Marlins Ready For Home Away From Home

Series with Mariners will be played under National League rules

MIAMI -- Long before U2 booked its concert at Sun Life Stadium, Jack McKeon has advocated change in how the designated hitter is used in Interleague Play.

Due to a scheduling conflict, McKeon is getting his wish when the Marlins will be the "home" team for their weekend series with the Mariners at Safeco Field.

Prior to the start of the season, MLB announced the Interleague change because Sun Life Stadium was already obligated to host the U2 concert.

In the offseason, other options were weighed, but ultimately it was decided to play the series, which begins on Friday, in Seattle. The catch is, the Marlins will be the home team, bat last, and the pitcher will bat instead of using the designated hitter in an American League park.

For years, McKeon, the Marlins' interim manager, has suggested a mild tweaking of Interleague Play.
"People say, what rule would you change?" McKeon said. "I would change the rule where [National League clubs] would use the DH when they came here, so the people could see the clubs using the DH, which they never see in the National League. And in the American League, you'd let the pitchers hit. So the fans from different clubs can see both phases of the game."

For at least this series, the change McKeon has suggested for more than a decade will take place. It's only occurring because of the U2 conflict.

Switching a series due to a stadium conflict is nothing new.

In fact, it occurred in 2010 when the Blue Jays played "home games" against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The reason for the switch was the G20 Summit in Toronto.

That series was from June 25-27, 2010, and current Marlins catcher John Buck was then with the Blue Jays.

"It was weird wearing the away uniform and going out to [play] defense first," Buck said.
As an organization, the Marlins have played "home games" on the road.

In September 2004, the Marlins were the host team to the Montreal Expos at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. At the time, Florida had completed a series with the Cubs, and the threat of Hurricane Ivan was approaching South Florida.

The Marlins were then in Wild Card contention, and with the fear of a series being rained out, it would have created scheduling nightmares for the league. So two of the games were played at the home of the White Sox.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that was the first time since 1946 that a National League team was the home squad in an American League stadium. In 1946, the Boston Braves played at Fenway Park because freshly painted seats at Braves Field had not dried.

"It's definitely different," Marlins veteran Wes Helms said. "It's going to be weird that, in the top of the first inning, [the Mariners are] going to hit, and wear the away jerseys.

"The positives of it, as we look at it, there will be 30,000 people and there won't be any delays. It's hot. There are definitely going to be a lot more positives than negatives."

A number of Marlins players are fans of U2. But as Helms said, they are costing him "family time."
"I am a U2 fan, but they kind of took three days away from the family," Helms said.

Reliever Burke Badenhop is a "big fan."

"When they were doing their tour, the Elevation one, I was a senior in high school," Badenhop said. "We went to get tickets, and we were literally like four people in at TicketMaster, and we didn't get them."