The retractable roof at Marlins Park during yesterday's 2-1 loss to the Braves "remained open until it was too late" -- with one out in the second inning -- "allowing rain to fall inside and prompting a 16-minute delay" for the sellout crowd of 36,969, according to Clark Spencer of the MIAMI HERALD. It takes 13 minutes "for the retractable roof to close completely, plenty of time, in other words, for the field to become soaked" (MIAMI HERALD, 4/7). In Ft. Lauderdale, Craig Davis reports although the rain "could be seen approaching for several minutes," the mechanism to close the roof "had barely begun moving when play was halted." By the time it got rolling, it "was too late," so fans "were forced to scurry for cover on the main concourse." There "have been occasions in previous seasons when the roof has been closed during games due to the approach of a storm" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 4/7). Marlins President David Samson said that the team "does not employ a weather consultant and instead relies on phone apps to predict the forecast." Samson said of whether team Owner Jeffrey Loria was angry when the rain started and play was delayed, "He said, ‘I thought we have a roof.' I said, ‘That’s a reasonable answer.' And then I left." In Miami, Barry Jackson reports Samson "would like to keep the roof open for the remaining five games of this homestand" (MIAMIHERALD.com, 4/6). Also in Miami, Greg Cote writes "that old saying about 'whatever can go wrong, will' unavoidably raced through the mind" during yesterday's game. The military jet flyover, "timed for the end of the national anthem, was late." Pregame introductions "found Marlins players traipsing slowly and nearly undetectably through the crowd and finally trotting anticlimactically onto the field several names later." Traffic "rendered the ballpark noticeably short of full." Samson: "This was one for the books, that's for sure. And we have a no-umbrella policy, so that wasn't great. This is how our season started. But other than that, it was as smooth as razors" (MIAMI HERALD, 4/7).
