The dawn of a new day is upon us

It's been 15 long years since H. Wayne Huizenga said that the building of a publicly-financed baseball-only facility was necessary to make baseball viable in south Florida over the long term. Tomorrow, that goal, sought after by three owners becomes a reality as the brand new Marlins Ballpark officially opens for the regular season. As a resident of greater Miami for the last 34 years and an ardent baseball fan I am extremely happy. As usual, there are plenty of critics and malcontents vociferating about the financing, the location, the parking, the accessibility, whatever. Over the years I wrote a lot about this ballpark, mainly defending it, though nothing recently. Today I'm not going to defend it. I am going to enjoy it. I'm headed out to the open-to-the-public batting practice. I have tickets for the April 19th game and I wouldn't be surprised if I decide to go to another game before that. It's time to celebrate. Baseball is here to stay.