Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Mike Berardino column

Apr 03, 2012 (Sun Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Fifty steps.

That's how far it is from the near corner of the home dugout at Marlins Park to the front door of the double-barreled batting tunnel.

"That's perfect," Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton said before Monday's exhibition finale against the Yankees.

OK, so it's not exactly the stairway to heaven, but compared to what the Marlins are used to working with, the placement of their indoor batting cage is positively blissful.

The roof and the air conditioning? Those are great for the fans and obvious benefits to the Marlins' new workplace.

But it's all the subtle touches, items you might call hidden competitive advantages, that make this new $515 million playpen such a breakthrough for the on-field hopes of this long-suffering franchise.

Like those 50 short steps it now takes to squeeze in a few quick in-game hacks.

"Stuff like that matters," Stanton said. "Now, if you're coming into the game, you don't have to run on the cement in cleats all the way down there to mid-right field." The way Marlins hitters always had to at Sun Life Stadium.

Adjoining the new batting tunnel is a state-of-the-art video room.

No longer do Marlins hitters and pitchers have to trek all the way back to a small, dark room off the manager's office for visual feedback. Now they can make a quick run between at-bats or innings.

A bank of four high-definition computer monitors awaits.

"They sit down and click on their name and watch the video in high def -- instantaneously," Marlins video coordinator Cullen McRae said.

In that same room -- at least three times bigger than its former incarnation -- a coaching area beckons. There's an Astroturf batter's box placed before a life-size projection screen.

You think Kinect is fun? Imagine perfectionist major leaguers honing their mechanics with a touch of virtual reality.

Ceiling-to-floor mirrors line the walls on both sides.

"To get a vantage point of what you're doing," said McRae, whose father and brother played in the major leagues. "That was my idea." Soon it will get even more extensive. McRae has been searching the Internet for a suitable pitcher's mound to place in that same area.

That way, if a Marlins pitcher gets out of whack during a game, he and pitching coach Randy St. Claire can run back to the video coaching area and do a quick brush-up session.

"I believe we're the only team in baseball to have an area like this," McRae said. "They can do anything. They can watch themselves. They can watch that night's pitcher. They can watch hitters." ___ (c)2012 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Visit the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) at www.sun-sentinel.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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