Report: Nationals players angered by Marlins Park leaving roof open
The Washington Nationals were left a bit aggrieved on Sunday with the conditions at Marlins Park in Miami.
The stadium boasts a retractable roof which was left open. That, however, has the impact of casting shadows across the field, which makes it harder to hit.
According to Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post, Nationals players claimed that some members of the Marlins had previously voiced similar complaints to the team’s ownership.
Will have a separate story on this a bit later, but Nationals players were extremely unhappy with the roof being open today at Marlins Park (because of the shadows). They also said Marlins players expressed that to ownership after last week's open-roof game and nothing changed.
— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) April 21, 2019
The Marlins are run by Derek Jeter, who would presumably know a thing or two about hitting in shadows. He’s also part of an ownership group that has generated a lot of bad press, engaged in some controversial activities, and have generally come across as unresponsive to fan concerns. Obviously, the weather’s nice in Miami, but you’d have to think players would want to sacrifice the roof being open in order to have a few less distractions while hitting.