Bosh Throws Out First Pitch at Marlins Game, Welcomed

There are other sports franchises in South Florida, believe it or not, other than the Miami Heat. You just might not care or realize it. The Florida Marlins have been playing some good baseball for the most part this season and can showcase some pretty good young talent that will surely become name brands here in the next few years. One of the interesting highlights was how the fans greeted the ceremonial first pitch, thrown by one of the new members of the Miami Heat’s own up-and-coming dynasty builders, and someone who puts the “C” in RUN DLC, Chris Bosh.

The crowd went wild. They cheered, they chanted. And let’s be honest, this is only Chris Bosh, not hometown hero Dwyane Wade or marketing machine Lebron James. Bosh is easily the most seemingly accessible of the three in some ways because there isn’t the hype yet surrounding him like it does Wade and James. Casual fans of the NBA may know Bosh, but may not have really seen him play. Yet the reception he received from his new hometown fans was comparable to someone who helped win a title in Miami. It may as well have been Wade tossing out the first pitch.

This is a significant sign as to which sport now dominates the city – and the first dribble hasn’t even officially taken place yet. Can you imagine what it is going to be like after the Heat win a championship? Or two? Bosh hadn’t totally overshadowed the game on Saturday but his presence and reception were testament to the emergence now of this Heat franchise to the forefront of South Florida sports. The Heat is the scene now in Miami, not just a part of it.

And that is the significance of what is happening here. Later in the game, the cameras panned to Chris Bosh, watching the game from a skybox suite, munching on ballgame fare. The crowd cheered as if the Marlins had scored. Immediately after, the big screen aired an announcement from Dwyane Wade and the volume turned up even more. What does that say? Want to rally the home crowd? Show a member of the Heat on a jumbotron.

And it isn’t even basketball season yet.