BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Butler Likes Joe Robbie Look

Dodger center fielder Brett Butler likes the way the Marlins have turned Joe Robbie Stadium into a baseball park and says it has the character of an American League park.

“The way it jaunts out here and there and with the scoreboard above the left-field wall, it reminds me of Fenway Park,” Butler said. “The long wall from right to center is hard as a rock because the seats are built against it, and then the wall lining left field has a lot of give. If the ball hits the squares in the scoreboard, it can bounce anywhere. The way the wall angles back out in center field you have to watch out, because you could get hurt on that corner. And the warning track is that all-purpose turf, so the ball bounces high like it’s rubber.”

Ron Fraser, who retired last year after 30 years as the baseball coach at the University of Miami, said the Marlins are helping to bring the city together. “We have so many cultures here, such as Haitians, old Floridians, Cubans; and here, everybody is rooting together for the Marlins,” Fraser said. “That doesn’t happen at any sporting events in Miami. The Miami Heat can only hold so many spectators and their games are very expensive, as are the Miami Dolphins. But here, fans get to sit together for three hours and relax and talk. . . . Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said he doesn’t see why major league baseball is trying to decrease the time of games. “I’ve never heard anybody complaining about the games being long except for the sportswriters,” Lasorda said.