How about minor league baseball?

I loved minor league ball. Got to see Jose Canseco, Mark Maguire, and others play for the Huntsville Stars and Michael Jordan play for the Birmingham Barons when they played Huntsville.

 

I sang the national anthem for a Mobile Bay Bears game, lol

 

I'm fortunate to live a couple miles away from the Lake County Captains (Indians class A). I would rather pay $7 and go to that game, than drive downtown to attend an Indians game, especially on Mondays (Dollar Nite)

 

When we lived in Louisville we would catch as many Bat's games as possible at Louisville Slugger field, which is one of the newer ball parks in AAA and is a beautiful setting.
In fact i used to joke with my wife, a life long Cinci Reds fan, that the Reds players probably asked to get sent down to play in a real ball park for a change (pre-Great American days).

 

I like Slugger Field. I saw several Bats games there, too, and the old Louisville Cardinals when they played at Cardinal Stadium.
The Knoxville Smokies had to move out to Kodak when the city of Knoxville wouldn't get with the program and help build them a new park downtown on the river (continuing Knoxville's horrible history at development downtown). Now, they're the Tennessee Smokies, I have to drive an extra 20 minutes to see them (Though I am glad the Cubs are the new affiliate) and Kodak is a bustling little community with tons of businesses around the new Stadium.

I like Minor league ball. It does not have the same excitement as a Reds game at GABP, but it's still good. I'm sure MiLB has some problems in some markets.

 

Of course I go to the Coop to see the Clippers. But we also have an independent league (below Single A) team in Chillicothe - the Paints. Talk about throw back - the stadium is old and rickety and it is nestled back in a wooded area in the middle of nowhere. It's like watching college ball with wooden bats. It's nice.

 

I went to a Bats game in Louisville last year. It was a lot of fun and a beautiful park! We have the Springfield Cardlinals somewhat close by here, but I have not been to a game yet.

 

Really enjoy minor league baseball. Spent a summer being the chaplain for the texas rangers development league in Port Charlotte, FL. That got me the opportunity to witness to Pudge Rodriguez as well as a couple of retired MLB guys who worked with them.

I still go to the single A Sarasota Reds games as often as possible.. but boy they look young :laugh:

 

Minor League ball can be alot of fun. For a while the minor league teams in Rockford were a revolving door of Class A teams. When I first moved here in 1989 we had the Rockford Expos, followed by the Rockford Red's and the Rockford cubbies. Now we have a Frontier League team the Rockford Riverhawks. The Riverhawks are actually a better team than any of the ones that were affiliated with MLB teams.

The Riverhawks built a new stadium last year, and I can go an enjoy a good ball game for $10 which is alot less than I can walk into any Major League Stadium.

Bill

 

How did he respond? I assume he must be Roman Catholic, because he always does the sign of the cross before and after he hits (only afterwards if he gets a hit :laugh: ).

 

I've always wanted to go there. Maybe someday.

People lament ticket prices. I am a Reds fan, so this is all I have to go on. 80% of the Tix to a Reds game are less than $10 on family days, and less than $20 the rest of the time. We spend roughly the same amount to see a Reds game what we spend to see a Smokies game. I don't think the Reds are the cheapest in MLB (they were when Marge was running the team). Anyway, my point being I don't think MLB ticket prices are anywhere near the rates of NFL, NBA, or NHL. It's cheaper than watching a UT Football game, and almost as cheap as watching a UT basketball game.

 

As a kid, I use to go to a lot of then the AAA Evansville Tripletts from the Detroit Tiger system. I saw so many Tiger stars come through there such as Ron LeFlore, Mark Fidrych (sic), Jack Morris, Kirk Gibson, and Alan Trammell just to name a few.

Then as I joined the AF I was stationed near the Vermont Expos single A team of the then Montreal Expos.

I then was close to the Kinston Indians single A team in North Carolina where I saw many stars come in such as Andrew Jones as an opponent, Bartolo Colon, Sean Casey, and Richie Sexson just to name a few.

When I was stationed in Charleston, SC, home of the single A Charleston Riverdogs. I loved Joe Riley Park, one of the best minor league parks I have been in. I saw Josh Hamilton play there, Carl Crawford (who posed with my son), Rocco Baldelli, and Aubrey Huff to name a few.

Now, I am stationed in San Antonio and have the AA San Antonio Missions.

I love minor league ball and even when I travel I try to seek minor league parks. Fun and affordable for the whole family...

 

At the price I quoted you, I sat in the front row of the second deck behind the Reds dugout. Great seats, cheap. Cupholders and everything. Very roomy, comfy. GABP is a nice yard. If only the balls stayed in the yard