rimshot
Probably a decade or so ago, my wife and I were visiting my parents in Green Bay in late summer, and went down to Appleton for a Timber Rattlers game. I can’t remember who they were playing, but one of the players on the other team was Fernando Valenzuela Jr.
I went to many, many Dukes (AAA Dodgers affiliate) games back in the late 80s and early 90s as a kid. This was when you could get a family of four in general admission for $10 total, parking across the seat was free, pick a seat practically anywhere, and bring in your own food and drinks. Saw some pretty good players go through Albuquerque then, but the only names most people will recognize these days who aren’t either Dodgers fans or big baseball fans in general is Mike Piazza and Pedro Martinez.
These days, they’ve torn down the old grandstand and built a new one, the Dukes are gone, the Isotopes are the old Calgary Cannons, they’ve switched MLB affiliation three times (now the Colorado Rockies, whose AAA team used to be the Colorado Springs Sky Sox), AAA overall consolidated down to two leagues, and almost all the teams I knew in the old PCL are gone. It’s something like $12 minimum for a ticket with assigned seating, UNM started charging for parking across the street, you can’t bring in anything, and these days the only time I go to a game is the annual work outing and in my opinion group outings at the game are terrible if you (like me) actually want to watch the game. Even worse because they always pick one of the family nights (for obvious reasons) so there’s even more distractions from the actual game.
So no, I don’t really go to games anymore. AAA can be fun to watch, but it just doesn’t get much of my money or attention anymore. Of course, I don’t pay much attention to the ups-and-downs of the MLB regular season either these days.
And yes, I’m sure some of this is rose-colored glasses and fond memories and neglecting inflation and everything else. Perhaps I’d enjoy it more if I got out to a game once a week or so during the season.
I lived in a MLB metro area my whole life (Detroit, then Chicago, then Detroit again) until we moved to west Michigan a few years ago. We regularly go to West Michigan Whitecaps games (Tigers’ Single A affiliate), and I love it. It’s so cheap we just go and don’t really even think about it. Going to Cubs or Tigers games always felt like a “to-do,” because of the cost and rigmarole going to the stadium. MiLB games are cheap and fun. There’s always a theme night going on, we sit on a lawn and snag foul balls, the beers are cheap and the food is experimental. Plus it’s cool seeing guys you “knew back when” make it up to the bigs, even if it’s for just a li’l cup of coffee.
Minor league games are badass. The looser playing adds an additional layer of uncertainty and entertainment to a game that is already quite chaotic to begin with. As a photographer, it’s also awesome to be able to stand right by the infield with even a short telephoto lens and get good pictures. The casual feel of attending a minor league ballgame in some ways actually feels more like what baseball is really about, “America’s national pastime”, to me, than a major league game.
I have zero interest in sports. I have been to two professional sports games in my life.
Around 1970 I went with a friend to a Phillies game in Philadelphia. Around 1990 I went with a friend to a Stars game in Las Vegas. Larry Bowa played in both games.
I would, but I’m much closer to Nationals Park than any minor league field, and I have a hookup for club seats so it doesn’t cost me anything to go. I still only go a couple of times a year. Haven’t been this season yet.
No, in Costa Rica, by Rawlings.
Love the minors. Cheap tickets, great seats, just be a little tolerant of the quality of play, everything else said in this thread.
I’ve been to only one minor league game and it was fun–and cheap. If there were a baseball team in Montreal, I would certainly support them (where oh where are the old Royals?) But there is no longer a playing field anywhere in the city (I don’t count the Olympic Stadium). Even the sandlot fields are fast disappearing.
So true.
I love minor league games. In college we’d go to South Bend SilverHawks games as often as possible - cheap tickets, cheap beer, and professional baseball. You can’t beat that. Now I live in Indianapolis, and Victory Field hosts the Indians (AAA team for the Pittsburgh Pirates). Luckily for fans (and unlucky for the Pirates and their fans), Pittsburgh had been in perpetual rebuilding mode since I moved here in 2001, and as a result, there were always highly touted and talented prospects on the team to watch. The stadium is also a treasure - it’s right downtown, and doesn’t have a bad seat in the house.
i learned this the hard way. I was at an Akron Aeros game way back when with my friend Mark, when the Akron shortstop threw one about 20 feet over the first basemen’s head. I said angrily, “Damnit, a major league shortstop has to make that play!”. Mark wisely replied, "That’s why he’s still at Akron in the Eastern League. " LOL
Gracias kenobi!
The link has a great video on how MLB balls are made. Very informative.
Thanks again.
I love Minor League baseball, and have seen MiLB or independent games in 164 different parks.
I take a trip with a buddy every year. We’re planning on Texas in 2020, and the OP’s mention of the Mexican League gave me an intriguing idea!
Denver Bears. They had a guy who could hit massive homeruns (Rob Deer) who had a good long career in the Majors, mostly with Milwaukee. He had a crappy average and stuck out all the time, he kept hitting HR’s.
Last year was the first season since I hit puberty (I’m now in my early 40s) that I didn’t watch a single minute of ANY pro sport. From this perspective, I now wonder if they are just some sort of mass delusion; why do so many people spend so much money and time on contests whose outcomes have no long-term meaning?
That being said, I would still go to minor league baseball games, for the simple reason that they are actually FUN. No one ever got harassed or assaulted by the other teams fans at a minor league game, or had to park two miles from the stadium, or spend literally hundreds of dollars on food, tickets, parking and souvenirs to go to just one game. They are what ALL pro sports should be: in perspective.
Ahhh, Rob Deer, who made Gorman Thomas look like a contact hitter. We modified the John Deere slogan (“Nothing Runs Like a Deer”) for him: “Nothing Whiffs Like Rob Deer.” 
Truth! My workplace is within walking distance of the Fort Wayne TinCaps (Low A Midwest League) stadium so I get to a game every so often. I was there several years ago with some friends and one of the umpires was having a bad game. There were several blown calls and the crowd was having a fit. I said “Well, the umpires are minor league too you know…”
I am visiting the USA and had the opportunity to go to the ballpark. We saw the Ogden Raptors play Missoula.
The promotion was Thirsty Thursday. So there was 2 buck beers. Raptors lost. High scoring game and full of errors. But it is single A league. But I was very happy to see live baseball. And it is a beautiful ballpark.
Vive baseball!
I went to a lot of Quad City Cubs/Angels games growing up. It was A or maybe AA at the time, so the quality of play wasn’t MLB, but it was cheap or free (my dad’s friends would get tickets or something like that) and the stadium is right next to the Mississippi River. Good times.