Marlins To Close Sun Life Stadium Upper Deck

The Florida Marlins are closing the upper deck at Sun Life Stadium as the team prepares to break in a new ballpark next year.

The upper deck was previously only open on Friday and Saturday games anyway, so the move should affect only a handful of games for the rest of the season. The team says there was no sense in continuing to pay ushers and security in the upper deck when very few fans sat there anyway.

The team will reopen the upper deck for a "Bark In The Park" promotion on August 12, and may do so again for the Marlins' last-ever game at Sun Life on September 28. 

This is a practical move, but it's another sad chapter for a Marlins team that's a terrible draw even when playing well. (The Marlins are currently last in the NL East division, 14 games out of first place.)

The Marlins have ranked dead last in the National League in attendance every year since 2005, often with embarrassingly sparse crowds. Sun Life Stadium is ugly and isn't particularly close to downtown Miami, and the Marlins have never had a strong relationship with the city's residents, in part due to frequent fire sales of the team's best players.

For more on the Florida Marlins, check out Fish Stripes.