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On a whim last night we loaded the girls in the car and went to see a Long Island Ducks game. The temperature was perfect. Not too hot, not too cold. The Ducks were playing the Bridgeport Bluefish. This is not a farm team but part of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball which means that you can see some players at the beginning of their careers and at the end of their careers and a few in the middle. The major league scouts do come to the ballpark and check out the players. A number have found themselves in the major leagues because they played in the Atlantic League.

In last night's players we got to watch Peter Rose Jr. play as well as Edgardo Alfonzo (some of you may remember him from the Mets). We found out that the Ducks were short relievers because a ball club in Japan and one in Korea scooped up two of their pitchers. Rose did a good job at first base and Alfonzo's can still bat with the best but with rather lousy pitching and some goofy fielding, the Ducks lost 12 to 5.

We still had fun. There was another little girl about Caroline's age sitting next to us. The two of them played from before the game well into the 7th inning when the little girl had to go home. So with Caroline amused, it was much easier to watch the game. And cheaper too, we didn't have to take a second mortgage out on the house to buy dinner for a family of four like you have to do at a Mets game. We had tickets 7 rows behind home plate at $10.00 a ticket. You could hear the umpire's calls and the ball hitting the glove or the bat or the ground without any sound augmentation. This is baseball the way that baseball was meant to be seen and we had a lot of fun doing so.

I am grateful that we went to see the game last night even if the Ducks lost.

I know how you feel

Date: 2007-06-06 04:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lyonessnyc.livejournal.com
I got my first introduction to minor-league baseball (I know, Atlantic League isn't minor league, but the feeling is the same) a few years ago. I loved it too -- it felt *real*. In between innings, they'd do trivia contests or other games with fans, and the whole feeling was just, well, small-town and comfy. Sounds like a lovely time out with the family. :)

It's horrifying how much food costs at Shea Stadium. My volunteer EMS squad works those games so I get in for free when I'm working, but still, I see how much people spend and it's appalling.

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