Derek Jeter’s time in charge of the Marlins has gotten off to, well, a shaky start. Having traded two of the team’s best players for what amounted to salary relief in return, Jeter has already begun to incur the wrath of Marlins fans.
Those fans do exist, and some of the season-ticket holders were invited to a town hall meeting with Jeter on Tuesday night at Marlins Park. Notably not invited at first? Marlins Man, and he wasn’t happy about it. The team ended up inviting Marlins Man, and if there’s one thing Marlins Man does, it’s show up to baseball stadiums.
Perhaps predictably, the meeting has devolved into chaos, as Jeter’s evasive answers are running up against a group of people who have paid real, actual money for Miami Marlins season tickets.
A choice selection of moments, for which we unfortunately do not have video:
Derek Jeter arrives to town hall meeting with Marlins season ticket holders. Gets a light ovation. It’s beginning now. No more shooting video allowed, so I’ll tweet what he tells fans here. pic.twitter.com/z3H6SfxWyj
— Will Manso (@WillManso) December 19, 2017
Marlins Man, season ticket holder since 1993, hasn't renewed and is furious with prospect of paying big league prices "for Triple A team."
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) December 19, 2017
Jeter says he wants to kill some bad rumors. He starts with opinion that group can’t afford team or is lacking money. He says that’s not accurate. Says this is organization that has been losing a significant amount of money.
— Will Manso (@WillManso) December 19, 2017
Fan asks “who is gonna be in the outfield?” Jeter says “there may be players on the field who you may not know.” #marlins #townhallmeeting
— Andy Slater (@AndySlater) December 20, 2017
Fan now telling Jeter he just stripped down a nice car for no reason. Jeter said that car wasn’t working well.
— Will Manso (@WillManso) December 20, 2017
One fan angry about delinquent ushers at stadium tells Jeter: "I emailed you!"… Said Jeter: "You don't have my email address!"
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) December 19, 2017
Fan tells Jeter it’s ironic that town hall meeting is being held behind Budweiser Bar in left field, because there won’t be a ball hit in the area by the home team next year. #marlins
— Andy Slater (@AndySlater) December 20, 2017
Jeter:"I can't sit here and say who's going to be playing for the Marlins in 2018." Fans are angry;1 shouts "u spent $1.2 B & ran out of $"
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) December 20, 2017
Marlins fan now crying at podium asking why didn't add pitching and keep top offensive players. Jeter asks what pitchers could have signed?
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) December 20, 2017
Jeter telling the fan who was crying that he appreciates her passion. Says it wants it to happen and turnaround as soon as possible for her and all fans.
— Will Manso (@WillManso) December 20, 2017
But then the main event arrived:
Marlins Man now addressing Jeter. Asks Jeter, “do you know who I am.” Jeter says, “I’ve heard of you.”
— Will Manso (@WillManso) December 20, 2017
And it went just about like you’d expect:
Marlins Man on a roll. Asking for Marlins Man Monday’s and throwing out a first pitch. This is me now… pic.twitter.com/GkVENN1byA
— Will Manso (@WillManso) December 20, 2017
Marlins Man talks for 4 straight minutes and Jeter looks confused when he’s done and pauses and says…
“I’ll let you throw out the first pitch with a 10 year plan.” To lots of laughs and cheers ?
Jeter adds, “I’m sure we’ll talk later.”
— Will Manso (@WillManso) December 20, 2017
Oh, if only video had been allowed.
I can say with full confidence this is the best thing that will happen at Marlins Park this season. They should have charged admission and filled the ballpark to watch this.
— Will Manso (@WillManso) December 20, 2017
Buried within the admittedly entertaining idea of Derek Jeter being forced to spend a few minutes listening to an angry rant from Marlins Man, there was this bit:
Jeter says they need to cater to Latin fans and embracing them more. More signs in spanish around ballpark and Latin music playing in ballpark.
— Will Manso (@WillManso) December 20, 2017
That seems like a very racially reductive way of viewing the Latin element of your fanbase! But don’t just take it from me, take it from Will Manso, who is much more qualified in just about every way to discuss why this is a bad way to market a baseball team:
I think I can say will all kinds of confidence as a Latin man and w lots of family who love baseball; Latin music and signs won’t bring them to the ballpark. Winning will. I see plenty of Latin fans at arena watching the Heat. Pretty sure it’s not because of the bongo players.
— Will Manso (@WillManso) December 20, 2017
Jeter was speaking off the cuff, of course, so it’s possible he’ll end up clarifying his position, but that’s a pretty weird misunderstanding of, well, how the world works, and is probably more fodder for those looking for early cracks in the new Marlins regime.
Want another one?
Jeter blasts farm system under old regime, says "we didn't buy this team to continue losing money or more importantly losing games."
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) December 19, 2017
The “more importantly” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there, but not quite enough to make up for the fact that “losing money” was the first thing Jeter mentioned. This is such a farce so far.
But for Jeter, the fun is only beginning:
Jeter says this is the first in a series of town hall meetings they’re going to do.
— Will Manso (@WillManso) December 19, 2017
(h/t Will Manso)