Someone in the Marlins marketing department had the bright idea of giving away 15,000 vuvuzela-like horns to fans in attendance for Saturday’s game against the Rays. You have to love the way the Marlins pitched it, saying the horns were given away to the first 15,000 fans. Right, as if they ever have more than that. Anyway, the horns the Marlins gave away were about a foot in size and much smaller than the vuvuzelas which have become the sideshow at the 2010 World Cup, but they provided no less of a distraction.
Outfielder Cody Ross called the horns “awful,” second baseman Dan Uggla said it was the worst giveaway ever, and Rays manager Joe Maddon said he thought they should be banned from baseball. As if that’s not bad enough, the Marlins believe a miscommunication between the managers and umpire Lance Barksdale may have been attributed to the distraction from the vuvuzelas (Brian Barden was called out after walking because the umpires and Maddon had Barden in the third spot while Fredi Gonzalez had him batting ninth after a change).
I got to watch some of the game and believe me, it sounded like a lighter version of a World Cup game. I can understand why the players were pissed. Thanks to this video of the vuvuzelas at the Marlins game you can hear how it sounded:
Sources:
Air horns reverberate Saturday at Sun Life [MLB.com]
On ‘air horn night,’ Rays kick Marlins, 9-8 [AP/Sporting News]
Video Credit: YouTube user wwwtampabaycom
