Whatever your budget, I’ve got plenty of Nationals Park seating tips for you, whether you want to avoid the sun, be near the cool food choices, or have the best view of the Presidents’ Race.

But if you’ve got a few extra bucks laying around, here are some upper tier priced options for you and what you should know about them.

(Hey Baseball Fans – Find out how to get cheap tickets, pick a great seat, get to the ballpark, and choose what to eat at the game…and save money on all of it! Check out my complete Nationals Park Guide here!)

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I think the usher has to give the ok before they can uncover the seats.

Nationals Park Seating Tips, #1) The Dugout Club. There is a small section of very comfortable and large luxury seats next to the Nationals dugout now, making your view even better than the players’. They include a secret entrance with a tunnel, wait service, etc. If you have to ask the price…

Currently these are sponsored by the MGM National Harbor, and are only available to “M Life Rewards Platinum” members. I expect you probably have to lose a lot of money in a casino to access these, but maybe you know someone with such a problem.

Should you be lucky enough to land a seat here, definitely keep an eye on foul balls. They come this way fast.

Enjoy baseball the way it was meant to be enjoyed…in the exclusive club without using your seat.

Nationals Park Seating Tips, #2) Field Level Premium Seating. The padded Delta Club seats are the best butt buckets in the ballpark. They are 22” wide and directly behind home plate. Season ticket holders get parking passes and access to all the clubs, including the Delta Club. The Delta Club features a fine foods buffet and in-seat wait service, all complimentary, even the beer, wine and desserts.

These seats, even with D.C. parking thrown in, are still overpriced for any team in my opinion. You might be able to find a deal from TickPick; try to get tickets from a season ticket holder before buying from the team. (Note: that is an affiliate link you just passed. Thanks for your support!)

The PNC Diamond seats are about half the price of the Delta seats and allow access to the PNC Lounge. Only season ticket holders have access to the actual PNC Club itself, so try getting tickets from one through a third party. The PNC Club also offers a buffet, in-seat wait service, and complimentary beer and wine. The earlier you arrive, the better your chances at an outside table with a great view.

If you can stand looking at richer people sitting in front of you, the PNC Diamond seats are a better deal.

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If a railroad-style scoreboard and a sushi bar aren’t worth the price of a club ticket, I don’t know what the heck is.

Nationals Park Seating Tips, #3) The Club Level. The cushioned club level seats are on the mezzanine level between the bases. These seats are reasonable given all the perks; the view is decent, for one, especially since the upper deck is way up there. The upper rows of seats past Row E are covered by the elements, no small thing on a D.C. summer day. Not to mention access to a climate-controlled club to escape the heat.

The Norfolk Southern Club is a large, indoor concourse with lots of food and drink options like pulled pork and brisket sandwiches, a carvery and sushi bar, and Enzo’s pizza. It’s decorated with a railroad theme, including a scoreboard with model trains to keep track of the action on the field. There is even a cool Homestead Grays Pub full-service bar, named for the Negro League team that played in Washington.

The food isn’t included with the ticket price like with the more premium seats, but you pay a lot extra for that “free” buffet there. And the Shake Shack and other cool food spots aren’t far away from the first base entrance of the Club.

There you go, some cool options for a Nationals game if you’ve got the means. If you still think it’s way too much to spend to see a ballgame, check out this bit about the cheap seats at Nats Park.

Planning a trip to Washington D.C.? Save a bunch of money on hotels, flights and rental cars…book your trip with my friends at Hotwire! (It’s still Kurt’s favorite!)

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In the tradition of making ballparks more millennial friendly, the Yankees ripped out a bunch of seats for the 2017 season and created several new standing room options. This is in addition to the assigned standing room areas that already existed in the ballpark, so Yankee Stadium is now a much nicer place to wander around in after buying a cheap ticket.

You can now get a “Pinstripe Pass” standing room ticket, which is a very inexpensive ticket with your first beer or Pepsi product included. At ballpark prices, that’s almost like getting into the ballpark for free.

Standing room with bar stools and a counter isn’t so bad. Especially in the shade.

Yankee Stadium Standing Room Tip #1: Field Level. The reserved standing room tickets on the field level aren’t as bad a deal as you might think looking at the price (you can’t access this with a Pinstripe Pass). There are barstools and counters, and in most spots you have a pretty nice view of the field and scoreboard.

The Yankees call is “café seating”, and it’s restricted to ticket holders. Nice and shaded, and easy to run for a beer or garlic fries from your spot.

My friends at TickPick have Yankees tickets…they offer a best price guarantee, a buyer’s trust guarantee, and NO service fees. Sounds like a no-brainer to me!

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Showing the last year you were able to get a Yankees ticket this cheap.

Yankee Stadium Standing Room Tip #2: Outfield Areas. The Yankees tore out the bleachers sections with obstructed views…a smart move given that fans lost half the view of the field there…and these are now standing room areas with their own bar, drink rails, and barstool seats.

You even have some specialty food and craft beer options with the money you’ve saved on your cheap ticket.

The best part is that these areas are close to the bullpens (the visitors bullpen is in left field), making it a great place to offer some friendly encouragement.

Anyone have a four-foot stool?

Yankee Stadium Standing Room Tip #3: Avoid The Terrace Level SRO. I don’t know if the Yankees sell standing room tickets that are designated for the Terrace level anymore, but just get a Pinstripe Pass instead and stake out a better spot.

The Terrace standing areas are behind the handicapped seating, which is almost always occupied, and you need to be about 11 feet tall if you want a decent view of the infield. You’ll probably dislike the view enough to move.

There’s three Yankee Stadium standing room tips for you…click here for more cheap seating options. Remember Yankee Stadium has open concourses, so should your spot not be everything you dreamed of, there are plenty of places to view the game from your feet.

Click here to read my complete guide to Yankee Stadium!

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Believe it or not, there are cheap seats at Yankee Stadium. They’re just farther from the field than in most ballparks. If you’re on a budget, you can actually find some decent deals, especially if you subscribe to the team newsletter.

Here are three levels of less expensive seats…click here to read about standing room options, or take a look at my highly detailed Yankee Stadium seating guide!

I wonder what the poor folks are doing in the rows behind me…

Cheap Seats at Yankee Stadium, Tip #1: The Terrace Level. The seats on the lower tier of the upper level cost considerably more than the Grandstand seats, and there aren’t too many of them in the infield, those being the “Jim Beam suite seats”.

Considering that seats a few rows behind them can be almost half of the price, at full price it might not be worth it. But the Yankees do offer deals on these seats, including occasional $5 seat nights. (Their newsletter will alert you to these coveted events.)

For the moment the Yankees have turned Sections 305-306…the two sections all the way out in right field…into “All You Care to Eat” sections. It’s just dogs, sausages, pretzels and Pepsi products, but that’s baseball food. If you’re not picky it can save you a few bucks.

My friends at TickPick have Yankees tickets…they offer a best price guarantee, a buyer’s trust guarantee, and NO service fees. Sounds like a no-brainer to me!

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Yes, it’s far, but you can pretend to crush opposing players with two fingers.

Cheap Seats at Yankee Stadium, Tip #2, The Grandstand. Grandstand upper deck seats cost about the same as the Bleacher seats, but with less noise and a nice panoramic view of the ballpark and amazing Jumbotron. Grandstand seats are pretty well up there though, higher than in most ballparks.

The Yankees’ website will mark some tickets as “obstructed view”, meaning there could be a railing or traffic in front of you. Usually it’s not terrible enough to reject the tickets if you have no other option.

Yankee Stadium has 16 elevators, eight of which are in the Great Hall, so no need to trek all the way up the lengthy ramps or stairs. You won’t wait long for an elevator. You will need to ascend a flight of stairs to get to your seats though, so keep this in mind if you have mobility issues.

Helpful ads make it easy to find your section.

Cheap Seats at Yankee Stadium, Tip #3: The Bleachers. The Yankees brought the bleacher seats from the original Stadium…hard metal, backless and all, although they are now placed behind bullpens or more expensive field seats.

Seats in right field are home of the Bleacher Creatures and the nightly “roll call”, chanting each player’s name at the start of the game until the player acknowledges them. The Bleacher Creatures are in Sections 202-203.

Bleacher seats are among the cheapest seats in the Stadium, but the view isn’t terrible and you are close to the bullpens. This is New York, though, and the right field bleachers probably aren’t a place for someone with rabbit ears or opposing team’s gear. Left field might be a better place for the family.

It can get very hot during day games here, as you can imagine. Good to bring a hat and sunscreen.

Want to know about getting tickets, parking and food at Yankee Stadium? Check out my complete Yankee Stadium guide!

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The short answer to whether you can bring food into Yankee Stadium is yes, you can. The Yankees allow a 16*16*8 soft-sided bag with just about anything you want, save for alcoholic beverages and anything that can be used as a projectile. Slice your apples.

But since Ballpark E-Guides always takes the extra base for readers, I’m offering a few suggestions here for getting your pre-game feedbag on before going into Yankee Stadium (read this to choose your parking spot accordingly):

The people in the Legends seats pay four digits to eat like this.

Bring Food Into Yankee Stadium, Tip #1: The Bullpen Deli. The Bullpen Deli has a terrific selection of food stuffs for your sandwich or wrap, and some of the sandwiches have Yankee-themed names like the Steinbrenner Blast or the Yankee Fajita. The sandwiches/wraps are very affordable, and if you want you can order a container of pepper steak or something like that. Good salads by most accounts too, and good portions all. Boar’s Head meats, just like in the Stadium, but for much less.

The Bullpen is the home of the Twin Donut shop, so you can add donuts to your bag. The donuts aren’t anything super special (Online folks say the Crown Diner is better for sweets), but if Dunkin or Krispy is good enough for you, these should be just fine.

My friends at TickPick have Yankees tickets…they offer a best price guarantee, a buyer’s trust guarantee, and NO service fees. Sounds like a no-brainer to me!

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Yes, there is sufficient “B” in the Turkey BLT.

Bring Food Into Yankee Stadium, Tip #2: The Court Deli. The aptly named Court Deli (it’s near the Bronx Courthouse) was recommended to me by the inimitable Gary Herman, money-saving sports fan extraordinaire. It’s not what you’d call gourmet dining, but you can get a pretty good-sized pastrami sandwich for far less than what you’d pay inside the ballpark.

The Court Deli is about a block and a half away from the Stadium…just enough so that it gets a little but not too crowded on game days. You can get your sandwich here without too long a wait before gametime.

Breakfast is an unfairly overlooked component of baseball fan sustenance.

Bring Food Into Yankee Stadium, Tip #3: The New Stadium Gourmet Deli. Catchy name, eh? If you’re going to a day game there are breakfast sandwiches in this place, which are good-sized and built on croissants, bagels or whatever. But the lunch sandwiches are no slouch either, with fairly hefty amounts of meat in a submarine or panini roll.

Again, all for an affordable price. I might prefer the Bullpen or Court Deli for lunch, but if you’ve got a hankering for an authentic NYC bagel breakfast sandwich before a day game, this might be your spot.

Super cheap peanuts, on the opposite street corner from the Stadium. Do the Yankees even know???

There are also plenty of hot dog and halal food (!) carts, including a couple of carts selling honey roasted almonds and cashews, as good a ballgame snack as any. By all means get your bottled waters out here at one of these…they’re usually a dollar compared to a finski inside. Get a few, you’ll be thirsty.

There’s a few ways for you to eat cheaply at Yankee Stadium, but you can also eat very well inside the ballpark too. Have a look at my detailed Yankee Stadium food guide, or check out my complete Yankee Stadium guide for all of the info you need!

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The Detroit Tigers are a pretty wallet and family friendly team by baseball standards. There are quite a few ways to score cheap Tigers tickets and enjoy an affordable game at Comerica Park.

Here are just three recommendations courtesy of Ballpark E-Guides. By the way, if you’re going cheap, check out how to avoid driving there and parking here!

There will be someone here. Honest.

Cheap Tigers Tickets, Tip #1) Join The Club. The Tigers have a fan club for kids, but I only see team newsletters for adults…but those newsletters often feature some great deals, so that’s well worth signing up for.

Membership in the fan club includes some gear, a newsletter with discounted ticket offers, and some buy-one-get-one vouchers. If you’re flexible about which games you can attend, the discounts will probably be worth the cost of membership, and you get some cool stuff too.

Just in case you didn’t know, Comerica Bank is a fairly big sponsor.

Cheap Tigers Tickets, Tip #2) Use Your Comerica Card. If you have an account with Comerica Bank, you can use it to get discounts on tickets. It’s only a few bucks, but customers get some other perks too (it used to include discounts at Cheli’s Bar, but since Cheli’s is no more maybe there’s something else). The Tigers will even let you use a separate, line-free entrance. Check with your bank and see if they have other offers…

And no, no one tosses their extras into the bucket. I checked.

Cheap Tigers Tickets, Tip #3) Get Your Monthly Pass. If you can make it to six or seven games in a month’s time…even in July…the Tigers offer a monthly pass for your smartphone that allows you to go to every game that month. Great for savings, say, when the Yankees or another divisional rival is in town…see the whole series at an affordable price. The Tigers will let you upgrade your seats on occasion too.

There’s three helpful tips for landing some cheap tickets for a game at beautiful Comerica Park in Detroit. Stay tuned, I’ll be posting more ways to save money here…

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There are four bona fide Comerica Park restaurants, as in conveniently located, inside the ballpark sit-down eateries. Before (and sometimes after) the game, fans can enjoy a meal and a drink or two with a view, or at least with TVs to watch.

Here are four places to get your sit down grub on at Comerica:

No, you can’t leave your peanut shells on the floor.

Comerica Park Restaurants, #1) The Beer Hall. The Beer Hall is on the corner of Montcalm and Brush Street, and it was something of a tucked away secret entrance in the past to avoid main entrance lines (you might still be able to try it). It has a 70-foot bar and wooden picnic tables, for that baseball festive atmosphere.

The menu features grilled Angus burgers, Philly cheesesteaks, and pulled pork sandwiches, and there are lots of local and domestic beers on tap, hence the name.

It’s not actually Tiger Stadium.

Comerica Park Restaurants, #2) The Corner Tap Room. The Corner is located near the main entrance with the big tiger statue. It’s dedicated to the memory of Tiger Stadium, with pictures and memorabilia and such. They have indoor and outdoor dining here, but the outdoor option is on a sidewalk in a parking lot, so the indoor option with the cool décor is better.

At the Corner you can choose from an “urban bistro” style menu; last I checked they had a grilled PB&J (!) and a footlong bacon-wrapped dog. Could be different by the time you visit, but I can tell you it’s fancier stuff than most ballpark food.

Because when you think BBQ, you think Fox Sports Detroit.

Comerica Park Restaurants, #3) The Brushfire Grill. The Brushfire is sponsored by Fox Sports as I write this, but it changes a lot. I think it might be called the 313 BBQ by now. It’s mostly just a food court with a big food stand on the side, but that counts.

At the Brushfire there is a pork and beef brisket smoker for above-average BBQ sandwiches, along with burgers and dogs. Get a basket value meal with slaw, chips and a pickle.

They’ve got black bean veggie burgers too, so you can sell it to your vegetarian friends.

Featuring three TVs to distract you from the absence of bartenders!

Comerica Park Restaurants, #4) The Miller Lite Pitcher’s Pub. You have to go upstairs and in the outfield for this one, so you can work up an appetite just getting there.

The Miller Lite Pitcher’s Pub is a larger sit-down eatery with a full bar; the menu is mostly fancy appetizers named for pitching phrases…the “Intentional Walk” is sloppy Joe stuffed potato skins with queso and scallions, for example.

The Pub is good for just getting a snack on, and you can hang out outside at the nearby Pepsi Porch afterward. And still have an appetite left over for this stuff.

There you go; four restaurants at Comerica Park with something to offer for everyone. If you want to know about what to eat inside the ballpark, check out this post. And read this for how to get to the ballpark without paying for parking!

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I wouldn’t say that the home of the Blue Jays tops the list in ballparks known for culinary greatness, although they have definitely improved things in recent years. But that there are several different editions of Rogers Centre nachos is impressive to me; chips with stuff piled on them go over pretty well here.

Here are three places where you can get a piled mess of food on chips at the ballpark in Toronto:

With a helpful listing of the ingredients, just in case.

Rogers Centre Nachos, #1) The Muddy York Market. The Muddy York is the large food court at Rogers, and there’s a separate nachos stand where you can actually customize your plate of nachos.

Get a plate of smoked jerk chicken nachos with cheddar cheese sauce, pico de gallo, cole slaw (!), green onions and infused sour cream. Or pile on your own stuff, with toppings like cheese, chicken, salsa, corn, jalapenos, etc. Sour cream and guacamole cost extra (as always)…

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Nachos with the visual enhancement of smoked meat sitting behind them.

Rogers Centre Nachos, #2) The King Club. At the Budweiser King Club bar area behind home plate is a carved meat station, and you can order “Bases Loaded Nachos”. These babies are covered with beef brisket, BBQ sauce, jalapenos, caramelized onions, pico de gallo, three bean chili (!), and something called “pepper infused sour cream”.

The Muddy York Market has BBQ nachos too, but they’re not as BBQ, if that makes sense.

Please don’t spit these at the umpire.

Rogers Centre Nachos, #3) The 12 Kitchen. The 12 Kitchen is named for star Jays (and Orioles!) second baseman and Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar, and has more of a Latin theme in its food. 12 nachos are made with a mix of plantain and tortilla chips (and rightly so, personally I don’t get the kettle chips thing), covered with adobo spiced chicken, queso franco, guacamole, sour cream and green onions.

They’re kind of Christmasy looking nachos, aren’t they?

Rogers Centre Nachos, #4) Intentional Guac. The Intentional Guac stand is located on the upper level as I write this, sparing SkyDeck patrons a trip down long ramps to the other nachos. And they’re perfectly serviceable nachos in their own right. It’s the gooey cheese type substance and un-pickled jalapenos, but you do get pico de gallo, beans and corn on them. And appropriately given the name of the stand, guac is available too.

The ingredients for these nachos plates could change when you visit, but as I write this these are the three distinct food stands where you can get some variation of nachos at Rogers Centre. It’s among the more popular non-hot dog foods inside this ballpark…but many fans go for the street meat outside too.

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Since the home of the White Sox is surrounded mostly by parking lots, the nearby scene is known far more for above average tailgating than a slew of eateries. (There are a few decent watering holes nearby though, contrary to popular myth.) That said, there are several Guaranteed Rate Field restaurants – as in attached to or inside the ballpark. Here are three worth noting:

“Wait! I’ve just realized we can see the game live right next door!”

Guaranteed Rate Field Restaurants, #1) The ChiSox Bar & Grill. The nice thing about the ChiSox Bar & Grill attached to the ballpark is being able to enjoy a meal before or after the game, without having to move your car.

The ChiSox draws a good crowd and the bar on the lower level gets pretty crowded. The food is popular among fans: burgers, tacos, sandwiches and appetizers like jalapeno cheddar hush puppies and pork nachos…and of course, wash it down with Big Hurt Beer. The ChiSox has appetizer specials on game days.

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This is about as good a spot for outdoor dining as you’ll find in Chicago.

Guaranteed Rate Field Restaurants, #2) The Craft Kave. The White Sox turned the Miller Lite Bullpen Sports Bar into the much more tasteful Craft Kave…it’s actually a party area with seating in right field and a full bar underneath.

It used to be for groups, but you can now enter the Craft Kave and not only choose from over 70 Chicago area craft brews, but also some truly incredible craft burgers like the “Veeck as in Wreck” burger with two patties and onion rings piled on, or the “Wild Pitch” with mushrooms and Swiss. There’s even a White Sox staffer that helps you choose the perfect brew to go with your burgers. Amazeballs.

Be sure to have someone on lookout for people trying to snag your seats.

Guaranteed Rate Field Restaurants, #3) Xfinity Zone. The Xfinity Zone in the lower right field concourse is a great spot for a sit down meal. There’s no view of the game, but there are plenty of TVs and you’re bound to be pretty close to one.

The menu includes superlative deli-style sandwiches such as the Ultimate Turkey Club and the Supreme Corned Beef, along with dogs, sausages and fried pickles and such. There’s a full bar with mixed drinks and domestic or craft brews.

There’s much more food at Guaranteed Rate Field to choose from…like the Comiskey Dogs and elotes, but this should help you choose a sit down spot in the absence of a nearby restaurant.

Want some more tips for your next White Sox game? Click here for useful Guaranteed Rate Field advice, and don’t forget to Follow Ballpark E-Guides on Facebook for useful knowledge at your favorite ballpark!

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With the team at or near the top of the AL Central often these days, cheap Guardians tickets can be harder to come by. But you still have some ways to save a few bucks on tickets – here are three courtesy of Ballpark E-Guides. If you want to choose from the cheaper seats, check this out…and if you’re planning a Guardians game, be sure to read my complete Progressive Field guide!

The fire pit is a chick magnet. Especially in April.

Cheap Guardians Tickets, Tip #1) Brave The April Cold. Cleveland weather being what it is, the team doesn’t generally draw big crowds for April games, especially on weeknights with dynamic pricing. This is a great time of year to save on Club tickets or tickets with access to the Home Plate Club, and you can duck out of the cold in the club.

You can also order a cheap ticket and move to the upstairs section of the Corner bar, and move to the fire pit between innings. And who knows, it might not be that cold that night. I’ve gone to April games in Cleveland that weren’t too bad.

Nothing like a broken-in baseball glove.

Cheap Guardians Tickets, Tip #2) Take The Volunteer Challenge. The Guardians sometimes offer tickets and other rewards to philanthropic sorts; you can sometimes score tickets by donating cans of food or a used glove.

If you give your time through the team’s Volunteer Challenge, you can reap some rewards when you build up a number of volunteer hours, including game tickets. Who says good deeds aren’t appreciated? Not the Guardians!

You can find opportunities like this in the Community section of the Guardians’ website.

Just in case there is no one at the window.

Cheap Guardians Tickets, Tip #3) Eschew The Fees. If you know a game probably won’t sell out (see the April tip above), try getting your tickets at the box office or the team shop rather than online…with multiple tickets especially, you can save a considerable chunk of online fee change.

The only exception is the District Ticket, which is only available online. Bonus tip: the Guardians sometimes waive ticket fees and will tell you so in their e-mail ticket alerts; that’s the time to snag those District Tickets.

My friends at TickPick have Guardians tickets…they offer a best price guarantee, a buyer’s trust guarantee, and NO service fees. Sounds like a no-brainer to me!

Click here to order your Guardians tickets on TickPick!

Cheap Indians Tickets, Tip #4) Bonus Tip: Try TickPick. TickPick is my favorite third party outlet for Guardians tickets, and I’m not just saying that because they’re an affiliate. I frequently find better deals there than on StubHub, and there’s no fees!

There you go; three ways (+1!) for you to land some possibly cheaper tickets to see the Cleveland Guardians. Stay tuned, I’ll post more.

Planning a trip to Cleveland? Save a bunch of money on hotels, flights and rental cars…book your trip with my friends at Hotwire! (It’s still Kurt’s favorite!)

Click here to start booking your trip to Cleveland and Progressive Field today!

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The short answer to the question for thrifty fans is yes, you can bring food into Wrigley Field from outside. The Cubs allow a 16*16*8 soft-sided bag (which is pretty big), so long as it doesn’t contain alcohol or projectiles. The Friendly Confines does have some great Chicago style grub (which I talk about in this truly informative Wrigley Field food post) but sometimes it’s good to save a few bucks too.

So what does this mean for you? In addition to bringing in peanuts and bottled water, which is easy to find anywhere outside, including at the Addison Red Line station, you have a few places near the ballpark to load up on Cubs game sustenance. This can help you choose an ideal parking spot, incidentally.

So Who Makes Food I Can Bring Into Wrigley Field?

Here are three suggestions if McDonald’s, Taco Bell or Subway doesn’t light up your palate:

Is there an “unofficial” hot dog of the Cubs?

Bring Food Into Wrigley Field, Stop #1) Wrigleysville Dogs. Yes, that’s an “S” in the name. Probably some legal thing. Wrigleysville Dogs is a few steps north of the ballpark on Clark Street, and it’s a great place for super cheap grub – like that classic Chicago dog dragged through the garden.

You can park in their lot too, if you’re early enough, but that part isn’t cheap.

My friends at TickPick have Cubs tickets…they offer a best price guarantee, a buyer’s trust guarantee, and NO service fees. (Sounds like a no-brainer to me!)

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Translation: “Mexican Burrito”. I’m betting it took all night to come up with that name.

Bring Food Into Wrigley Field, Stop #2) El Burrito Mexicano. This tiny but authentic joint is right there at the foot of the Red Line station, and you can get yourself an easy-to-carry burrito to bring inside. (Burritos are an underrated ballpark food IMHO.)

Again, super cheap, but keep in mind that it’s cash only and very popular with fans. Get there early before it gets packed if you can.

The store is just a block away from the ballpark.

Bring Food Into Wrigley Field, Stop #3) Nuts On Clark. There is actually a Nuts On Clark outpost inside Wrigley Field as of this writing, but you can order your gourmet popcorn right there at the store on Clark Street, and it’s cheaper than in the ballpark and has a wider selection.

It’s a very short walk from Wrigley, but it’s only open during the day, so use this one for day games.

There’s three outside choices in Wrigleyville for fans bringing in their own grub. But there’s a pretty impressive menu inside the ballpark that you’ll want to know about too…

Want to know more about the Friendly Confines? Check out this complete guide to Wrigley Field, with everything you need to know! Oh, and click here to learn how to find great deals on Cubs tickets!

Never drive to Wrigley Field without a plan…

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When it comes to the best way to get to Camden Yards, you have enough options. Driving and parking generally isn’t too bad, at least by downtown ballpark standards, and if you book ahead of time.

But for most Orioles games, I prefer to use the MTA Light Rail, for several reasons:

(Pssst…interested in knowing everything about Oriole Park? Check out my complete guide to Camden Yards here!)

Don’t be intimidated. It’s very nice.

1) MTA Light Rail is cheap. It’s less than four bucks as of this writing round trip to use the streetcar, and parking at most stations outside of the city is free.

You won’t likely find decent parking at the ballpark that cheap…and on top of that, driving to the ballpark in that notorious Baltimore congestion can use up a lot of gas.

My friends at TickPick have Orioles tickets…they offer a best price guarantee, a buyer’s trust guarantee, and NO service fees. Sounds like a no-brainer to me!

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With a helpful photo of the ballpark!

2) MTA Light Rail is convenient. Park for free, hop on the streetcar, and get dropped off right there just a few steps from the gate. You can even use nearby stops to get on or off; the Convention Center and Hamburg stations are still closer than most ballpark parking.

The Light Rail runs frequently enough that you won’t have to wait long before or after the game; for big attendance games you might have a to wait a car or two. Try using the nearby stations in the opposite direction of where you’re headed…your chances of having a seat are better that way.

Sure…how slow could an Interstate highway be?

3) MTA Light Rail avoids traffic. Maybe I should have ranked this higher. If you’re driving in from I-83, traffic north of the ballpark in the city is brutal, especially in the evening when the Inner Harbor gets hopping. The streetcar may take some time trudging through the red lights, but at least you know it will get there. Sometimes when you’re sitting in that downtown Charm City gridlock, you’re not sure.

For the best way to get to Camden Yards, you can’t beat the convenience and price of the Light Rail system. But there are lots of other ways, including by boat or bicycle, and you do have some cheap parking options if you do decide to drive your car.

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When the Pale Hose struggle at the gate, there are numerous ways to find yourself some cheap White Sox tickets. Here are a few of my favorite tips.

They’re very nice people here, but check your inbox first.

Cheap White Sox Tickets, Tip #1) Get Team Ticket Alerts. I recommend this for every team, but the White Sox in particular offer very nice deals to their e-mail subscribers: monthly ballpark passes, flash sales of 200 or so tickets at a very nice price, and a “Sox Save of The Week”. No need to pay face price, especially when you can be flexible about when you go. Click here to sign up…

“I don’t know about the window with no line. What if it’s for farm vehicles?”

Cheap White Sox Tickets, Tip #2) Use The Box Office. Except for Opening Day and Cubs games, most White Sox games don’t sell out, and there’s no online fee for buying tickets at the box office. If you’re buying multiple tickets especially, the online fees add up, and they’re not necessary. Just go on game day and get tickets there.

You don’t have to work quite so hard to get in the ballpark.

Cheap White Sox Tickets, Tip #3) Donate Blood Or Something. The White Sox hold community events and they offer free or discounted tickets to charitable groups…more so than most teams. Check the community and group tickets section of their website, because you may find a great deal for philanthropic sorts.

My friends at TickPick have White Sox tickets…they offer a best price guarantee, a buyer’s trust guarantee, and NO service fees. Sounds like a no-brainer to me!

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Cheap White Sox Tickets, Bonus Tip!) Try TickPick! My friends at TickPick usually have great deals on White Sox tickets, and I’m not just saying that because they’re an affiliate of mine. Click here to check out their inventory of White Sox tickets…but remember that you can’t print them now. 

There’s three ways to save money on White Sox tickets, but there’s plenty more deals out there…stay tuned. If you’d like to know some things about seating here, check this out.

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What you pay for Camden Yards parking at Orioles games generally depends on where you’re coming from…spots north of the ballpark tend to command a higher price, being closer to the nightlife and more ritzy hotels.

(Pssst…interested in knowing everything about Oriole Park? Check out my complete guide to Camden Yards here!)

So if you’d like to go cheap parking at Camden Yards, and go for an easier out too, here are a few spots south of the ballpark that may work better for you (after this quick word from our sponsor):

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Don’t be confused by the alphabet soup. Use F, G, or H.

Cheap Parking at Camden Yards, Spot #1) Orioles Lots F, G, and H. You can actually book spots ahead of time in Orioles Lots B and C close to the ballpark fairly cheaply, if you do it well enough ahead of time on the Orioles website…do that if you can.

But Lots F, G, and H near the Ravens’ stadium tend to be the cheapest choices, and they’re not too far away. You can even use the Light Rail one stop to the ballpark if you want to shorten the walk.

No, the valet parking isn’t any closer to the ballpark.

Cheap Parking at Camden Yards, Spot #2) The Horseshoe Casino. The Horseshoe is about a mile walk from Camden Yards, and you probably wouldn’t want to walk it at night. The neighborhood isn’t all that bad, just industrial and desolate in the dark.

But for day games, a free parking spot in an attended garage works well, and the walk isn’t too bad…Google calls it at about 18 minutes. No light rail near the casino yet, unfortunately, but maybe in the future…

My friends at TickPick have Orioles tickets…they offer a best price guarantee, a buyer’s trust guarantee, and NO service fees. Sounds like a no-brainer to me!

(Get $10 off your first purchase with email sign-up!)

Mexican food and Orioles baseball. Your day is complete.

Cheap Parking at Camden Yards, Spot #3) Banditos Bar. Banditos is a Federal Hill institution that recently started offering rides to patrons going to Orioles and Ravens games, and you can park on the street nearby free of charge, or in an inexpensive garage nearby.

It’s actually about as long a walk as the Horseshoe if you don’t want to get a meal beforehand, but Banditos gets pretty good reviews, they have daily food and drink specials, and you get a free ride (although you probably should tip the driver).

There’s three Camden Yards parking options that won’t break your bank at your next O’s game. Try one and let me know how it worked out.

Photo of Bandito’s shuttle courtesy of Bandito’s Bar.

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I highly recommend against driving and parking near Rogers Centre for Blue Jays games. If you don’t have to, don’t. There are many better ways to get there. But if you must, try using one of the “Green P” lots.

The Green P lots and garages in Toronto, including the ones for parking near Rogers Centre, are owned by the city and as such offer better rates than most. As far as I can tell, none of them charge “event” rates.

(Need more Rogers Centre help? I got ya! Check out this complete seating guide, some tips for bringing in outside food, and this helpful post for bringing the kids to a Blue Jays game!)

Here are my top three picks for a night at the ballpark…after a quick word from our sponsor:

My friends at TickPick have Blue Jays tickets…they offer a best price guarantee, a buyer’s trust guarantee, and NO service fees. Sounds like a no-brainer to me!

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This is a pretty nice evening rate for baseball parking.

Green P Lot #1) 40 York Street. I’ll probably get some grief for sharing this favorite spot of fans, but it’s probably the best deal that you’ll find for parking near Rogers Centre. It’s not only cheaper, but the event rate kicks in at 5:00, unlike 6:00 for most lots, so you don’t have to time your arrival so much. It’s a convenient spot too, especially coming from the east. 

With a helpful arrow.

Green P Lot #2) 10 Portland Street. The night rate starts at 6:00 PM for this one, but it’s still fairly convenient at about a half mile from the ballpark, for a ten minute walk, and this one offers a relatively easy out going westbound.

“Municipal” means good rates!

Green P Lot #3) 2 Church Street. If you can’t score a spot at 40 York, this one isn’t bad coming from the east. It’s got over 2,000 spaces and has cheap nightly rates, including a Saturday special of $1/hour for the first two hours. So on Saturday especially you can arrive plenty early for a good spot and still pay a small fee to park for the evening.

One caution about the 40 York and 2 Church Street lots: these are both close to the Air Canada Centre, home of both the Maple Leafs and Raptors. I strongly recommend checking first to see if there is an event there before going…if there is, get there very early or use public transit.

There are other good options for parking near Rogers Centre, but I would advise that you try Green P first, especially if you can walk a little bit.

Planning a trip to Toronto? Save a bunch of money on hotels, flights and rental cars…book your trip with my friends at Hotwire! (It’s still Kurt’s favorite!)

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For you Birds fans or other Baltimoreans looking for the best way to get to Nationals Park from Baltimore for a game, you have a few options.

Here I’m going to share some obvious routes…with a few things you should know. I go into much more detail in this post about how to get to D.C.’s ballpark…well worth a look if you want to know more.

(Hey Baseball Fans – Find out how to get cheap tickets, pick a great seat, get to the ballpark and choose what to eat at the game…and save money on all of it! Check out my complete Nationals Park Guide here!)

So…is this Greenbelt Station?

The Best Way To Get To Nationals Park From Baltimore, Route #1: Take the Green Line Metro from Greenbelt. The Metro train Green Line runs from Greenbelt station, conveniently located off of I-95/495, to the Navy Yard-Ballpark station at Nationals Park in about 40 minutes.

Even with typical I-95/I-495 traffic, this is probably the easiest route for using Metro, but you should have a plan to get back just in case this rare but frustrating occurrence happens.

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You want the one on the right. Unless you’re coming home.

The Best Way To Get To Nationals Park From Baltimore, Route #2: MARC and/or AMTRAK. Amtrak runs trains from Penn Station and BWI airport in Baltimore to Union Station (Red Line) and New Carrollton Station (Orange Line), both of which are a two train ride to Nats Park. The Camden-Washington MARC train runs from Camden Station to Greenbelt Station, requiring only one transfer, and the MARC is much cheaper.

Unfortunately MARC is only available during weekdays, so you’d need to use Amtrak (or a Metrobus, more likely, given their more frequent schedules) at least to get back after a night game.

MARC can be a nice option, sparing you traffic troubles, gas and parking money. Can be a little unwieldy though.

One of these will do it.

The Best Way To Get To Nationals Park From Baltimore, Route #3: By Car. If you’re going to just drive, I highly recommend that you 1) book your parking beforehand, and b) avoid the most common highways like I-95, especially during rush hour.

Try using MD295, which is truck-free, or if you’re coming from a western suburb like Ellicott City, try using the six-lane U.S. Route 29 highway to I-95/495, and then to MD 295. Route 29 is less congested than I-95 and can save you some aggravation.

Those are three of the better ways to get to Nationals Park from Baltimore; if you want to know about avoiding the hefty Nationals parking fees, check out this post.

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I remember, when Camden Yards first opened, reading in brochures that the Orioles offered a ballpark tour. I remember thinking that it didn’t seem like something I’d be interested in, because at the ballpark I want to see a game. A pitching matchup. Home runs. Stolen bases. Extra innings. If you can’t root for the home team while eating peanuts and crackerjack, then why go to the ballpark?

The logo that preceded Camden Yards.

But for the purposes of what I do helping baseball fans, I decided some time ago that ballpark tours would be helpful; I could get some great photos, have access to places I normally can’t afford, and maybe even learn a thing or two, and get any questions answered that I might have.

The first ballpark I took a tour of was Fenway Park in Boston. My wonderful wife Suzanne had given me Red Sox tickets for my birthday, the best birthday gift ever, and on our trip I convinced her to take the tour with me for the aforementioned reasons.

The Fenway Park tour starts in the Team Shop on Yawkey Way, where the tour guide starts off by asking if there are any Yankees fans in the group. Inevitably there are and they will, of course, proudly declare themselves, to which the guide will respond, “Okay, I’ll talk very slow for you.” And the tour continues in that vein, with the guide taking humorous shots at the Yankees throughout.

As I said, I didn’t think I’d consider a ballpark tour all that much fun. And I was totally wrong. The Fenway tour got me addicted to ballpark tours, and I take the tour whenever I can on baseball road trips. You learn about the ballpark’s history, stories of historic events that have happened there, and how certain parts of the ballpark like the Green Monster came to be. You get to see the field from several angles, often including the press box or the suites.

Most times you can sit in the home team’s dugout (I don’t know why that’s such an essential part of almost every ballpark tour, it’s not a big deal to me, but people love it). The tour guide will inevitably give people in the group a chance to show off their knowledge of baseball…and often little kids will answer their questions.

Fenway quiet and peaceful, as it is rarely seen.

But here’s the best part of a ballpark tour, something I never gave much thought to before doing it: you get to see a baseball field in the morning. I know that doesn’t sound exciting, but there’s a wonderful peaceful charm to it, especially on a bright summer morning. It’s quiet. Grass is getting watered or mowed. Maybe a fence is being repaired in the outfield.

You think about what goes on behind the scenes and start to realize that hundreds of people put in thousands of hours of work to prepare the ballpark for the madhouse it’s going to become that evening. There is something about being in a ballpark in the morning that appeals to the types that hear voices telling them to build a baseball diamond in their cornfield.

Since Fenway I’ve toured a total of…let me get my slippers off here…fourteen ballparks. Of them the Wrigley tour may have been the most entertaining, simply because there is so much history and so much that people don’t know, and you get to sit in the bleachers. But all the tours are fun; PNC Park in Pittsburgh and Miller Park in Milwaukee were especially neat and full of stopping points.

At Progressive Field in Cleveland, and later at Nationals Park in D.C., I had the good fortune of being the only person taking the tour at that time, and I had a very enjoyable time talking with the tour guide. It’s nice when you can move at your own pace.

Going to a ballpark for a game, of course, is one of life’s greatest pleasures at any age. But going for a ballpark tour on a beautiful summer morning is a wonderful experience in its own way, and I highly recommend it, especially if you’re visiting a ballpark in another city.

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Since I’ve started researching everything there is to know about various baseball venues in the quest to help the non-affluent baseball fan, I’ve learned a lot. Some things have saved me money, some things have saved me time, and some things have saved me a lot of aggravation.

Even I still don’t always get it right going to a game, but I’ve definitely learned to avoid certain pitfalls. Here’s a list of four mistakes I used to make in my misspent youth…

Just in case your search engine is busted.

Baseball Fan Mistake #1: Buying tickets from the team website. By itself, this isn’t always the worst thing to do. Many teams, like the Brewers and Nationals, offer pretty good ticket deals on their websites, and buying from the team at face value can be your best option for a high demand game.

But over the years I could have saved a TON of money by exploring all of the other options…like StubHub, eBay and other third parties, checking to see if there are sites like Travelzoo that offer deals, or simply buying from the team box office. I can easily stop at the box office in Philly since it’s close; most games aren’t sold out and you can find some seats on game day and pay the ticket without the obnoxious fees. Game day ticket sales are very popular at Fenway in Boston too.

On third party sites like StubHub, you can choose the exact section you want to sit and see what is available and the pricing. Teams are getting better at this, though. Many teams have seating maps that show the exact seats that are available, which is even better than StubHub. Remember though, you’re still paying the ticket fees.

12 minutes to Fenway by foot. If you walk hastily.

Baseball Fan Mistake #2: Not looking into all my transportation options. Just driving to the ballpark and hoping to find a good parking spot is not a great strategy, and will likely result in your fuming at both the traffic and the cost of parking. I have had many a ballgame experience at least temporarily marred by this frustration, especially when visiting a ballpark for the first time.

I used to be able to tolerate the traffic in downtown Baltimore when I was able to park in a garage for $5, but since they’re nowhere near that cheap anymore, I just use the Light Rail if I’m by myself and park for free in Lutherville. With other people, I’ll use an app to get it done.

In my first visit to Comerica Park in Detroit, I paid $20 to park almost at the front door, because I was concerned about leaving my car too far away in Detroit. This was 2001 money, so $20 was a lot to park. In my second visit a year later, I accidentally stumbled on a cool tip, parking at the Fox Theatre garage much earlier in the day and paying just $2 for the whole night. And it was just a few steps further away. (It’s $5 today, if you get there early enough.)

I drove my car to Citi Field once too. Once.

Not just pizza. Grandma Joan pizza!

Baseball Fan Mistake #3: Just getting a hot dog at the game. OK, maybe that’s not really a mistake. Nowhere does a hot dog taste better. But until researching Citizens Bank Park…and this is my home ballpark…I didn’t know about the roast pork and provolone from Tony Luke’s, the Campo’s Heater sandwich, the Schmitter, or the Bull Dog from Bull’s BBQ. Seriously. And I wouldn’t have a clue what Federal Donuts was. Talk about missing out.

Nowadays every ballpark has so many great food choices that it’s worth checking it out beforehand and deciding what you might like. At ballpark prices, don’t just get a simple hot dog and popcorn. Next time you’re at Citi Field, try Josh Capon’s Bash Burger. Or the garlic fries at Yankee Stadium. Don’t leave PNC Park in Pittsburgh without trying a Primanti Bros. sandwich with fries and slaw piled on. And a Ben’s Chili Half-Smoke at Nationals Park is worth the price of a Nats game ticket.

I’ll take one wing please.

Baseball Fan Mistake #4: Not knowing about the local scene. For years I bought one beer at Camden Yards because I didn’t want to (and still don’t) pay ballpark prices for beer. I literally did not know that I could knock down a couple of cheap Natty Bohs across the street at Slider’s before the game. I made two visits to Cincinnati to see Reds games without having any clue about the restaurants and nightlife across the river in Newport. There’s a great bunch of eateries near E. 4th Street in Cleveland, just a short walk from Progressive Field.

And would you believe I didn’t even notice the tailgating party in my first trip to Miller Park in Milwaukee? Nor did I know about the large number of taverns that would have given me a ride to the game.

Knowing what I know now, I suppose it’s a testament to how much of a baseball fan I am that I enjoyed the games anyway. Dad taught me well.

But it’s so much better now that I know what I’m doing. That’s why I’ve shared the tips I’ve learned!

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Eu conheci o Joe Vogel em 12 de Junho de 2016, enquanto me encontrava com um amigo e companheiro de viagem Dan Davies e o seu grupo de amigos viajantes que me convidaram para ir com eles para Pittsburgh.

Estava um dia perfeito no maravilhoso PNC Park enquanto os Pirates se preparavam para uma batalha de fim de tarde contra os Cardinals.

Naquele dia, porém, beisebol não era a única coisa na mente dos fiéis torcedores dos Bucs.

Sidney Crosby e os Penguins estavam em San Jose naquela noite, prontos para trazer a quarta Stanley Cup para a cidade. Eles realmente fizeram isso algumas horas depois que o jogo de beisebol terminou. Uniformes, camisas e bonés dos Penguins eram vistos em grande número para uma plateia de beisebol.

Em certo ponto, durante o jogo, um jovem torcedor fez uma “zueira”: apareceu com uma Stanley Cup de papel laminado, quase em tamanho natural e passeou com ela orgulhosamente por uma seção do estádio no “right field”. Ele foi aplaudido de pé pelos que estavam assentados por ali.

Mas, apesar de ser um nativo de Pittsburgh, Joe Vogel não estava gostando nada daquilo.

Sem aviso, como se o dever o chamasse, ele salta da sua cadeira no “Right Field Cove” (uma seção específica de assentos no PNC Park) e desaparece no meio das arquibancadas. Segundos depois, ele era visto andando ali perto de onde estava o cara que carregava a taça. Para grande diversão dos seus amigos do “Cove”, Vogel passou vários minutos numa busca determinada por aquele cara que, a esta altura, já estava longe há muito tempo.

O riso na seção do Vogel aumenta à medida em que a sua busca determinada continua muito além do tempo que aquela situação merecia. Porque após várias entradas sentados com aquela figura, eles sabiam exatamente porque ele estava atrás daquele orgulhoso fã de hóquei.

Era para envergonhá-lo. Para olhar para ele com uma cara feia. Para educar aquele jovem rapaz sobre as prioridades.

Isso, porque o “Baseball Joe Vogel” vai sempre deixar claro que só o beisebol importa. Todos os outros esportes são perda de tempo.

O único torcedor que pode jogar uma bola de beisebol pela área do estádio sem enfrentar problemas.

“Baseball Joe” é surdo e mudo em função de 3 derrames debilitantes. Ele se comunica através de gestos e sinais de mão, com um pequeno teclado, ou um pequeno alfabeto num pedaço de papel dobrado.

Ele mora num apartamento no centro de Pittsburgh pertinho do PNC Park, atravessando a ponte Roberto Clemente. Beisebol, especialmente o beisebol dos Pirates, é a sua vida. E assim tem sido desde que ele era um garoto. Ele se auto proclama “o maior fã de beisebol que existe” e até agora, no meu quase meio século de existência, eu ainda não encontrei alguém tão fanático por baseball quanto Joe… nem mesmo o meu pai, que considerava ser o maior fã desse esporte.

Os Pirates o conhecem bem. Ele vez por outra joga e apanha umas bolinhas com o técnico Clint Hurdle e até mesmo o aconselha algumas vezes por e-mail. Cortesia de um time que ama a sua dedicação, ele tem ingresso de sócio torcedor e vai a todos os jogos na seção coberta para portadores de necessidades especiais que fica no campo direito, embaixo da arquibancada, pois não consegue ficar no sol durante muito tempo. Ele, talvez, seja o único torcedor no PNC Park que não liga para aquele cenário pitoresco da cidade.

Sentado com ele, é quase impossível prestar atenção ao jogo, especialmente num dia em que os rebatedores adversários começaram com tudo contra os arremessadores dos Pirates, como os Cardinals naquela noite. “Baseball Joe” é tão divertido quanto a ação em campo… constantemente conversando com espectadores ao seu modo, pacientemente se comunicando com o seu teclado ou o seu surrado pedaço de papel quando as pessoas têm dificuldade de entender os seus gestos. Ele carrega uma bola de beisebol que ele frequentemente joga para funcionários que, casualmente, a jogam de volta pra ele, conhecendo o procedimento habitual. Durante o jogo, empregados de outros times aparecem para cumprimenta-lo. Ele constantemente ganha souvenires e parece ter um suprimento sem fim de copos de refrigerante colecionáveis, um dos quais, ele dividiu comigo.

Ao longo da noite, risadas são ouvidas na seção onde estávamos tanto pelo seu conhecimento do beisebol quanto por suas duras críticas aos torcedores que não respeitavam o jogo o suficiente.

Em um certo ponto, ele me pergunta se eu gosto de algum outro esporte. Esquecendo-me do seu desdém por aquele fã de hóquei eu falei pra ele que eu gosto de NASCAR também e ele balançou a cabeça. Ele fingiu estar dirigindo um carro, depois olhou pra mim com cara brava e fez o símbolo de “vergonha” com os dedos. Depois, segurou a bola de beisebol e fez um movimento circular com o dedo. Eu, então, entendi: “Beisebol o ano todo”.

Durante toda a noite, ele nunca parou. Com o seu teclado ele mandou várias perguntas sobre beisebol pros seus amigos, como “Cite dois jogadores no Hall da Fama que tenham o mesmo primeiro e segundo nomes.” Um sabichão no grupo responde com um tom pedante como se estivesse certo da resposta: “Ken Griffey Senior and Ken Griffey Junior!”.

Enquanto o resto do grupo gargalhava, Joe sorri, vira pra mim e informa: Henry Louis Aaron and Henry Louis Gehrig, or Joseph Paul DiMaggio and Joseph Paul Torre.

Mais tarde, Dan, que levou Joe com ele e seu grupo a vários estádios da liga e ao Hall da Fama, me contou a história de ele arrasando nas enquetes feitas por lá. Se houvesse uma edição de beisebol do “Jeopardy” (jogo de perguntas e respostas muito famoso nos EUA), “Baseball Joe” ganharia de qualquer adversário.

A casa do Baseball Joe

“Baseball Joe” detém o título de ser o primeiro fã a pedir o meu autógrafo, pelo menos como um autor de livros sobre beisebol.

Num jogo dos Pirates, ele me pediu para enviar pra ele o guia digital do PNC Park autografado. Ele também me deu instruções precisas: “certifique-se de assinar com o seu nome completo, incluindo o nome do meio e o faça em ordem”, coisa que eu não estou acostumado a fazer já que a minha assinatura é um garrancho horrível. Ele é um perfeccionista, especialmente no que diz respeito ao beisebol.

Joe amou o “e-guide” do PNC PARK e delirou sobre ele num e-mail… uma medalha de honra pra mim… mas ele também fez algumas sugestões: falar um pouco mais sobre os assentos, incluir mais fotos nos espaços em branco e, talvez, falar um pouco mais sobre a comida e outras coisas. Ele é a primeira pessoa a reclamar comigo dizendo que não há informações SUFICIENTES num “e-guide”.

Ele tem me pedido repetidamente para enviá-lo guias sobre o Wrigley Field e o Busch Stadium in St. Louis (este último eu ainda vou escrever). Eu sempre fico feliz quando tenho plateia.

O lado oeste do Citizens Bank Park.

Alguns dias depois daquela experiência em Pitsburgh, eu me encontrei com o “Baseball Joe” e o grupo de novo, dessa vez no Citizens Bank Park, na minha cidade natal, Filadélfia. Eu arrumei pra eles um lugar para estacionar o carro de graça e me assentei com eles no andar superior na hora do jogo. Durante a noite, Joe, novamente, me manteve mais entretido do que a ação em campo.

Eu contei pra ele que eu torço pros Orioles e ele levantou os dedos. Primeiro um sete e depois um um. Eu logo saquei. A World Series de 1971. Os Pirates sobre os Orioles em sete jogos. Eu tinha três anos.

Então ele fez um “7” e um “9” com seus dedos. 1979. Os Pirates, liderados por Pops Stargell, viraram uma série que estava 3 a 1 para, mais uma vez, baterem os Orioles em sete jogos. Minha reação foi tombar a minha cabeça e fingir enxugar as lágrimas dos meus olhos, ilustrando a decepção de um pequeno torcedor dos Orioles de 11 anos. Eu não dancei NUNCA MAIS “We Are Family”, informo a ele. (Em 1979, quando os Pirates ganharam a World Series, eles se uniram, porque a mãe do técnico Chuck Tanner tinha morrido. Então, eles adotaram a música “We Are Family” do trio Sister Sledge como música tema.)

Ele acena com a cabeça, entendendo. Ele também faz o gesto de esfregar os olhos mencionando o péssimo desempenho dos Pirates por tantos anos.

Ele me pergunta qual o meu jogador preferido e, quando eu digo Cal Ripken Jr, ele rapidamente traz com o seu teclado uma estatística pra mim: “A média de aproveitamento mais baixa de um jogador com 3000 rebatidas.”

Quando eu mostro pro Joe uma foto da minha filha posando com bichos de pelúcia vestidos com uniformes de beisebol que eu trago pra ela das minhas viagens ele brevemente digita no teclado e me mostra: “Você é abençoado. Eu não tenho família.”

Eu instantaneamente me senti não só triste por ele, mas também culpado por alguma eventual insatisfação que eu sinto com a minha própria vida. Ele está certo. Eu sou muito abençoando. Eu não só tenho duas crianças lindas e saudáveis, eu ainda tenho tempo para o único esporte que importa.

O maior fã de beisebol que existe.

Muito depois que a multidão deixou o Citizens Bank Park naquela noite, “Baseball Joe” conseguiu deixar alguns funcionários sem jeito, já que resolveu sair da parte dos assentos somente depois de juntar tantos copos de refrigerantes de coleção, quanto ele podia. Dava pra ver claramente a agitação crescendo nos olhos deles enquanto eles antecipam o confronto (Ao fim de qualquer jogo nos EUA passado algum tempo, os funcionários começam a impedir que se transite ou até mesmo se permaneça dentro do estádio). Joe parece ignorar à aproximação da “polícia do estádio”, mas ele sai da área dos assentos no exato momento anterior em que o funcionário começar a ficar irritado. Ele é um expert nisso.

De volta ao hotel em que eles estavam hospedados, “Baseball Joe” e eu posamos para uma foto e ele me surpreendeu com um grande abraço! Aparentemente, eu deixei uma boa impressão. Eu fiquei feliz que ele não se chateou comigo por eu ter mostrado a ele as minhas fotos de família.

“Baseball Joe” e eu trocamos e-mail com frequência. Nos seus e-mails o assunto é quase sempre Beisebol. 24 horas por dia. 7 dias por semana. 366 dias por ano – se assegurando para não perder nem mesmo o dia extra do ano bissexto. Seus e-mails são geralmente breves, mas sempre muito atenciosos, desejando “bom feriado” para minha família e pra mim, me pedindo para mandar mais “e-guides” quando eu puder e dividindo comigo seus pensamentos sobre o destino dos Pirates. Logo depois que o time de Pittsburgh não foi para os Playoffs em 2016, ele me mandou um e-mail escrito: “Pirates eliminados – eu choro.” Por 33 anos e contando, esse fã dos Orioles sabe bem o que é isso.

Eu sempre fico feliz quando tenho notícias do “Baseball Joe”, porque sempre que eu penso nele, ele está certo. Outros esportes são perda de tempo.

E “Baseball Joe” sabe como ninguém que o nosso tempo é muito valioso para ser desperdiçado.

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Fans whose yearly vacations revolve around a baseball road trip probably know the name Joe Mock. If they don’t, they should.

Mock is the author and webmaster at Baseballparks.com, the premier website for baseball roadtrippers. He is also the author of 2001’s “Joe Mock’s Ballpark Guide”, a delightfully illustrated book about the 30 MLB parks in use at the time. He regularly contributes to USA Today’s Sports Weekly about the North American homes of baseball.

His credentials for all of this?

How about visiting all 203 of the professional ballparks currently in use – that’s major league, spring training and affiliated minor league ballparks – a total that Mock will reach when he visits Suplizio Field in Grand Junction, Colorado, this July 12th.

Yes. Two hundred and three ballparks.

Joe Mock of Baseball Parks, at the Rickwood Classic in Birmingham, Alabama.

I caught up with Joe when I heard about this milestone, and he was kind enough to share with me his thoughts about the feat and how the journey started.

“About 20 years ago, I got the crazy notion that I’d like to see how many different ballparks I could visit in one season,” he remembers. “My first year of trying I was overjoyed when I got to ten ballparks, with the tenth being in Cleveland. At the time, I wondered if I’d ever be able to reach such a lofty perch again, because ten seemed like so many.”

Visiting all 203 wasn’t initially his goal, “but as I kept knocking them off, I kept getting closer. Along the way, I achieved the objective of seeing games in all 30 MLB parks. That happened in 2001, when I went to the Metrodome in Minneapolis.” (note from Kurt: yes, Joe has been to Target Field.)

Over time, his touring pace increased. Significantly. Imagine visiting 47 ballparks in one season – and calling it a down year. That was Mock in 2009, when he was challenged with two new venues in New York City, three new spring training facilities, new ballparks in Gwinnett, Columbus, Fort Wayne, Reno, and Bowling Green, and two significantly renovated baseball stadiums.

By this point, with a ballpark book and website in his name, plus dozens of ballpark-related projects – like publishing a poster – visiting new venues and sharing his insights about them had become his norm.

Joe Mock’s website is full of detailed reviews of dozens of ballparks. In each, he describes the ballpark’s setting and design, along with his likes and dislikes, all from the perspective of a dedicated fan of both baseball and its architecture.

After scrutinizing over 300 ballparks (the larger total includes non-affiliated and college ballparks), including venues that have now been replaced, he’s come to the conclusion that there are two things he likes to see in a park.

“First, I want to see something different,” he points out. “In the 1990s, the vast majority of new minor league parks looked the same. Most looked like you could lift them up and drop them in another market, and it wouldn’t have made any difference. That’s why one park of that era, the one in Altoona, has always stood out to me. It was very distinctive and picked up on the area’s fascinating railroad history.”

Which brings Mock to his second most-desired ballpark attribute, which in some ways is related to the first. “I want the park to have a ‘sense of place,’ so that it looks like it belongs in its city. I want it to have the appearance that it couldn’t have been built anywhere other than where it is.

“PNC Park in Pittsburgh is an obvious example of this. In the minors, Altoona, North Little Rock, Corpus Christi and Stockton have always struck me as really belonging where they were built. With the exception of Altoona, the whole Eastern League looks like any park could’ve been built in any of its markets.”

Needless to say, he has his favorites and not-so-favorites. Tops on his list is Wrigley Field in Chicago — a structure that Mock, who isn’t afraid to use a touch of exaggeration occasionally, calls “the greatest structure ever built by man.”

Mock believes that Wrigleyville, the neighborhood that surrounds the Cubs’ beloved home, “certainly offers the greatest setting in sports. The structure itself is stately and the sense of history is overwhelming. I truly love every visit I’ve ever made there, and I’ve been there plenty of times, almost freezing to death at several early-season games.”

He is conflicted, of course, about the planned renovations there, since like many Wrigley fans, a part of him doesn’t want a single change to be made. “However, when I come to my senses, I realize that a baseball franchise has to make money, and the ad signs and video screen will provide revenue streams that other teams have had for years, and the Cubs haven’t.

“And if that revenue helps keep the Cubs in Wrigley for another couple of decades, then that’s good enough for me,” he added emphatically.

While he doesn’t often get an argument over his opinion of Wrigley’s greatness, Mock has gotten occasional grief from website visitors over his rankings of other ballparks. One example was his favorable piece about the new Marlins Park in Miami, which was an architectural risk that didn’t go over well with some ballpark fans.

“I didn’t like its location, but its bright colors, fantastic food, liberal use of art and miraculous engineering truly make it a marvel. And it’s perfect for South Florida. Baseball fans should go to Miami to see it.

“However, mostly because folks around the country tend to hate the Marlins, their owner and their former manager (Ozzie Guillen), they couldn’t accept that the team’s ballpark is any good. Interestingly,” he adds with a chuckle, “most of the harshest criticism of me came from people who had never been to Miami.”

Mock, of course, is happy to entertain the opinions of his readers, providing comment sections at the end of his reviews. And he does engage dissenters, thoughtfully and respectfully. After all, talking about visiting ballparks is the next best thing to doing it.

To visit upwards of 50-60 baseball cathedrals a year is indeed a challenge, especially when it’s not a full-time job.

“It helps that I never lose my motivation to travel long distances to visit baseball facilities. Once I realized how passionate baseball fans are about parks, it gave me even more incentive to visit and report on them.

“Truly, if there is a ballpark I want to see, I find a way to make it happen – like Grand Junction, for instance. Sometimes, it just takes me a while to work a place in.”

Many of his readers don’t realize it, but ballpark chasing isn’t his primary job. “I operate an agency that deals with health insurance, and I have clients all around the country. Therefore, some of my travel to see ballparks is actually part of my day job, while frequent flyer miles accumulated doing the business travel help get me to ballpark destinations later on.”

It also helps that his website is successful. “By no means does this (the frequent-flyer miles) cover all of the costs, but I’ve been fortunate that my freelance writing has generated revenue that I then spend on going to more ballparks. Also, Baseballparks.com has gotten more and more popular, and ads that appear on it add to the incoming revenue.

“I don’t do all of this ballpark visiting because it’s my job to do it, because it isn’t. I do it because I really love visiting and assessing ballparks.”

Having visited all of the ballparks currently in use is a remarkable achievement indeed — and it’s a reflection of just how much we baseball fans love the game. To all of us, nothing beats seeing it live with a favorite local sandwich sitting in our laps. (Joe’s favorite concession stand, by the way, is Turkey Mike’s BBQ in San Jose.) It’s hard to imagine that Joe Mock would have any plans to slow down – and he doesn’t.

“I will continue to go to every new ballpark as soon as it opens,” he predicts. “And soon thereafter, readers can expect an in-depth review of the park along with dozens of photos. I’ll also continue to provide updates on all of the ballpark news of the day, on my site and via Twitter. And as long as the USA Today sports editors keep wanting me to write ballpark-related pieces for their publications, I’ll gladly take on their assignments.”

While it’s true that only a handful of brand-new baseball palaces open each year – except in the aberration of 2009 as Mock reiterates – the changes made to existing venues never stop.

“The ballpark renovations will continue to keep me running around to see all of them, and when the changes are major enough, I will do an in-depth review of them for my readers.”

So while having seen all of the 203 current parks is truly impressive, Joe reflects that “the fun is in the chase more than the achievement of the goal. I’ve truly had a blast along the way, and met a lot of outstanding people. Some of my best friends today are guys I met at ballparks.”

People who, no doubt, were fascinated by the depth of Mock’s baseball travels. And probably a little envious, too.

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I deliberately haven’t put information on how to save money on souvenirs in Ballpark E-Guides. I may mention what ballparks have an outside vendor scene, where a fan can buy cheaper T-shirts or caps or pennants. But for the most part I don’t go beyond recommending against buying anything in the team shop. Rarely will you find the best deal there.

But since Mike Gagliardi of “Garris and Gagz” informed me that the my Yankee Stadium info is lacking in souvenir buying options—which I can’t argue—I thought I would offer three tips on how to acquire your mementos without shelling out a nice meal’s worth of money.

So here we go:

Here’s the best part: you’ll have a shirt to wear to the block party!

Save Money On Souvenirs, Tip #1) Use Giveaway Nights. The team website is your best friend when it comes to getting a cap or T-shirt. Every team has a promotional schedule in the “Schedule” section of the website. There are always giveaways of T-shirts, caps, bobbleheads, tote bags, whatever. The Cubs actually give away gloves for those early months in Chicago.

The best part is that very often giveaway nights include a souvenir because they’re typically not the kind of night that fills the ballpark. Many teams have things like “T-Shirt Tuesdays”, largely because Tuesday isn’t a great attendance night for most of them. So not only do you get a free team lunch box, you can often get tickets very cheaply for that game. On two occasions I took advantage of my free Orioles birthday ticket on T-shirt nights.

An Orioles game and a T-shirt absolutely free. And they say baseball isn’t affordable.

I’m just here for the gear.

Save Money On Souvenirs, Tip #2) Find a Local Sporting Goods Store. If you’re looking for a T-shirt, cap, jersey or other gear especially, you can pull up a map and dig up the nearest Modell’s or Sports Authority, or even a Walmart for that matter, and in those stores you can find these things far cheaper than in the ballpark.

As common as such stores are, if you’re visiting a city you shouldn’t have any problem finding one, and it’s usually worth the side trip to get a T-shirt for $12 instead of $30 in the ballpark. The only drawback is that the selection might not be as good. If you’re looking for selection, try one of the touristy areas of the city, e.g. St. Louis Union Station or Underground Atlanta, and see if any stores there have what you’re looking for. It might be a little more, but still cheaper than at the game.

Help your fellow man and win prizes. Win-win!

Save Money On Souvenirs, Tip #3) Volunteer For A Team Function. This is a lesser known option but is a great way to score T-shirts, autographed memorabilia, even tickets with some teams. In the Community section of each team’s website, there are usually functions like a 5K run or a blood drive that includes gifts for participants. Teams with troubles at the gate, like the Pirates, will even throw in tickets for people giving their time.

Plus you’re helping out the community and making the team look good, and at least one of those two things is worth it on its own.

So there you go; three ways to save money on souvenirs at the ballpark. Perhaps I should start including these tips in Ballpark E-Guides…but I’ll try to come up with some more deals before I do so.

If you are the proud possessor of a gluten allergy, you might think it’s next to impossible to eat gluten-free at the ballpark. But fortunately, that is not the case anymore.

The MENU is there. You have to look harder for the food.

Because my wife is afflicted with celiac disease, it makes finding food at any recreational event somewhat difficult. Obviously the classic hot dog with the bun is out, as is pizza, soft pretzels (in most cases), pretty much most of the menu—and perhaps most sadly, beer, although that is a big money-saver.

Fortunately, baseball teams are far more customer-oriented these days. Teams are not only expanding their menus in a big way, they are also going above and beyond to accommodate people with needs: peanut-free suites, vegetarian and kosher items, and yes, gluten-free selections.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t prepare for a day at the ballpark, so here’s a few things you should do before you go.

It’s amazing how much stuff can be had without wheat.

1) Gluten-Free at The Ballpark Tip #1: Visit the Team Website. Many teams will tell you what foods are available at the ballpark for vegetarians and celiacs; some teams will even have a stand dedicated to serving gluten-free items only. The Red Sox, Phillies, Mets, Braves, Rays, Yankees and Nationals all have stand alone concession stands for celiacs, with things like dogs or BBQ sandwiches on gluten-free buns, gluten-free cupcakes or brownies, pizza sometimes, nuts and other snacks, and Redbridge or another brand of gluten-free beer.

In the ballpark section of the website, there’s usually an Amenities Map. This will tell you the location and items sold at each concession stand; if they don’t have a stand for gluten-free items they might have some items at their regular concession kiosks.

If you don’t see any of this information, it doesn’t hurt to e-mail the team and ask them what they can do for you. Usually they’ll get back to you with all the information you need; it’s highly probable they’ve heard the question before.

From Turner Field. Wife was able to enjoy a ballpark dog.

2) Gluten-Free at The Ballpark Tip #2: Bring Your Own. It’s not much of a secret anymore that you can bring your own food into the ballpark, so it’s no problem to bring a small bag of Cheetos, Rice Chex, peanuts or anything else your stomach will allow you to legally snack on. You can’t bring alcohol, but at most ballparks you can bring in sealed drinks.

This is an especially nice thing at a place that doesn’t have a dedicated stand for celiacs; you can bring in your own hot dog roll and ask for that footlong dog without the bun.

I feel better already!

3) Gluten-Free at The Ballpark Tip #3: Watch for Awareness Nights. I’m seeing this more and more these days—Celiac Disease Awareness Night at the ballpark. It usually just means they’ll tell you where the gluten-free food is, and you might get a discount on tickets. If you sign up for the team’s ticket alert newsletter, they’ll let you know when it’s coming. I know the Phillies and Mets do this, and I’m sure they’re not the only ones.

Didn’t have enough chalk for the gluten-free specials.

4) Gluten-Free at The Ballpark Tip #4: If All Else Fails… You can always try the ballpark restaurant for a meal before or after the game. Most all ballparks have a restaurant attached these days, and they’re often part of a chain that should have at least some experience in serving folks with allergies…Miller Park in Milwaukee has a TGI Friday’s, Yankee Stadium has a Hard Rock Café, and Comerica Park in Detroit has the Beer Hall and Corner Tap Room attached. Most times you can enter and exit the restaurant without having to leave the ballpark.

The ballpark restaurant is much more likely to be able to accommodate your allergy needs, since they’re serving different kinds of food all day long. If you can’t go for a burger without the bun, there will probably be nachos, chili, chicken salads, and a selections of other things that should be safe.

So there’s four tips that should make going gluten-free at the ballpark much easier on you, since it’s awful tough to enjoy the game without at least a hot dog. Teams are great about this these days, so the ballpark is at least one place where you shouldn’t have to worry about what to eat.

Finding healthy food at the ballpark isn’t easy. The multitudes of food offerings at ballparks, often celebrating local flavor, are wonderful but can be overwhelmingly tempting, especially when one knows they’ll be doing some walking off of the calories.

Despite what I do here, I’m not at as many ballgames as people think. And since I make an effort to eat healthy most of the time, when I’m at the game I usually think it will be okay to have a dog or two and maybe one of the popular sandwiches or fries at the ballpark. I love a good Federal Donut or AJ Bombers Burger, so I’ll park farther away if that helps me walk it off.

Well, someone’s gotta eat it.

But daily sustenance of this kind probably isn’t a wise choice (or an economical one, for that matter) for someone with season tickets, or for someone who is on a baseball tour and needs to stay sharp and not get sick before they point their car at the next ballpark.

So just so you have an idea, I’ve provided some tips to help you keep it healthy when you’re cheering on your heroes at your or another ballpark.

If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

Healthy Food at the Ballpark, Tip #1) Look At The Menu. All teams now feature “concession maps” on their websites; these maps will not only help you find food stands, they’ll also let you know what’s offered at each of these stands. In most cases, you can find veggie dogs or veggie burgers, and you can find out where they’re handing out smaller (and cheaper) portions for the kids. They even list the drinks, and you may find a spot where something like juice is available as opposed to beer or soda.

The underrated star food item.

Healthy Food at the Ballpark, Tip #2) Seek Out The Deli. Most ballparks have something of a delicatessen-style concession stand—there’s the Boar’s Head Deli in Yankee Stadium, the East-West Delicatessen at Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay, or the popular Mama’s of Corona at Citi Field in New York. Most of these places will offer either a vegetarian sandwich of some kind or a wrap version of whatever sandwich they make. Sometimes both.

Two bags of peanuts were sitting on the table, and one was a-salted.

Healthy Food at the Ballpark, Tip #3) Bring Your Own. As you certainly know if you’ve bought a Ballpark E-Guide, most all ballparks will let you bring in a bag of goodies of some kind. It’s a given that you can bring in trail mix (which is the S&M of snack food in my opinion, but some people like it) or fruit or another healthy snack.

There’s usually some eateries near the ballpark, or at least near a train station you might be using, that can sell you a healthier sandwich than what is available inside. Yankee Stadium in New York, Wrigley Field in Chicago, Comerica Park in Detroit, and Progressive Field in Cleveland among several others all have Subway stores within a short walk of the ballpark (a few ballparks have Subways inside as well, but don’t pay those prices if you don’t have to).

Should it be “All you care to eat”?

Healthy Food at the Ballpark, Tip #4) Avoid All You Can Eat Seats. This probably goes without saying. I don’t care that at some ballparks, like PNC Park in Pittsburgh, salad is one of the all you can eat offerings. To have unlimited access to possibly uncooked hot dogs, burgers, heavily buttered popcorn and nachos with that thick mystery liquid they call “cheese sauce” is asking for a stomach that will be very angry with you, and a lot of calories that you aren’t going to walk off heading back to your car unless you parked in a rival city.

It’ll get packed once the vegan burger is added to the menu.

Healthy Food at the Ballpark, Tip #5) Try The Ballpark Restaurant. Instead of buying a hot dog and some nachos and sitting them on your lap or on a counter where they risk bird droppings, try one of the sit-down restaurants that all ballparks have today. Yankee Stadium has a Hard Rock Café and NYY Steak; Miller Park in Milwaukee has a TGI Fridays; Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia and Citi Field in New York both have a McFadden’s. Most of the in-ballpark eateries aren’t likely to be much more expensive than you’d expect at a typical restaurant, and with a full menu of choices in front of you, you can order a chicken sandwich and some vegetarian chili before the game, making that cheesesteak far less tempting later.

That’s five tips that should help you the next time you’re at the game and thinking that maybe you should back off of the two-foot chili and cheese dog or the loaded Old Bay extra salty fries. Those things might be okay as an occasional indulgence, but they won’t help your chances of winning a triathlon.

$219.53.

That’s how much it cost a family of four to see a major league baseball game in 2016, according to the MLB Fan Cost Index.

Are you planning to see one, two, or ten live baseball games this season? Do you want to know ways to slash that ridiculous total, AND find a great seat, parking spot, and a tasty sandwich at the game?

Or would you rather keep paying more than you have to?

Click here to spend less and enjoy more at the ballpark.

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Few things were funnier than my father’s occasional profanity-laden philosophy.

Before baseball’s last collective bargaining agreement, I asked him if he would quit watching if the players went on strike again. Like everyone else, he was angry as hell about 1994 and once said to me that he wouldn’t care if he never saw another millionaire play baseball again.

But this time he said, “You know Kurt, I’ve been thinking about that. In life you have to give up s***. I gave up smoking, I gave up drinking, I even gave up ice cream, and you know what, it’s tough giving up ice cream! F*** it, man, I’m tired of quittin’ s***!”

My dad believed that we should spend our short time here being happy, and nothing made him happier than baseball.

I remember way back when cable television first appeared, and one channel just showed line scores of progressing games throughout the league every night. It was the equivalent of just staring at the out-of-town scoreboard at a ballpark. He’d leave that channel on all night if he couldn’t find anything else to watch, and it was just fine with him.

Later I couldn’t count how many times he told me how much his own father would have loved the baseball packages that today enable fans to watch any game around the league. I never doubted that, because Dad sure loved it. He’d sit in his chair, keep score of two games a night and be happy as a clam.

Dad was baseball smart enough that his fantasy team won him $400 one season. Most years, though, his teams were hobbled by injuries. It drove him nuts. In our phone conversations he would spew his frustration: “You aren’t gonna believe this Kurt, this is beautiful!” And then he’d list his dozen or so stars that were on the DL. Sure enough, when they healed, his team would climb up the standings, but often too little too late.

I really believe he might have made a decent GM. Two seasons in a row he predicted the World Series winner in July.

In 2003 he declared the Marlins to be the team and didn’t blink twice when Josh Beckett shut down the Yankees in Game Six of the Series. He probably wasn’t the slightest bit surprised at the Cubs’ collapse in the Bartman game, either.

The following July he went out on a limb, defied the baseball gods and picked the Red Sox.

Back then I bought into the Curse—not so much because I really believed it existed, but because so many people did that it affected players and managers on the field.

Take the 2003 ALCS (please), when Red Sox manager Grady Little was too paralyzed to notice that the Yankees were pounding everything Pedro Martinez was throwing, and the Sox lost a game they should have easily won. I e-mailed Dad the next day and said “it ain’t the Curse of the Bambino, it’s the Curse of the Bad Manager!”

He agreed, adding that the confusing part was that he’d been bitching all year to his girlfriend Carole…who wouldn’t have had a clue what he was talking about…that all year long Grady spent games changing pitchers until he found one the other team could hit.

So when he picked the Red Sox, I said “OK, talk to me in November.” On October 28, 2004, the day after the Red Sox won the World Series for the first time in 86 years, Dad sent me this e-mail:

Hey Kurt—

Remember when I picked the Red Sox to win the World Series and you said “Talk to me in November?”

I can wait until Monday.

Love,
Pop

Despite the dig, I was duly impressed. His streak ended in 2005 though; he picked the Braves.

Not long ago Dad told me that he’s in trouble if God is a Yankees fan. His father was a Red Sox fan who used to root for the Yankees’ plane to crash. My father grew up a Yankees fan who idolized Mickey Mantle. Somehow the two still spoke to each other.

In his thirties Dad outgrew his misguided support of the Evil Empire and became an Orioles fan, while the Smiths lived in Towson just minutes away from Memorial Stadium. With the switch he raised a family of loyal O’s fans, who by definition despise the Yankees.

But after about ten years of Peter Angelos, Dad had had enough and switched his allegiance again…reaching the legal limit for one lifetime…this time to the Red Sox, his father’s team. He may have played a part in breaking that Curse. After all, he believed in the Red Sox in 2004. Maybe that was all it took.

During the mini-uproar when Derek Jeter was busted pretending to be hit by a pitch, my father shared with me something his father once told him: “Bill, ain’t none of them Yankees are any damn good.” He added, “You know what, Kurt? He was right.”

Dad possessed a typical Red Sox fan’s attitude toward the Yankees, but he especially disliked Derek Jeter…and the obligatory gushing press towards the Yankee great. He never bought into the Jeter Is God mentality, ever, never missing a chance to point out how overrated a fielder he was, and always letting me know when “the greatest player ever hit another 200-foot pop-up over that bull**** right field fence in Yankee Stadium again!”

That was Dad. He loved the game of baseball and especially loved going against conventional wisdom. He knew that Cole Hamels was the real ace on the Phils; that Rick Ankiel’s switch from being a pitcher to an outfielder was far more historic than the press it got; that Tony La Russa was overrated as a manager and that the American League was always superior. In June of last season, he dismissed the Yankees’ strong start and assured me they wouldn’t make the playoffs. He was right about that, too.

Dad could forgive you for not knowing the game like he did, so long as baseball knowledge wasn’t part of your job description. His disdain for the Philadelphia sports media was legendary. He had no patience at all for WIP hosts or Inquirer writers—people who were somehow paid to cover baseball while knowing so little. Throughout the season Dad could always tell you what was really going on with the Phillies or any other team, and if you gave a hint of parroting something Angelo Cataldi said, he would dedicate the next few minutes of his life to making sure you never did it again.

He would have been great on the radio, especially in Philly. Whether he was talking baseball, politics or anything else, Dad didn’t have a PC bone in his body.

For those who knew him well, it was one of the most endearing things about him. His notorious cantankerousness effectively masked a sensitivity that could melt the coldest of hearts. No one who dared argue baseball with him would ever believe it, but he really was a sweet, generous, kind-hearted man. Carole, his children, and his closest friends all knew that.

I’m not going to just miss my father. I’m also going to miss the most knowledgeable and dedicated baseball fan I ever knew.

Welcome to heaven, Dad. Go give those lazy sportswriters hell, if there are any.

William D. Smith 1939-2014.

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People often come up to me and matter-of-factly ask, “Kurt, I’ve been thinking of buying baseball tickets on Craigslist. But should I? Can that medium be trusted?”

They don’t say WHICH signs…

Sports fans love to tell the story of the great deal they scored on tickets once…be it through a scalper, great timing on StubHub, a classified ad, whatever. We love it. It makes us feel so much smarter than the suckers who paid three times the price for the same seats.

Frequently when I am poring through ballpark reviews, one or two folks will talk about getting their tickets on Craigslist, and saving a bundle of cash.

In case you’ve never used it, Craigslist is a website that falls somewhere between eBay and newspaper classifieds. It’s people trying to sell stuff they can’t use to people who can. Sports and concert tickets are routinely sold there, probably in the millions.

I did some research on the deals available for baseball tickets on Craigslist, by looking into what was available for the Phillies Opening Day game last year.

Exclusively for millionaires and Craigslist members.

I saw Diamond Club seats in Section C, Row 9, being sold from a season ticket holder, for $395 apiece; seats in Row 7 of the same Section went for $849 on StubHub (that StubHub figure, in my opinion, is ridiculously inflated, and it will probably come down if no suckers are found).

Another person had four tickets going for $125 apiece in Section 116; similar tickets on StubHub were $237—this person said they were willing to meet close to their house to deliver the tickets.

So if these people are legit, then indeed there are some great deals to be had for baseball tickets on Craigslist. Sellers and buyers also avoid the fees associated with brokers, which drops the prices, especially on high end tickets.

The catch is that unlike with official brokers like StubHub, there are no guarantees to protect you from being scammed, and you don’t have to look very hard for stories about people being taken to the tune of hundreds of dollars buying very authentic-looking tickets.

Check the date…check the date…

In those stories, I’ve noticed that you’ll often read a quote from someone who works for Ticketmaster or another broker, preaching about the dangers of buying tickets on Craigslist. When the Yankees started their own Ticket Exchange, they tried selling the public on the dangers of StubHub.

I didn’t read a lot of articles about Craigslist victims, but the stories I did read made the problem seem a lot bigger than it probably is. One story mentioned a Patriots game where 50 people were turned away with fake tickets. When you think about it, that number is small enough that one clever scammer could have nailed all of them. And that story, incidentally, almost blatantly plugged the “official” NFL Ticket Exchange, even linking to it. Have a look here.

So should you risk Craigslist? I’ve never tried it, but there are ways to minimize the risk. Craigslist advises meeting with the seller in person, in a public place, and they say this will help you avoid 99% of the scams. A blogger added to this…get the person’s phone number, license plate number, any info you can. And bring someone with you, since you’re meeting with a stranger that knows you are carrying cash.

“Authorized” meaning “more expensive”.

Now, if the seller is a season ticket holder, you can verify that with the team. Teams have accounts and information about their best customers and you can ask them if the person you’re dealing with is a legit season ticket holder. You can also ask the seller what other games they’d have. There are ways to flush people out.

Look at the tickets carefully and don’t buy them if your gut tells you something is wrong. Check the date and the opponent. It’s not difficult to produce excellent counterfeits these days, but smudged ink, shoddy paper, or scissor marks are easy to spot. Be especially wary with high demand games, like playoff or Opening Day games.

For the most part, I’m guessing most folks on Craigslist are legitimate, and you can always do some investigation on the seller, especially if they are season ticket holders.

The rules for buying baseball tickets on Craigslist, in my opinion, would be the same as patronizing scalpers, which I’ve done a few times. Use your best judgment, and accept the possibility that you could get ripped off. If it’s happened to you, feel free to air me out and I’ll update this.

If you find the right seller, you might have a great story to tell about the deal you got on Opening Day tickets.

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