Outfielder Juan Pierre and retired All-Star Jeff Conine are among the instructors.

Only five people? I could understand, in this economy, that you might only get 5 people if the cost was $10,000, but its fifty ####### dollars! Why in the name of #### is there a team in Miami again? This is the most pathetic baseball story I've heard in a long, long time.

This is the first I've heard of it. I'm going to try to sign up my son and 4-5 of his friends and bring them. I also just sent an e-mail to my LL commissioner to ask him to sent the info to the league membership. if it's true they need only 15 more people by Thursday, I think I can make that happen on my own.

For the Marlins, every day is a charity event.

Only five people?

Yeah but that's 20% of their fanbase.

Pretty gutsy to host a charity event after you've made 8 big league appearances.

So, 20 people at $50 is $1G. Does it really make sense for Pierre and Conine to spend their whole day to raise $1G for charity.

Couldn't they each cut a $5G check and forgo this embarrassment?

Pretty gutsy to host a charity event after you've made 8 big league appearances.

Yeah. No offense to Koehler, but probably a bigger reason for the lack of interest is the name "Tom Koehler."

Sounds like a good event for a good cause, though, and it's certainly affordable.

Yeah. No offense to Koehler, but probably a bigger reason for the lack of interest is the name "Tom Koehler."

Yes, but when you have Pierre and Conine, two players that would be very recognizable to the fanbase if it were any city but Miami, its pretty sad. This would be like a charity event in Toronto organized by Aaron Loup and featuring Shawn Green and Aaron Hill getting 5 people.

Yes, but when you have Pierre and Conine, two players that would be very recognizable to the fanbase if it were any city but Miami, its pretty sad. This would be like a charity event in Toronto organized by Aaron Loup and featuring Shawn Green and Aaron Hill getting 5 people.

Hell, if it were hosted by the University of Miami JV team, it would be worthwhile just to play a little ball on a MLB field. It's ridiculous this hasn't gotten more support. I've signed up 2 so far.

I'm guessing poor planning/publicity is the reason for lack of participation. Unless a bunch of people were signed up and then withdrew after the fire sale trade, it's hard to blame this on a backlash against the team. Unless they just started planning it post-trade, in which case I go back to my first point.

So, 20 people at $50 is $1G. Does it really make sense for Pierre and Conine to spend their whole day to raise $1G for charity.

Couldn't they each cut a $5G check and forgo this embarrassment?

No reason they can't do both. I'm also guessing they were hoping for more than the minimum number of people.

Well, I've got 4 signed up so far. I really hope it doesn't get cancelled.

No need for a "backlash against team". The team doesn't have any fans even in the periods when it seems to not be making an effort to kick its theoretical fans in the balls.

No reason they can't do both. I'm also guessing they were hoping for more than the minimum number of people.

I wonder if this this isn't too affordable. If 300 people signed up, the value for a fan is de minimus. Even if you love Juan Pierre, you'll barely see him from a distance.

Probably would have been better off charging $250, and setting a hard cap at 30 people.

I wonder if this this isn't too affordable. If 300 people signed up, the value for a fan is de minimus. Even if you love Juan Pierre, you'll barely see him from a distance.

Again, I think the bigger hook is getting to play some ball on a MLB field in a brand new stadium. But maybe that's just me.

I wonder if this this isn't too affordable. If 300 people signed up, the value for a fan is de minimus. Even if you love Juan Pierre, you'll barely see him from a distance.

Not really, you still see and interact with them a ton. I remember as a kid my parents signed me up to a soccer camp two years in a row hosted by the Chicago Sting. Tons of kids to player ratio but you still interact with the players a great deal. I also remember seeing one of those Dad makes a video of how great his son videos and part of the video is the son at some camp with Jeter. Billions of kids and Jeter and company are interacting with kids a great deal.

No offense to Koehler, but probably a bigger reason for the lack of interest is the name "Tom Koehler."

Yep. This post is the first time I've heard of the guy.

Tom Koehler is (now) the veteran leader of the Marlins.

Pretty gutsy to host a charity event after you've made 8 big league appearances.

Now I know why when I read the name Tom Koehler my first thought was, "Who the #### is Tom Koehler?"

If 300 people signed up, the value for a fan is de minimus. Even if you love Juan Pierre, you'll barely see him from a distance.

This isn't the case at all. My son went to a Rockies charity baseball camp over the summer, with roughly 300 kids there, and they got individual instruction from actual major league coaches as they rotated through the stations. They learned how to catch outfield flies from Glenallen Hill, which surely had comedic value if nothing else.

And people like Troy Tulowitzki and Jim Tracy didn't coach them but came to talk to the campers. My son surely didn't feel he was only seeing these people from a distance.

When I was a kid I'm sure I'd have loved something like this. On the 21st there was a post on the Marlins site about this. I think the fact that someone posted here about how he hadn't heard of it yet speaks volumes - I suspect the Marlins haven't done much outreach to local baseball leagues and without that it is hard to build a fanbase. Here in Toronto they had tons of outreach programs in the late 70's early 80's up until the team was winning the division, then it died off over the years and so did fan support. The last couple of years they started up the winter caravan and the like again and suddenly interest spiked across the country. Small efforts = big rewards for teams, but they gotta put in those efforts.

Primer Meet Up idea!!

Yeah I'd be curious about how much marketing was done on this. Recently we decided to have a one hour throwing clinic for the little leaguers in town. It was free and we sent an e-mail to all the parents on Thursday night for a Saturday morning clinic, we got about 50 kids (town is about 25,000 people, not huge). Misirlou has four sign ups on his own. I'm guessing communication, not any kind of backlash was the issue here.

If I lived in Miami, I'd avoid anything to do with the Marlins like the plague. The Marlins gave South Florida the finger, and South Florida should return the favor.

If I lived in Miami, I'd avoid anything to do with the Marlins like the plague. The Marlins gave South Florida the finger, and South Florida should return the favor.

Generally I agree. But this has little to do with the Marlins ( though I did notice that "standard parking rates apply" to this event, no surprise there), and it is a great opportunity for the kids as well as a worthwhile cause. I've signed up 7 kids so far. 2 of my son's friends are turning 13 next weekend, and I got them this experience as a birthday present.

Misirlou, seems like your the one who is going to make it happen

Well, the first 7 were easy, as I can drive them myself. Now getting any more requires a commitment from another parent to drive, a 3 hour round trip from where I live.

Yeah, when I was a kid my town had a baseball clinic with Glenn Wilson (whose sister ran the local rec department). There were probably 50-100 kids there, and just Glenn and one other instructor, but we got a fair amount of interaction with each of them. It was a great clinic, and the first time I had gotten bona fide baseball instruction from someone who knew what they were doing.