The annual UM Family Night with the Miami Marlins is back for its 13^th year of festivities. 

In appreciation of the continued hard work and dedication of faculty and staff, the University will host the 13th annual UM Family Night with the Marlins on Saturday, April 14. The Marlins will take on the Pittsburgh Pirates at Marlins Park at 7:10 p.m.

Pregame activities, including autograph sessions, face painting, and more fun for the entire family will begin at 5 p.m. on the West Plaza. On-field ceremonies will highlight the University of Miami, and include ceremonial first pitches thrown by UM President Julio Frenk, Jeffrey Duerk, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost, and Jacqueline Travisano, executive vice president for business and finance and chief operating officer. So be sure to pick up your tickets, which will be distributed again at multiple sites across the University this week and next.

Employees may pick up one complimentary ticket and purchase up to two additional tickets for $1 each. Each complimentary ticket and both $1 tickets come with a food voucher for a hot dog, chips, and a fountain drink or bottle of water.

Distribution sites are open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the following locations:

Coral Gables campus
Monday, March 19 on the Foote University Green

Lennar Foundation Medical Center (conference room 220/222)
Monday, March 12
Wednesday, April 4

Miller School campus (Schoninger Research Quadrangle)
Wednesday, March 14
Wednesday, March 21

UHealth Tower (formerly University of Miami Hospital; Seminar Center A/B)
Friday, March 16
Friday, March 23

Rosenstiel School (Breezeway)

Thursday, March 22

Employees also may buy extra tickets without vouchers for $10 each. Children under 3 do not require tickets.

To receive your tickets, you must have your valid ’Cane Card (UM ID). You cannot bring anyone else’s ID to purchase their tickets for them. You can receive tickets only at a single ticket distribution session; you cannot go multiple times. If you plan to sit with other UM employees during the game, you must pick up your tickets together, at the same time and distribution site. Ticket purchases are cash only. Tickets will be available for sale at all ticket distribution sites on all days while quantities last.

By Robert C. Jones Jr.
UM News

MIAMI, Fla. (April 6, 2014) – Powered by the pitching of Jose Fernandez and the slugging of Giancarlo Stanton, the Miami Marlins notched their fifth win of the 2014 Major League Baseball season Saturday, defeating the San Diego Padres 5-0 at Marlins Park in Little Havana.

But what the box score doesn’t say is that not all of the attention was focused on The Fish. The team would share the spotlight with thousands of University of Miami faculty and staff who turned out at the ballpark for UM Family Night with the Marlins. Face painting, autograph sessions with Marlins players, on-field pregame ceremonies, performances by the UM band, and live post-game music with DJ Laz were among the many activities enjoyed  by employees and their families.

family-night-with-marlins-7

family-night-with-marlins-16

family-night-with-marlins-14

family-night-with-marlins-13

family-night-with-marlins-10

family-night-with-marlins-9

family-night-with-marlins-8

family-night-with-marlins-6

family-night-with-marlins-5

family-night-marlins-3

family-night-with-marlins-12

family-night-with-marlins-18

family-night-with-marlins-17

family-night-with-marlins-15

family-night-with-marlins

family-night-marlins-2

family-night-with-marlins-11

Six UM employees threw out first pitches. They included Norm Parsons, executive director of the Wellness Centers on the Gables and Miller School campuses, who is retiring after 43 years of service; Ed Gillis, dean of enrollment management, who is retiring after 22 years; School of Law professor Richard Williamson, who has served as chair of the Faculty Senate for five years; Jessica Driemeier, student services manager for the Intensive English Program on the Coral Gables campus; Natali Latorre, associate director of marketing for Bascom Palmer Eye Institute on the Miller School campus; and Cristy Barrera, office manager in Facilities Administration at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

Hundreds of employees visited the MyU: Faculty and Staff Thank You Tent on the West Plaza, receiving temporary U tattoos and Sebastian bands. They also got a look at the UHealth Physical Therapy Clinic, which, when the Marlins aren’t playing, is open to patients by appointment. UHealth Sports Medicine is the official sports medicine provider for the Miami Marlins and the Miami Hurricanes.

The biggest winners of the day, however, were University of Miami students who received scholarships from the Miami Marlins Foundation. The philanthropic arm of the two-time World Series champion Marlins donated $12,500 in much-needed funds to UM, with $7,500 going to Matthew Friedman, a graduate student in the School of Education and Human Development’s Sport Administration Program, and $5,000 being given to the Suzanne Rayson Scholarship Fund for students enrolled in the School of Communication’s Broadcast Journalism Program.

Jimmy Oves, a technician at University of Miami Hospital, who attended Family Night with his wife, Yuriam, and sons, Alex and Jimmy Jr., summed up the day best: “A perfect way to spend time with my family,” he said. “Everything about it—the activities, the food, and the game—is great.”