Minor League Baseball

For all the things you may complain about in America, there's one thing we do right—minor league baseball. For part of my birthday weekend last week, we went to a Salem Red Sox game. There was a 100% chance of rain, but we decided to give it a go anyhow. We parked insanely close to the stadium:

And bought our tickets for the Red Sox vs. the Potomac Nationals without standing in line and for close to the price of a movie:

Despite the last minute ticket purchase, we were able to get seats near third base right over the home team's dugout. (That would never happen at a major league game!) And oh, what a view of the mountains beyond!

We were optimistic. Here's Stan:

It was a beautiful little stadium. That's what I love about minor leagues, the stadiums are so intimate. We ended up sitting just outside the netted area. And with the way the balls went into the stands during the game, we may rethink our seats next time.

There was a small rain delay, but soon the game was underway:

What a wonderful relaxing time as Stan taught me the tradition of "Mound ball" and taught me what "Park it!" means. It was "Harry Potter" night, so the game promoters were all in costume. The music was the soundtrack from the movies. And they hid 'snitches' throughout the stadium, which they gave hints for every half hour or so. It was so fun watching the kids running across the stadium (with more freedom than kids usually have these days) once they'd figured out what the clue meant. Buying popcorn, Cracker Jacks and cider were easy - again, no lines. We were having so much fun!

The rain finally did come, right as the fireworks show was about to start. (They do fireworks for every Friday home game.) But even the rain was fun. The fireworks were longer and more impressive than I expected. After it was over we made the short walk to the car and headed home with enormous smiles on our faces. We had experienced a bubble of American perfection. Have you been to a minor league game lately?