NewsMarlins bury time capsule in new stadium
Memorabilia from '97, '03 World Series title teams included
By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com
08/26/09 7:11 PM ET
MIAMI -- Championship reminders and traces of the franchise's history were packaged, sealed and cemented shut at the Marlins' new ballpark on the Orange Bowl grounds on Wednesday.A 25-pound "treasure chest," containing items from each of the Marlins' two World Series title seasons, were buried into the foundation of the team's new retractable-roof stadium, which will open in 2012.
The metal chest was placed into a wooden support on a giant concrete slad. It was sealed shut. As workers were hammering in the nails late Wednesday, rain began to fall, further demonstrating the organization's long desire for a new ballpark with a roof.
As the rain picked up, a truck poured cement over the chest and smoothed it out. The chest now rests inside one of the "super columns" in the foundation. The new park will have 12 super columns, which are the giant beams that will support the retractable roof.
"The purpose of this is so one day in 75 years, when a new ballpark is being discussed, people will be digging and excavating and they'll find this chest," Marlins president David Samson said. "In it will be a path of the Marlins' history to this point."
The team isn't revealing all the exact items now embedded in their future home.
This much, though, has been divulged:
• It contains a DVD explaining all that has been included and why.
• A copy of a local newspaper from Wednesday, Aug. 26.
• Items from the 1993 Marlins inaugural season.
• Memorabilia from the 1997 and 2003 World Series title teams.
• Items from the 2009 Marlins.
"It's got things that people will be interested in," Samson said. "We hope to talk about the history of our franchise. There will a plaque in the new ballpark that says, '10 feet below this point is a treasure chest.' People will eventually dig it up, long after any of us are here.
"We put a DVD explaining what everything was in the treasure chest. We were going to put a DVD player in, but we hope that they will be able to play it in 75 years."
The Marlins broke ground in July on a 37,000-seat, retractable-roof park on the Orange Bowl grounds in the Little Havana section of Miami.
Construction remains on schedule, and all the activities at the site can be viewed via the Marlins New Ballpark Webcam.
"There are great items of note from our championship years and our inaugural year, plus today," Samson said.
As for everything else now sealed shut?
"It's a surprise," Samson said.
Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
