaw a tumultuous period, bringing South Florida into the major leagues: owning three teams and taking two of them to their sport’s championship, investing in a regional sports network, selling naming rights to a stadium, and overseeing the construction of a 20,000-seat arena. It was a period the likes of which will never been seen again. If you’re interested in reading a longer view of Huizenga’s tenure in sports, click here.

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Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field is scheduled to get its official dedication at the Hurricane Club’s “Dinner on the Diamond” this Friday, in the wake of the Sports Illustrated story indicating Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003.

And as of right now, Rodriguez is still expected to be the guest of honor, a UM spokesman said.

The event starts at 6 p.m. with a tour of the renovated Hurricanes' ballpark and silent auction, followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets to the banquet are sold out. The Hurricanes open the 2009 baseball season on Feb. 20 against Rutgers at Alex Rodriguez Park.

The stadium has been renamed for Rodriguez, who in 2002 gave the university $3.9 million – the largest donation ever to the school’s baseball program. Of that donation, $3.4 million was to kick off upgrades of the stadium and $500,000 to endow an annual UM scholarship for a member of the Boys & Girls Club of Miami.

Construction began in October 2005 and was conducted in three phases. Phase one modified seating, added new restrooms, dugouts and lights. Phase two renovated the area under the grandstand and added new concession areas, clubhouse, weight room, meeting and video rooms, academic area and pressbox with VIP suites on either side. The final phase, which is being completed, is the renovation of the Ron Fraser Building housing the team’s baseball operations. Check out photos here.

Whether the New York Yankees third baseman actually attends the event remains to be seen.

Back in 2002, when Rodriguez, was still shortstop for the Texas Rangers, his donation to UM’s baseball program was announced on a sunny October day to much fanfare. Rodriguez, MLB’s No. 1 draft pick in 1993, had been accepted to UM, but signed with the Seattle Mariners instead. Rodriguez spoke at the time about taking a bus from his Kendall home to Mark Light, jumping over the outfield fence and watching the Hurricanes for free. Here’s an excerpt from the piece I wrote about the donation in 2002:

He would practice baseball, serve as batboy and just relish watching the Hurricanes, growing sad each Sunday afternoon as the weekend series came to a close and he had to wait another week to watch more baseball. …
"For me, this was my Yankee Stadium, my Candlestick Park, my Dodger Stadium," the graduate of Miami Westminster Christian said from a spot near home plate. "This is a very dear special place to me." …
"Although I didn't have the privilege to be a college student here," he said, "I've always been a Hurricane at heart."

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Citigroup’s $400 million naming rights deal for the new New York Mets ballpark has gotten the attention of members of Congress. After all, the banking giant is receiving $45 billion in federal bailout money through the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). It agreed in 2006 to spend about $20 million a year for 20 years to name the new stadium.

Last week, U.S. Reps. Dennis Kucinich, Democrat of Ohio, and Ted Poe, Republican of Texas, asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to push Citi to drop the deal. “Citigroup is now dependent on the support of the federal government for its survival as an institution,” the representatives’ letter said. “As such, we do not believe Citigroup ought to spend $400 million to name a stadium at the same time that they accept over $350 billion in taxpayer support and guarantees.”

When word surfaced the company might be looking for a way out of the giant stadium name deal, it reiterated Tuesday that it is committed to the legally binding deal and that no TARP money would be used on the Citi Field agreement.

But the question remains: should companies that receive federal bailouts be putting big money into these types of naming rights deals?

The question arose after Sept. 11, 2001, when the airline industry was laying off workers and seeking federal help, and yet several stadiums and arenas, including AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, bore the names of air carriers.

The conventional wisdom from the business community tends to be that in difficult times, companies should be spending a portion of their budgets on advertising, since that’s when they need it most.

Do you agree?

New Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross completed a deal valued at $1.1 billion to buy the team and Dolphin Stadium last week, even as he has joined a group of real estate developers asking for federal assistance in the struggling economy.

According to Richard Sandomir’s column in today’s New York Times, several financial institutions with their names atop sports venues are receiving TARP dollars. Among them: Bank of America, which pays $7 million annually for its name on the Carolina Panthers football stadium is receiving $45 billion; JP Morgan Chase, which pays $2.2 million a year to name the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Chase Field is receiving $25 billion; PNC Financial, which pays $1.5 million a year for the Pittsburgh Pirates PNC Park name is getting $7.6 billion.

Sandomir’s column quotes a Treasury official saying the department did not have the authority to command a bank to discontinue a naming rights deal. But Kucinich told Sandomir that TARP allows “broad changes.”

What do you think?

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Want to throw your weight around? Think you have the gift of flab?

The Marlins want you. The team is holding tryouts for the second season of the Marlins Manatees, Major League Baseball’s first all-male dance squad.

Last year’s squad of burly, big men featured members with nicknames such as “Tiny,” “Big Kahuna” and “Mr. Mantastic.” The group performs dance routines between innings at Friday and Saturday night home games at Dolphin Stadium.

Interested in trying out? You must be at least 18 and willing to learn a dance routine. Don Marlins gear and show up at noon on Sunday, Jan. 18 at U.S. Century Bank Arena on the FIU campus, 11310 SW 17th St., Miami. For more information, visit the team's Web site.

Auditions for the Marlins Mermaids female dance team will be held at 8 a.m. the same day at Century Bank Arena. Mermaid hopefuls must be at least 18, dressed in dance attire and shoes and have a resume and head shot. Mermaids who make the first cut will take part in a Mermaid boot camp with final auditions at 9 p.m. Jan. 30 at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood. Find more information here.

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Individual tickets go on sale for Baltimore Orioles spring training games at 10 a.m. Saturday at Fort Lauderdale Stadium for what could be the team’s last spring in South Florida.

The team has been processing season ticket renewals. In addition to 19-game packages, the team has also been offering three four-game mini-plans. Just like last year, season ticket plans are the only way to secure box and reserved grandstand seats to games against the Boston Red Sox -- on March 2 and 14. General admission tickets to the Red Sox games will go on sale Saturday, if there are any available.

The March 2 Red Sox game is packaged with the Feb. 25 game against the New York Mets, Feb. 26 game against the St. Louis Cardinals and March 6 game against the Washington Nationals. It costs $84 for box seats and $60 for reserved grandstand.

You can pay the same amount for a package including the March 14 Red Sox game with the March 11 game against the Minnesota Twins; March 20 against the Mets and March 31 against the Cardinals.

But if you want to see the Marlins – you can get four Marlins games for the price of three in the Marlins pack. That’s right $60 for box seats and $42 for reserved grandstand for games against the Marlins on Feb. 28, March 5 and 26 and April 1.

Although it has a year-to-year lease in Fort Lauderdale, the team has been exploring its options for other spring training homes, including in Fort Myers, Sarasota and Vero Beach. That’s because the Federal Aviation Administration said last year that the team can only stay in an upgraded complex at Fort Lauderdale Stadium, if it pays $1.3 million annually to help maintain Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport next door.

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Near the end of a road in far western Hialeah with a lake as a backdrop, politicians, Major League Baseball and Marlins officials, and youth baseball players gathered Wednesday to celebrate the announcement of a new MLB-backed youth baseball academy.

Proclaiming it to be a “great day” for his city and Miami-Dade County, Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina and others gushed about the importance of the baseball academy that will be open to young men and women throughout South Florida to play baseball and softball. Construction of the academy, which is being modeled after MLB’s first academy in the country in Compton, Calif., is expected to begin in 2010 and take about two years to complete. Hialeah is providing the land and MLB is contributing about $3.2 million to the project.

The fact that the group, which included five county commissioners and a representative of Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez, gathered at all is supposed to show how close officials believe they are to finalizing the long-awaited $515 million Marlins ballpark. The academy won’t happen, officials say, unless the ballpark is built on the site of the former Orange Bowl. The Hialeah academy was the result of the city's offer to provide the land for a ballpark during negotiations in 2006.

“Major League Baseball is committed to South Florida. This is an affirmation of our commitment to South Florida,” MLB President Bob DuPuy said.

But amid the glowing talk of giving youths an opportunity to play baseball and boost their self-esteem, there was clearly some concern that getting the final ballpark documents approved might not be as simple and rosy as Wednesday’s gathering.

“Commissioner Seijas, very good to see you,” Marlins President David Samson said addressing County Commissioner Natacha Seijas before the rest of the crowd. Seijas, after all, was the only one of the five commissioners present who, despite her profound love of baseball, hasn’t always supported the Marlins ballpark project.

Samson, however, remains as optimistic – publicly – as ever. The five ballpark agreements are nearing completion and although it hasn’t been officially scheduled, officials are hoping for a vote of the Miami city and county commissions on Jan. 22.

“We all came together now, because we feel as though we’re in a position very, very shortly, to deliver to 13 county commissioners and five city of Miami commissioners completed documents for their approval. There is no deal without their approval,” Samson said. “They’re the only votes that matter. This is the vote to end all votes, this is it.”

Commission Chairman Dennis Moss said Jan. 22 is the target date, but he’s not sure that’s possible. He, Commissioners Pepe Diaz, Rebeca Sosa, and Bruno Barreiro, who were also in attendance, have routinely supported the project.

“I’m personally supportive of the stadium. Again, the devil is in the details,” Moss said. “I’m supportive of it, I’m hoping we can work through with whatever issues we have, and get an agreement signed off on and move forward on keeping the Miami Marlins in South Florida.”

The stadium project will need approval of nine of the county’s 13 commissioners. And some members of the public have grown increasingly concerned about the large public investment in a stadium when the economy is struggling. Commissioners reminded that the public investment comes from tourist tax dollars that can only be used for projects such as sports venues and convention centers, rather than roads or schools or public safety. They also said the stadium will create jobs.

Seijas said she would reserve comment until she’s seen the final stadium documents.

Samson thanked everyone for the hard work on the Hialeah academy, but reminded the crowd where things stand.

“There’s a little work left to be done, but I’ve never felt more confident than I do today, Mr. Chairman, and I look forward to seeing everyone soon," Samson said.

As always, stay tuned…

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Communities don’t appear to be fighting over the prospect of becoming the permanent spring home for the Baltimore Orioles. This morning, Indian River County Commissioners rescinded an offer to make Dodgertown in Vero Beach the team’s spring home.

The commission is concerned the county had made a final offer, only to have the Orioles return with another proposal that asked for significantly more. That doesn’t mean Vero Beach is out for good, but commissioners want at least a 30-day “cooling off period” from the team to see where things settle.

Meanwhile, Sarasota may emerge as the front-runner to land the Orioles. Sarasota County officials are scheduled to vote Wednesday on a tourism tax increase that could help build a stadium for the Orioles. The team has a minor league complex in Sarasota.

Still, all we know for sure is the Orioles are to train at Fort Lauderdale Stadium this spring. Some still hold out hope the Orioles will remain in Fort Lauderdale in a vastly upgraded stadium, but no one has yet agreed to pay more than $1 million a year to the Federal Aviation Administration for use of the property.

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Since there hasn’t been much to say about the Marlins ballpark project lately, I figured I’d tell you very little about the baseball academy planned for Hialeah.

Miami-Dade County’s Airport and Tourism Committee gave unanimous and “unequivocal” support today to Major League Baseball’s planned youth baseball academy in Hialeah. That was the bone MLB threw the city earlier this year as thanks for trying to develop a Marlins ballpark in a far western swath of the city. After months of discussion and examination in 2006, the idea of amassing the land there was deemed too cumbersome and expensive and talks with the city of Miami were renewed. But MLB made sure Hialeah got something from the Marlins ballpark plan.

In fact, even if the $515 million Marlins ballpark is never built at the site of the former Orange Bowl – as is planned – the youth baseball academy in Hialeah will still go forward, officials say. Construction on the 20-acre complex that is to include seven baseball fields, batting cages, clubhouse, training facility and office space, is expected to begin next year. The complex is planned for children as young as 5 through high school.

Commissioner Rebeca Sosa stressed that she’d like to see more academies developed. Commissioner Sally Heyman wanted to make sure the academy can progress even if the stadium doesn’t.

In a separate item today, commissioners were told by a representative of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau that after record years of hotel bed tax collections, next year’s figures are expected to be down slightly. Hotel bed tax is the main source of public money being used for the ballpark. Commissioners were told two-thirds of hotel officials surveyed said they plan to adjust room rates to ensure tourists keep visiting, even in tough economic times.

Behind the scenes, agreements spelling out the financing, construction and other details of the ballpark are said to be near completion. Miami city and county officials hope to bring them before city and county commissioners for a vote in January.

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What a difference a lousy year makes.

Turnkey Sports & Entertainment released the results of its second annual Team Brand Index survey last week of all 122 NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL teams. The survey, which is purchased by teams and sponsors, measures the brand strength of each team based on the perceptions of fans in those markets.

The company surveyed 12,000 sports fans in 47 U.S. and Canadian markets on their perceptions of the team’s entertainment value, players, ownership and other factors. All four of South Florida’s teams fell in fans’ estimation between the 2007 and 2008 studies, especially the Heat, which was ahead of the Dolphins in the 2007 study. Here’s where the teams rank among the 122 in this year’s survey compared to last year:

Team 2008 rank; 2007 rank
Dolphins: 55; 42
Heat: 65; 33
Marlins: 78; 70
Panthers: 103; 99

THE TOP 5
Green Bay Packers
Boston Red Sox
Pittsburgh Steelers
New England Patriots
Indianapolis Colts

THE BOTTOM 5
New York Islanders
Indiana Pacers
New Jersey Nets
New York Knicks
Seattle SuperSonics*

*The survey was conducted before the SuperSonics moved this season to Oklahoma City

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The Panthers wouldn’t say how many tickets were sold at discounts of 30 percent to 50 percent during their one-day sale from midnight Thursday to midnight Friday, other than it was one of the team’s most successful selling days in the past few years.

Around pro sports, Black Friday was a good day.

The NFL recorded an 85 percent increase in sales at NFLShop.com on Black Friday compared to 2007, making the day the league’s third highest grossing sales day. The biggest day was yesterday (Thanksgiving Sunday), followed by Thanksgiving Sunday in 2007.

The best sellers since Thanksgiving? Brett Favre’s replica men’s green jersey and youth green jersey, followed by Giants-custom hooded sweatshirts and Eli Manning’s replica men’s blue jersey.

Meanwhile, the NBA said its online store recorded its best Black Friday sales ever, more than doubling last year’s figures. Sales at NBAStore.com were up 95 percent for the full weekend. Together, sales at the online store and at the NBA Store in Manhattan rose a combined 38 percent from last year.

Chris Paul’s jersey was the top seller over the weekend, followed by NBA team logoed T-shirts.

And the league kicked off a 12 days of deals promotion at NBAStore.com today. A new discount will be announced each day.

MLB.com, which sold select jerseys at 40 percent off, said sales were up 25 percent compared with 2007.

The NHL said sales at Shop.NHL.com were up 67 percent on Black Friday compared to 2007 and that sales were up 25 percent from a year ago on Cyber Monday. For the full weekend sales rose more than 10 percent from 2007 at the NHL Store in Manhattan.

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A clock is counting down the days until the Major League Baseball Network launches in 50 million homes on Jan. 1. It’s down to 41 days.

It’s not exactly the economic environment MLB Network President and CEO Tony Petitti envisioned for starting a new channel, but the number of homes – the largest for a league network – means guaranteed subscriber fees.

(By contrast, ESPN is in 98 million homes; the NFL Network, which launched five years ago, is now in 44 million homes).

Petitti said the network is aggressively pursuing advertisers beyond its corporate partners.

“Obviously it would have been much easier to be doing this a year ago,” Petitti said.

Appearing at the 10th annual Fantasy Sports Association's Sports Media & Technology conference in New York this week, Petitti outlined plans for the new channel:

The network will launch with “hot stove” shows five nights a week at 7 p.m. The network also has the rights to re-air the Don Larsen’s perfect game from the 1956 World Series, complete with the original commercials.

Spring training will bring a “30 clubs in 30 days” show when the network will visit each team’s camp. The network is also scheduled to broadcast 16 World Baseball Classic games.

Once the season starts, an "MLB Tonight" show will air starting at 6 p.m. and run until the end of the last west coast game, Petitti said.

“We want to be the second choice for fans,” Petitti said stressing that fans’ first choice should be their local team’s broadcast. “We built the show to be a complementary way for fans to watch baseball.”

Petitti anticipates the network will show 1,400 live hours during its first year, including 26 game telecasts. Within five years, he said, the network hopes to bid for another package of games. He said there are plans to air the network internationally, with Canada being the first target outside the U.S.

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Here’s what we know about the Baltimore Orioles and spring training:

The team will return to Fort Lauderdale Stadium in 2009.

After that?

It’s anybody’s guess.

Negotiations among Indian River County and Vero Beach officials and the unnamed team -- but which everyone knows is the Orioles -- continued last week and ended with the officials agreeing to allow the team more time. City and county officials believe they’ve offered a fair package to the team to occupy Dodgertown in Vero Beach.

They issued a joint statement after the meetings saying:

We think we’ve gone as far as we can and the ball is now in the Club’s hands. Our understanding is that our offer will be discussed with the Club’s ownership for consideration and we look forward to hearing from them. We understand that the Club’s ownership needs a reasonable period of time to review and consider our offer. We believe it is in everyone’s interest that the Club be given that time.

Read the Vero Beach Press Journal’s account here.

My favorite part of that story is that officials still refuse to name the team, but Indian River County Commissioner Wesley Davis is quoted as saying he’d like the issue resolved: "I would have preferred to have heard the deal was done and go out and buy my Orioles hat," Davis told the paper.

For their part, the Orioles have been keeping with their tradition of not saying a word publicly.

Meanwhile, Fort Lauderdale officials still hold out hope the team will make a long-term commitment to Fort Lauderdale Stadium. In July, the FAA issued a letter saying it would not exempt the team from having to pay $1.3 million annually for use of the stadium property for the upkeep of adjacent Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. In August, Fort Lauderdale City Manager George Gretsas sent the FAA a letter reminding officials their opinion wasn’t final and asking for agency to issue its final verdict on the matter. He still hasn't heard back.

Neither the city nor Broward County will contribute to the $1.3 million payment, but city and county officials have met to discuss the team’s future in Fort Lauderdale beyond 2009. At this point, they say it’s still up to the FAA.

“We’re hoping the FAA changes their decision on allowing the land to be continued for a stadium,” Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle said. “We’re deadlocked right now.”

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Last year, Boston Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury made sure Americans got a free lunch (taco) from Taco Bell when he stole second base during Game 2 of the 2007 World Series.

Taco Bell, which isn’t releasing the number of free tacos it dispensed last year other than to say it was in the “millions,” plans to serve up free tacos again this year. The quick service restaurant hopes the offer of a free Crunchy Season Beef Taco will help brighten these difficult times for consumers. After all, the company says there’s been a stolen base in every Fall Classic since 1990.

“Last year we gave away millions of tacos to America, and based on the wild popularity with consumers, we’re bringing back the promotion,” said David Ovens, Taco Bell Corp.’s chief marketing officer said in a statement. “With consumer sentiment near all time lows, ‘Steal A Base, Steal A Taco’ is our way of extending the magic of the World Series to everybody by celebrating the game and rewarding fans, no matter which team you root for.”

Taco Bell is in its fifth year as an official MLB sponsor and has hosted a range of promotions, which didn’t produce free tacos, such as when a player had to hit a home run to left or left center field during Game 3 of the 2006 World Series.

Redemption is once again limited to specific times, but Taco Bell has extended the time by an hour this year. If the first base is stolen during Games 1, 2, 3, or 4, consumers can pick up a Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco (retail value 91 cents) between 2 and 6 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Oct. 28; if it occurs in Games 5, 6 or 7, the redemption period is 2-6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 3. One taco per customer.

In addition, Taco Bell will make a $20,000 donation in the name of the player who steals the first base of the series to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

Meanwhile, politics will play a role in the World Series, too. Presidential candidates Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama are reading quotes from famous Americans, including Martin Luther King Jr., and former presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, about baseball serving as “a beacon of hope through some of America’s difficult eras,” according to a FoxSports press release. The quotes will be included in the opening segments of Fox's World Series broadcasts.

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…she isn’t all bad. OK, so television executives and Major League Baseball officials are distressed at the potential for a Philadelphia Phillies-Tampa Bay Rays World Series. The Phillies are already in and the Rays lead the Boston Red Sox 3-1 going into tonight’s Game 5 at Fenway Park.

And the media’s been plenty down on the prospect already, knowing that MLB and Fox were salivating at the possibility of a Red Sox –Los Angeles Dodgers matchup. My favorite storyline in that would have been the Red Sox paying for Manny Ramirez to face them in a Dodgers uniform.

But since that’s not going to happen, I wondered if there’s any aspect of the baseball business that benefits by having a small-market or a team that’s brand new to the postseason or just a plain old good story in the World Series? After all, the Phillies have won the World Series just once in their history – in 1980.

Besides, as a sports fan, how can you not love Cinderella stories?

Here’s what MLB President Bob DuPuy said via email:

“From a business standpoint, having competitive balance and a Cinderella story like Tampa Bay is very good for the game. It not only stimulates the Tampa Bay market, both in terms of ticket sales going forward and merchandise, but it gives the fans in other communities that have had lackluster seasons hope that they can catch lightning in a bottle next year.”

He went on to say, “There is no reason why Kansas City or Pittsburgh cannot next year be the Tampa Bay of this year or the Colorado of last year.”

Kansas City and Pittsburgh? But you get the idea. We’re talking about the Rays, who’ve never had a winning season before.

“While it may take a while for the nation to catch up with the Rays on television, their dramatic march through the playoffs has captured the interest of the casual as well as the avid fan and will only continue to grow as/if they move on to the World Series,” DuPuy said.

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More cowbell? The Panthers think so.

Capitalizing on the cowbell craze that swept BankAtlantic Center last season, the Panthers will give out 15,000 red cowbells at Saturday’s 2008-09 home opener. Don’t forget to bring earplugs.

Cowbells won’t just be for supporting the team, they’ll be introducing the team’s new inflatable mascot. Fear not, the popular Dancing Banana will still be making appearances this season.

The cowbell phenomenon at the Panthers started last December when Murphy Burch, a Panthers fan from Cooper City who will be dropping a ceremonial first puck Saturday, saw fans ringing cowbells at a Chicago Wolves minor league hockey game.

Burch, known as "VanMurph" on his Panthers jersey, had grown tired of noisy fans of opposing teams outnumbering -- or at least out-cheering -- Panthers fans at BankAtlantic Center. He bought a couple of cowbells to a game, then a couple more for some friends. Cowbells became a topic on the Panthers message board. Soon a clip of the popular Saturday Night Live skit in which Christopher Walken pleads for Blue Oyster Cult to use “more cowbell,” was playing on the scoreboard and cowbells were for sale at the team’s Pantherland store.

Read Burch's explanation of the cowbell movement here.

While the SNL skit has given renewed life to cowbells in pop culture, the cowbell has been intertwined with sports for years. Popular at minor league and college hockey games, cowbells have also been heard at the Olympics in support of downhill skiers and at bicycling races, among other events.

They’ve been so popular at college football games that the SEC instituted a ban on the noisy bells, threatening a loss of yardage should they get too loud. Fans of Mississippi State still smuggle in the bells.

The Tampa Bay Rays adopted cowbells in 2007 because principal team owner Stuart Sternberg loves the SNL skit. They’ve been handed out to Rays fans – fans in opposing team jerseys are denied – and are used when opposing players have two strikes. And you wondered what the secret was to the Rays finally making it to the playoffs for the first time in team history…

Watch the teaser video for the Panthers' new inflatable mascot here:

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Was it something in the recipe?

The Vienna Beef company honored the Chicago Cubs' pitching rotation with special edition hot dogs: the Dempster Dog (Ryan Dempster); Marquis Dog (Jason Marquis); Wood-ie Dog (Kerry Wood); Marmol Dog (Carlos Marmol) and Lilly Dog (Ted Lilly). The Cubs made an unceremonious exit in the first round of the MLB playoffs.

The Tampa Bay Rays, meanwhile, have won their first and only playoff series so far and will face the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series. Gallagher’s Steak House in Tampa has devised a number of dishes to honor the Rays: Popeye [Don Zimmer] Porterhouse; Calos Pena Crab Cakes; Jason Bartlett Beef Steak Tomato & Colossal Onion Salad; Akinori Iwamura Seared Ahi Tuna; Manager Joe Maddon-Mignon; Scott Kazmir New York Sirloin; and B.J. Upton Center Cup Pork Chops.

Eat up.

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Two of the biggest trades in baseball last week have created a little dilemma for Charity Wines. That’s the Massachusetts company that launched a line of wines in honor of athletes to raise money for their favorite charities. A portion of the sale of each bottle of wine goes to the charity.

The concept actually started with three Boston Red Sox players -- Manny Ramirez, Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield. But with Ramirez moving to the Los Angeles Dodgers last week, the labels on his “Manny Being Merlot” aren’t going to change. They don’t say Red Sox, but they do reflect the team’s colors.

“The bottles are already printed and in retail, so the labels cannot be changed,” Brett Rudy, co-founder and director of marketing for Charity Hop Sports Consulting, said in an email.

Charity Hop is a Boston company that assists sports and charity organizations with fundraising.

“We have a similar challenge with Ken Griffey Jr's wine now that he was traded from Cincinnati to Chicago,” Rudy wrote. “Players get traded all the time and it doesnt hurt the baseball card industry, so perhaps it won't hurt the wine biz either.”

Proceeds from Ramirez’s wine benefits Miami-based CHARLEE Homes for Children, which provides support services for abused, abandoned and neglected children. Proceeds from Ken Griffey Jr.’s “Junior Cabernet Sauvignon” go to Griffey’s foundation, which supports a variety of children’s causes.

Rudy said the company’s licensing agreement with the MLB Players Association does not cover producing wines for Ramirez and Griffey in their new cities.

You can still place online orders at charitywines.com.

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In two days, South Florida has added two more major events to its already packed sports calendar. Is it possible for the region to become even bigger on the sports map?

On Wednesday, the Indy Racing League unveiled its 2009 IndyCar Series schedule and rather than kicking off the season, Homestead-Miami Speedway will host the finale of the 18-race schedule on Oct. 11, 2009.

It’s not NASCAR, but as you know, the speedway already hosts the final races in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck, Nationwide and Sprint Cup series on the third weekend of November.

That means two championship events in five weeks. Speedway President Curtis Gray couldn’t be happier.

“We brand our speedway as your championship track,” he said. “Now it really is America’s ultimate championship motoropspots track. It is the first time NASCAR and Indy Car have ended their series at the same track.”

Look for the track to package tickets for the two events together and to pitch sponsors on investing in both. Despite its international flavor and increasing star power that includes Danica Patrick and two-time Indy 500 champion and Dancing with the Stars winner Helio Castroneves, the Indy race at Homestead has never been as popular at the track as the NASCAR event.

Will you be interested in attending now that it will be the championship event? Do you think crowds will grow as a result?

And on Thursday, Major League Baseball announced that Dolphin Stadium and the Marlins will host six second-round games in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, March 14-19. The games will pit the four winners and second-place finishers from the opening rounds being played in Toronto, which will host Canada, Italy, United States and Venezuela, and in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which is hosting the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands, Panama and Puerto Rico.

MLB President Bob DuPuy said baseball officials have always believed South Florida is a “good baseball market.” DuPuy said the Miami Gardens venue was chosen for a number of reasons. MLB wanted to ensure there were second round games held on both the east and west coasts for television and liked the region’s Latin influence since several of the teams are from Latin countries.

They liked that Dolphin Stadium is a veteran of hosting large events, including two World Series and four Super Bowls. Even more telling might be that the decision was made as the Marlins were completing their ballpark financing plan with Miami and Miami-Dade County.

“When we made the decision we had a stadium deal. It was in part a show of good faith we would consider Miami for significant jewel events, given the imminent construction of a ballpark and the agreement had been reached,” DuPuy said. “Since the decision has been made, there are developments that are troublesome, but we are announcing Miami is hosting the second round and that only enhances the public purpose of a baseball stadium. Without a Major League Baseball stadium, there would be no World Baseball Classic.”

Are you interested in the WBC? Will you attend?

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Just wanted to share what seemed like a good idea by the Milwaukee Brewers to reward fans for left fielder Ryan Braun’s performance in Monday night’s Home Run Derby.

Billed as “Braun Homers…You Score!” the program allowed fans to purchase Loge Outfield seats at Miller Park today for the Aug. 11 game versus the Washington Nationals for a price reduced by a $1 for every home run Braun hit in the derby. Braun hit 14. Loge seats dropped from $26 to $12 for that night. Fans were limited to four tickets when the tickets went on sale this morning.

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Dunkin’ Donuts keeps expanding its relationship with sports.

The company is capitalizing on baseball’s popularity this summer with its Bases Loaded promotion that combines free food and other prizes with a video game component that allows fans to face one of two pitchers online to try to get a hit. Dunkin’ is partnering with MLB, the MLB Players Association and 2K Sports.

Through Sept. 30, all cups of cold Dunkin' beverages – iced tea and coffee and smoothies – come with a peel-away sticker that carries a login code for fans to win prizes and coupons for flatbread sandwiches and pizzas. At dunkindonuts.com/basesloaded, baseball fans can choose to face either New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain or Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon to try to get a hit. Prizes include 2K Sports games, high definition TVs, and Xbox video game systems.

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels and Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Scott Kazmir are also helping advertise the promotion in their markets – meaning the Rays' success on the field is getting them notice off the field, too. Fans in most Florida counties -- excluding South Florida and the Treasure Coast -- will also be eligible to win Rays tickets and a trip to Boston to see a Rays-Red Sox game.

Meanwhile, the Massaschusetts company also got involved with NASCAR this past weekend, stopping at Daytona International Speedway for the Nationwide Series Daytona 250 on July 4. A Dunkin' logo and hot coffee cup appeared on driver Eric McClure’s No. 24 car and his crew got Dunkin’ items for meals last Thursday and Friday.

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With the trial in luxury auto dealer Norman Braman's lawsuit against Miami-Dade County, the city of Miami and the Marlins set to begin Tuesday, the timetable is in flux again.

At the request of Braman's attorney, Bob Martinez, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Pedro Echarte Jr. recused himself Thursday from the case he has overseen for months, because Martinez said in court papers that he discovered Tuesday he had a distant familial relationship with Echarte. Echarte's mother is related to Martinez's sister-in-law.

Already hampered by the case, which targets the $3 billion downtown redevelopment megaplan that includes a Marlins ballpark at the site of the Orange Bowl, Marlins representatives were none too pleased with the timing of Thursday's decision. Braman has lost on a couple of points in the case in the past week, and Marlins President David Samson accused Braman of trying to deflect attention from a case he can't win.

Samson said he was “flabbergasted” at the timing of the request for the recusal.

“I just think it’s sad. It’s a waste of taxpayers money," Samson said. "It’s the desperate musings of a man who knew he couldn’t prevail."

The timing may seem unusual, but I'm told there's no way Braman's legal team would move forward if there were even an inkling there could be a conflict.

The case has been reassigned to Circuit Court Judge Jeri Beth Cohen, who is holding a status hearing in the case on Friday afternoon. Perhaps then we'll learn a new date for the trial.

“Miami-Dade County continues to be confident with its case and hopes the trial can continue moving forward in a timely fashion,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez said in a statement. “Important timelines and funding streams are attached to this package of critical public works projects which are designed to improve the quality of life of County residents. In the short-term, these projects can provide an important economic boost in an uncertain economy, and get jobs on the street when they are needed most.”

Samson says plans for the ballpark are proceeding on schedule. The Baseball Stadium Agreement approved in February specified that definitive agreements on specifics such as construction management and financing, must be in place by July 1. But the county, city and Marlins have agreed to wait until after the trial in the Braman case.

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Oh the irony.

The Washington Nationals are hosting a “Conversion Day” promotion at their new ballpark on Sunday. The concept is not unusual: bring in a piece of gear from any other Major League Baseball team and trade it in for a National hat featuring the curly W logo.

But for this promotion the hat you get in return is made from organically-grown cotton. The sponsor of this "green" giveaway?

ExxonMobil.

In addition, the promotion says there are hats available for the first 10,000 fans, but it also says one hat per fan, “while supplies last.” Hmmm.

The promotion also seems aimed squarely at fans of the Baltimore Orioles, who are the Nats’ opponent that day. After all, the former Montreal Expos are looking to build their fan base in the Baltimore-Washington Metro area. Conversion Day prompted chatter on an Orioles message board.

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Joe Torre. Albert Pujols. Mariano Rivera. Manny Ramirez. Dan Uggla.

Dan Uggla?

The hot-hitting Marlins second baseman is in the center (green shirt) of a group of Major League Baseball players and coaches in Macy’s Father’s Day catalog sent out across the country recently. Titled "The Boys of Summer," the campaign includes 15 baseball stars from around the country.

Uggla was chosen to represent our “hometown.”

“Dan Uggla is one of the most popular ‘hometown’ baseball players who has really become a shining star in South Florida,” Macy’s Central spokeswoman Ellen Fruchtman said via email. “Dan was selected to be part of this campaign as a result of being an All-Star second baseman, a terrific father AND a positive role model.”

Uggla is not a Macy's endorser, but did make an appearance at the department store at the Pembroke Lakes Mall earlier this month.

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My colleague, Ethan J. Skolnick, and I came up with this idea for the paper’s Two-Minute Drill when the Marlins were still in first place:

It may be a tad early, but with both of Florida’s baseball teams in first place or flirting with it, dare we speculate on what to call an all-Florida World Series? New York has its Subway Series, Los Angeles its Freeway Series. Here are some possibilities if the Marlins were to face the Tampa Bay Rays in the Fall Classic:

The Sunblock Series
The Early Bird Special Series
The Minimum Payroll Series
The No Name Series
The This Time It Recounts Series
The Subpar Stadiums Series
The SunPass Series
The Ratings Disaster Series
The Good Sections Still Available Series

What would you call an All-Florida World Series?

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So some politicians and tourism officials aren’t ready to give up on keeping the nearly 50-year-old tradition of spring training at Fort Lauderdale Stadium. But are you?

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle, Broward County Mayor Lois Wexler, and Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau President Nicki Grossman are all waxing about the lovely afternoons at the intimate 8,340-seat stadium, the tourists who visit every year and pump more than $25 million into the local economy.

It’s been home to the Baltimore Orioles for the past 13 springs and will be again in 2009. Before that, the New York Yankees spent 34 years spring training there.

But that is likely to change now that the Federal Aviation Administration has decided that in order for the team to stay, the annual payment to the airport fund must be $1.3 million. That’s up from the $70,000 to $120,000 the Orioles typically pay. That figure has been based on 5 percent of the gross revenues generated at the stadium.

Now that the Orioles are seeking a long-term lease to go with a $40 million overhaul of the venue (being financed with the help of tourist taxes from Broward county and a state sales tax rebate), the FAA says it must receive fair market value for the property, a figure it places at $1.3 million. If the Orioles were still on a year-to-year lease, this issue would never have surfaced. The stadium sits on airport land that was deeded to the city of Fort Lauderdale in the 1940s.

The Orioles, who are said to have an option agreement to move to Dodgertown in Vero Beach, which is being vacated by the Los Angeles Dodgers, aren’t saying anything publicly other than they are disappointed with the FAA’s decision.

U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, who had helped broker meetings among the FAA, Fort Lauderdale and Orioles officials, wants to make sure the FAA is reading the law governing the lease of airport property accurately and if it’s not, whether the payment can be reduced.

There was a time when spring training was rampant in these parts: the Yankees in Fort Lauderdale, the Orioles in Miami, the Texas Rangers in Pompano Beach, the Montreal Expos and Atlanta Braves in West Palm Beach. Those teams have moved on. The bus rides get longer for the Orioles, whose closest spring rivals are now in Jupiter or Fort Myers.

Would you miss it if it were to leave? Do you want to see Fort Lauderdale Stadium preserved? Take our poll here.

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Want to show pride for your favorite baseball team around the office? Major League Baseball has formed a partnership with vineyard vines for a line of men’s and women’s accessories, including ties, belts and sashes; swimwear; and sleepwear.

The partnership is the first with a pro sports league for vineyard vines, the preppy accessories and apparel company founded on Martha’s Vineyard a decade ago. The items, which will be produced with the logos of all 30 teams, are available at MLB Clubhouse shops, and MLB.com and will be sold at other shops in the coming weeks. Vineyard vines also sells items online at vineyardvines.com and at eight free standing shops, including one at the Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo.

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Promotion for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is everywhere – even Major League Baseball team schedules and at NBA.com.

Indiana Jones is sponsoring the "Dunk of the Night" on NBA.com and the first Indiana Jones movie in 19 years is helping advertise the NBA’s Conference Finals.

Check out your favorite Major League Baseball team’s schedule online and you’ll find Harrison Ford’s photo in the box for May 22 – opening day for the movie. There’s even an online MLB sweepstakes tied to the movie that includes tickets to see your favorite MLB “living legend” and tickets to the film.

MLB stirred up controversy in 2004 when it teamed with Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios to promote Spider-Man 2 at ballparks across the country, including putting spider webs on the bases. The web-covered bases were scrapped after the outcry.

So are you offended by Indiana Jones teaming with your sports and appearing in the MLB schedule?

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To celebrate the first decade of the NBA Store, the NBA has released a list of the store’s Top 10 most popular jerseys. Heat guard Dwyane Wade’s jersey ranks seventh – not bad for a guy who’s only in his fifth year in the league. Michael Jordan ranks No. 1, natch. See the full list below.

And speaking of jerseys, NBA Commissioner David Stern didn’t rule out the possibility of NBA players wearing sponsor logos on their uniforms during exhibition games in Europe this fall that will feature the Heat, New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets and Washington Wizards. The Heat will play the Nets in Paris and London.

“We're mindful of the fact that baseball just did it,” Stern said in a media conference call last week. “Our history has been we've tended to do things that have honored the local venue where we're playing with sort of modifications in uniforms, but we're mindful that in Europe sponsorship on uniforms is more common than it is here, and it's something we would consider but we're not planning.”

The Boston Red Sox and Oakland A’s, who opened the 2008 MLB season with two games in Japan last week, wore sponsor logos on their jerseys and helmets. According to Joyce Julius & Associates, a Michigan firm that measures the impact of corporate sponsorship, the jersey logos – EMC on Red Sox sleeves; Pepsi on the A’s -- generated $851,000 in media exposure during the two game and two replay broadcasts.

The company figured the logos got more than 28 minutes of broadcast time and multiplied that against the estimated cost of commercial time during the broadcasts. Ricoh, the sponsor of the games, got exposure on both teams' batting helmets, worth a total of $498,000 from more than 16 minutes of screen time during the four broadcasts, the company said.

Here’s the NBA’s list of most popular jerseys sold at the NBA store, 1998-2008:

1. Michael Jordan
2. Kobe Bryant
3. Allen Iverson
4. LeBron James
5. Shaquille O'Neal
6. Tracy McGrady
7. Dwyane Wade
8. Jason Kidd
9. Vince Carter
10. Tim Duncan

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Just in time for Opening Day – OK, Opening Day, in the U.S. – comes word of a Web site just for women who love the Red Sox: girlsoxnation.com.

The Boston Herald reported the story of the two female Sox fans who started the site to recognize that not only do women love baseball, too, but they appreciate more than just the play on the field.

Here’s what the site says in the About Us section:

Our company, while founded by two women fans in particular, is really an entire community of women and girls who love baseball. The framework was built in a website form, but girlsox nation is YOU. It’s for every woman who enthusiastically shared an insight about a player and received only a blank stare and this comment, “Wow, you know a lot about baseball for a chick”.

There’s plenty of gossip and photos, and poll questions such as “Would you or have you ever dated a Yankee fan?” but the women also answer baseball questions.

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I have been asked repeatedly if the new agreement forged by the Marlins, Miami-Dade County, the city of Miami, and Major League Baseball for a ballpark at the site of the Orange Bowl spells the end of the team’s years-long quest for a home of its own.

The simple answer is: I don’t know. As many of you know, I have followed this saga for eight and a half years. I have read numerous Memorandums of Understanding, been at press conferences with smiling officials who proclaimed the day had finally come to build a stadium. I've followed the goings-on in Tallahassee six times in eight years.

So for me to believe that the $515 million, 37,000-seat retractable roof ballpark will finally be built, I will need to see the shovel put in the ground -- something team officials hope will happen by year’s end.

That said, here’s why this agreement is different from all previous proposals: On paper the ballpark is fully funded without a gap.

It is a binding 35-year agreement that includes penalties should any side breach its responsibility or terminate the deal. (It’s a complex formula, but it ensures that all sides will essentially be out the same amount of money if the deal fails). It lays out specific time frames for every element of the deal -- from environmental reviews of the Orange Bowl site to definitive financing documents.

City and county commissioners are now being briefed on the deal. Historically, the commissions have supported the ballpark project – although rarely unanimously – and there should be interesting debate at Thursday’s 9 a.m. city meeting and 1 p.m. county meeting.

This is a significant amount of public money, but officials will take pains to stress that the $297 million of county dollars and $13 million of city dollars are derived from tourist taxes that can only be used for convention centers, sports venues and related projects and to attract conventions and tourists -- not schools, roads or social services.

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Another week, another delay. Representatives of the Marlins, Major League Baseball, Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami are still negotiating a $525 million deal for a ballpark for the Marlins, but it won’t be ready – again – in time for Tuesday’s scheduled vote of the county commission.

Those involved still believe the outstanding issues can be resolved and the framework of the financing plan is in place. Among the biggest unresolved issues is who will pay for a 6,000-space parking garage.

In an earlier draft of the deal, the city was to be responsible for the parking garage. Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, however, has said in order for the garage to pay for itself, there need to be an additional 15 to 20 event dates at the location.

“You need a certain number of events to generate the amount of income you need so it at least breaks even,” Diaz said last month.

That’s one of the reasons Diaz has been pushing for the building of a 25,000-seat soccer stadium for a future Major League Soccer team, next to the Marlins ballpark at the site of the Orange Bowl. He’s been in talks with MLS, but there are no guarantees the city will be granted a team.

County Commission Chairman Bruno Barreiro said if a Baseball Stadium Agreement is completed soon, the commission could consider it at its Feb. 5 meeting or at a special meeting, if commissioners agree to hold one.

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As alluded to in yesterday's blog item, the Baseball Stadium Agreement isn't ready for a vote of the Miami-Dade County Commission on Thursday. Representatives of the Marlins, Major League Baseball, the county and city of Miami have been negotiating the agreement for days, but there are still issues to be worked out.

County Manager George Burgess is scheduled to give the commission an update on negotiations at Thursday's commission meeting. Commission Chairman Bruno Barreiro says he will ask for the item to be deferred until the commission's next meeting on Jan. 22 "so everyone can have enough time to review and analyze the whole package," Barreiro said.

"Even if it gets ready by Thursday, there definitely won't be enough time to review it," he said. "I don't want to take a blind vote."

After all, the city commission was criticized for voting on the "interlocal agreement" -- that paves the way for the ballpark funding -- only hours after having first been presented with it, the evening before their commission meeting. That agreement expands the boundaries and extends the life of Miami's Community Redevelopment Agencies to raise millions of dollars for projects in the city.

The commission delayed a vote on the $525 million ballpark agreement last month to give the sides time to reach an agreement. An earlier draft of the agreement called on the city and county to contribute $370 million in hotel bed and sports facilities taxes and a general obligation bond and for the Marlins to chip in $155 million. Barreiro said he doesn't think the hold up in finishing a Baseball Stadium Agreement is substantive.

"I think they’re very close," Barreiro said. "It’s minor details from what I understand, legalities, stuff like that. The stadium itself, I don’t think there’s a lot of big issues."

If an agreement is ready in time for the Jan. 22 meeting, the county could vote then followed by the city at its meeting on Jan. 24.

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Norman Braman’s ad campaign hit the radio airwaves Monday.

The auto dealer and former Philadelphia Eagles owner has formed People Who Demand Honest Government. He's paying for a series of ads over the next three days aimed at building pressure on Miami-Dade County commissioners to vote No on a proposed Marlins stadium financing plan and other projects.

Braman says there are 174 spots running on a variety of radio stations. One focuses solely on the proposed $525 million ballpark project, saying the Marlins should pay for the stadium at the Orange Bowl site themselves, rather than relying on public money. The other mentions the ballpark, the proposed tunnel to the Port of Miami and streetcar project.

What’s raised the ire of Braman is the wide-ranging city and county plan to expand the boundaries and extend the life of Miami’s Community Redevelopment Agencies to fund millions of dollars in projects, including paying off the debt on the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts. That would free up hotel taxes to pay for the ballpark. CRAs are designed to collect property taxes in blighted areas to revitalize needy neighborhoods.

“I’m opposed to this whole plan, which is basically a ripoff of the Community Redevelopment Authority, which was established for a different purpose, to utilize it to build a sports stadium, to build a tunnel, a $200 million streetcar, to put $68 million into Bicentennial Park, to stretch the redevelopment area," Braman said. "It’s wrong. It’s wrong morally, it’s wrong legally and sometimes a citizen has to stand up and say it’s enough.”

Braman wouldn't say how much is being spent on the ads. "Whatever is required," he said.

The ads urge residents to call county commissioners before Thursday’s scheduled vote on the ballpark financing plan.

But don’t be surprised if a vote on the plan is delayed – not because of Braman’s ads, but because terms of the deal are still being negotiated. As always, stay tuned…

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Although Marlins President David Samson and others had hoped for a vote today by the Miami-Dade County Commission on a “Baseball Stadium Agreement,” County Commission Chairman Bruno Barreiro has decided to delay the item until the commission’s Jan. 10 meeting.

Don’t read anything into the delay: it just means county, city of Miami and Marlins officials are continuing to negotiate the finer points of the agreement commonly referred to as a “BSA.” Those involved are more optimistic than ever that this will finally be the deal that makes a stadium happen. It’s hard for me to believe I just wrote that – after all, I’ve been covering this issue – and countless versions of ballpark plans – for more than eight years.

The basic framework on which the sides are negotiating is a $525 million, 37,000-seat retractable-roof ballpark at the site of the Orange Bowl stadium. The city and county would contribute $370 million from tourist and sports facilities taxes and a general obligation bond county voters approved in 2004 to renovate the Orange Bowl but which commissioners agreed Tuesday to put toward the ballpark project. The Marlins say they will contribute $155 million, which they will privately finance.

The deal will be for 30 years and will require the Marlins to cover cost overruns, except in the event that the city or county are responsible for delays. The team will not be able to move until the end of the agreement or whenever the bonds are paid off, whichever is later. If the team is sold during the life of the agreement, the city and county would receive a percentage of the increase in value of the team since the date of the agreement.

Yes, the plan is to build at the Orange Bowl because that's the only option available to the team right now. As for whether the team has the money to contribute to the plan, Samson says: “When we negotiate something we have to be able to stand by what we will negotiate. Obviously you can’t offer something that you don’t think you can do.”

If the BSA is approved by both the county and city commissions, then the next few months will be spent creating the final documents that spell out the financing, construction and other elements of the deal. That’s what Samson calls “turning a 50-page document into a 400-page document.”

The plan calls for construction to begin by November 2008 and the ballpark to open by April 2011. The team would be renamed the Miami Marlins by the 2011 season.

I know lots of people are upset by a possible name change. Why are you so concerned about it?

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While still far from a done deal, a ballpark for the Marlins could be a lot closer now that the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County have come up with a way to pay for it that doesn’t involve state funding.

It’s a complex plan that involves expanding the boundaries and extending the life of Miami’s Community Redevelopment Agencies to generate millions of dollars for city projects including paying down debt on the performing arts center and developing the museum park and a traffic tunnel to the Port of Miami. Using those dollars for the performing arts center frees up millions in hotel bed taxes that can be used to help pay for a ballpark at the Orange Bowl and, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz hopes, a soccer stadium, too.

Miami City Commissioners signed off on the CRA deal Thursday. There’s still a lot more work to be done to make a ballpark deal a reality – and the next test comes Tuesday when Miami-Dade County Commissioners get a crack at the CRA deal and a county proposal to finance a $525 million stadium that has yet to receive the blessing of the city or the team.

But more about soccer: Diaz envisions a sports complex at the site of the Orange Bowl stadium that includes not just a 37,000-seat retractable roof Marlins ballpark, but also a 25,000-seat soccer stadium.

Diaz has wanted to bring a Major League Soccer franchise back to South Florida almost since the league folded the Fusion in January 2002 and has been in contact with the league for years.

“I believe Miami should have a soccer franchise. I think soccer is obviously the world’s most popular sport. It’s a growing sport,” Diaz said. “I think it’s a natural for us to be able to do something. I’m excited at prospects of having a franchise here.”

Diaz says the CRA deal can generate $50 million for a soccer stadium. A soccer stadium would likely cost $100 million and it's unclear where the rest would come from, but according to an MLS spokesman it's not unusual for a team owner to contribute the rest.

There’s no guarantee the city will be able to secure an MLS team, but MLS spokesman Daniel Courtemanche said talks with the city are ongoing.

“Those discussions are still very preliminary, but we are closely monitoring the Miami market,” Courtemanche said.

The league has set its roster of teams through 2009 and Philadelphia and St. Louis have been identified as frontrunner cities for expansion beyond that, although situations could change.

Nevertheless, Diaz said the soccer stadium, which he would want to be called the Orange Bowl, helps the baseball stadium deal. A ballpark proposal requires the city to fund a 6,000-space parking garage, which Diaz estimates at $85 million to $95 million. He said with both teams enough revenue should be generated to service the debt on the garage.

“You need a certain number of events to generate the amount of income you need so it at least breaks even,” Diaz said.

Diaz hopes one day the neighborhood around the Orange Bowl will become a vital area with baseball and soccer games, bars, and restaurants.

“When you see a building that sits idle 359 days of the year, what does that do for the neighborhood? Absolutely nothing,” Diaz said referring to the Orange Bowl hosting six University of Miami football games annually.

“I saw the possibility of creating something that could now be a destination, beyond just an 81 game event days, to hopefully add soccer and then hopefully bring with it retail and mixed use components,” Diaz said. “So it’s not place you just go to watch a sporting event. It’s a place you can go to year round, 365 days a year, not just see a baseball game. Maybe you’ll go to a restaurant or have a beer with friends or shop. It’s got that potential. I think from a neighborhood revitalization perspective, it’s pretty exciting.”

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Miami-Dade County unveiled a new proposal late Tuesday for a $525 million ballpark for the Marlins at the Orange Bowl.

Still in draft form – and I’m told still in need of significant work – the proposal relies on more money from the public sector than previous proposals and, in turn, less from the Marlins, although the team would put its money up front, rather than in the form of rent payments.

According to a county memo, the plan calls for Miami-Dade County to contribute a total $249 million to the project: $199 million in hotel bed and sports facilities taxes and $50 million from the general obligation bond county voters approved in 2004 for renovation of the Orange Bowl stadium.

The last plan made public called for the county to contribute $145 million in tourist taxes and issue the bonds for the stadium the team would repay in rent.

The plan anticipates that the city of Miami would put up $121 million in tourist taxes. That’s up from $108 million in earlier versions of the deal. The city would also need to build a 6,000-space parking garage.

The team’s contribution would be $155 million up front, rather than $207 million, which would have come as $45 million up front and $162 million in future rent payments.

Miami-Dade County Commissioners are scheduled to consider the plan at their meeting next Tuesday and if they are in agreement, they would direct county staff to work out the full details of the plan. The Miami City Commission, meanwhile meets this Thursday, and is expected at least to discuss the Marlins stadium issue.

The county’s plan envisions a 37,000-seat retractable roof stadium at the site of the Orange Bowl to open by April 1, 2011.

The $525 million projected cost – up from $490 million earlier this year – has increased because it includes $10 million in Orange Bowl demolition and other infrastructure costs and requires a speedy 29-month schedule for construction, which would begin in November.

The plan requires the team to sign a non-relocation agreement prohibiting a move until the expiration of the management agreement or the bonds are retired, whichever is later. It also requires the team to change its name to Miami Marlins by the 2011 season.

The Marlins have been seeking a new home for years, since they pay rent at Dolphin Stadium and only receive percentages of parking, concessions and advertising signage. The team has lease options at the stadium through the 2010 season. The team and Major League Baseball have said the Marlins cannot survive in South Florida without a new ballpark where they could control their own revenue.

The team traded third baseman Miguel Cabrera and pitcher Dontrelle Willis, the last two remaining players from the 2003 World Series championship team, last week to the Detroit Tigers for six players in a move that shaved some $20 million from the payroll.

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File under ewwww: according to the Boston Herald, a company called SportsWorld is auctioning on eBay game-used underpants worn by members of the 2007 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox.

And for some reason, former Marlins pitcher Matt Clement’s game-worn spandex shorts sold for a whopping $430. Huh?

The bidding for Manny Ramirez’ shorts is only up to $42 as for this writing with two days left on the auction. Even a game-used Manny do rag is up to $76.

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Following a trend in the sports industry, the Heat will test a limited number of “all-you-can-eat” seats at three games this month.

The seats, which cost $45 piece, are on the 400 level at AmericanAirlines Arena and come with a chance to pick up four items from a very narrow list of options – regular hot dog, regular nachos and cheese, small popcorn, peanuts, small soft drink and bottled water - on an unlimited number of trips to the concession stand. Fans are required to buy at least two tickets to qualify for the promotion.

Fans with season tickets in the designated area can get the food for an extra $10 per seat per game. The games are Dec. 13 versus the Washington Wizards, Dec. 17 versus the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dec. 20 against the New Jersey Nets.

The Heat is trying out the promotion earlier than anticipated. Team officials told me earlier this fall they were developing a food included ticket option for the 2008-09 season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers helped spawn the growth of tickets with food when they designated 3,000 bleacher seats as the All-You-Can-Eat Right Field Pavilion last season. The food included Dodger dogs, peanuts, popcorn and soft drinks and ran $20 for group tickets to $40. They sold 70 percent of capacity for the season and a half dozen other MLB teams have since added all-you-can-eat sections.

Meanwhile, the Panthers and Dolphins have created higher-end seating options that come with upscale food. The ADT Club at BankAtlantic Center offers fans who spend $7,500 to $9,000 a year, depending on the length of the contract, to get a seat and fancy food for every hockey game and every concert in the building for a minimum of 75 events. The idea is to create the exclusiviity of a suite, but at a more affordable price. A hockey-only option on the 400 level with sports bar style food averages $2,000 a season.

The Dolphins offer a couple of higher-end options with food, including 10-person suites in the east endzone of Dolphin Stadium that include food in a common area shared by three others suites, and run $80,000 a season.

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Next spring will mark the Baltimore Orioles’ 13th year consecutive year holding spring training at Fort Lauderdale Stadium. The Fort Lauderdale City Commission on Tuesday agreed to grant the team another year at the aging stadium, and a second year option for 2009 that’s up to the team.

But even with state dollars and an agreement forged earlier this year among the team, city and Broward County to finance a $40 million overhaul of the stadium and addition of soccer and baseball fields for public use, it’s still not clear the Orioles plan to continue making Fort Lauderdale their spring home.

Publicly, the team has repeatedly said it wants to remain in Fort Lauderdale, but the stadium upgrade is not underway because the city has yet to receive approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for the project, which is needed since the stadium is next to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.

And speculation continues that the Orioles are the “mystery” team negotiating with Indian River County to move to Dodgertown in Vero Beach. The Los Angeles Dodgers are expected to move out of Vero to Glendale, Ariz., where they will share a new complex with the Chicago White Sox. That move could take place as soon as 2009. The Cincinnati Reds are also rumored to be in talks with the Indian River County, in part because Sarasota voters last month rejected a $16 million bond referendum to help fund a $45 million upgrade of Ed Smith Stadium.

Indian River County Administrator Joe Baird says he has been in talks with a Major League Baseball team since July, but has refused to name the team. Baird got approval Tuesday – coincidentally the same day the Orioles got their lease extension in Fort Lauderdale – to negotiate “behind closed doors” a deal with a team to replace the Dodgers.

Alan Koslow, a Hollywood attorney representing the Orioles, is insistent the team wants to stay in Fort Lauderdale, but wants to be able to begin the overhaul project. He said he has sought the help of U.S. Rep. Ron Klein to try to arrange a meeting with the FAA in an effort to speed a resolution and he hopes make way for the construction.

“The Orioles are committed to Fort Lauderdale, provided we can get FAA approval,” Koslow said.

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