As most of you know, I currently live in Asheville, NC, home of the Asheville Tourists – presently, the Colorado Rockies Class A affiliate. What some of you may not know is that one of the things the Tourists are famous for is for creating a staple used at almost all minor league ballparks across America….Thirsty Thursday.
Thirsty Thursday is essentially a cheap beer night, so it really just equates to a bunch of college kids going out to the game to get drunk. But, I decided to suck it up for you, my loyal readers (all 11 of you – it was 10, but I’ve started reading the blog to my baby boy) and head out to good ol’ McCormick Field (made famous in the final scene of Bull Durham when Crash Davis hit his record breaking home run) for the game last night. Let me just say this, as a baseball fan, I hate going to those games on Thursday nights. A few observations:
- I really can’t stand going to a game where 80% of the people there care nothing about the game. Last night was nothing more than a place for the college kids to get drunk and be seen. (And, yes, as a Cub fan, I’ve heard that misconception about Wrigley Field, but I can tell you with absolute certainty this is not true.) You had your yuppie guys in their J.Crew and Abercrombie outfits, girls in their skirts and high heels with perfect makeup, and your salesmen making phone calls all night.
- What’s even worse than the people who go and don’t care about the game, are the people that know nothing about the game, yet try to seem like they do. Here’s the situation: Greensboro runner on 2B, Tourists up by 10 runs. The batter hits a looper to CF. The CF picks up the ball and throws to 2B. The fans started booing and heckling the CF for not trying to get the out at home. Now, I realize that there are several subtle nuances to baseball that not everyone will get, but it should be common knowledge that when you have a lead of that size, you don’t worry about that runner scoring. You get the ball to 2B, so the other runner doesn’t advance into scoring position as well. Maybe I’m wrong that most people should know this. I don’t know. It was the same way with a runner on 3B and a shallow fly was hit to LF. They heckled the 3B coach for not sending the runner.
- I think this is probably just the parent in me rearing it’s ugly head, because I don’t think I would have complained about this four years ago. One of the other reasons I dislike Thursday games is the language used by the drunk so-called fans in attendance. I admit that I sometimes curse like a sailor. I do not, however, do it around my kids or other kids. The ballpark, especially the minor league ones are supposed to be family friendly. I don’t want to take my kids and have them hear a bunch of idiots cursing out the ballplayers.
- Random quote I can’t believe I overheard: This was coming from another one of the “fans” sitting behind us, talking to a friend, “We like coming to these games because there are more points scored in the minor leagues. It’s like Little League. The worse the players are, the more points are scored.” Uh…what?
All the complaining aside, minor league baseball really is a great game to watch. You can actually see players busting their tails on every play, because they want to make it to the next level. Guys run out every play, because they know anything can happen. They aren’t jogging down to 1B on a pop-fly, because they know if the OF drops the ball, they can get an extra base if they hustle. It’s refreshing after watching some of the overpaid MLB players lollygag down to 1B on a slow roller up the line, even though they might have beat it out. And for the price of admission ($7 – even cheaper than a movie now), you can’t beat it. Now that Anna and Ryan are starting to watch more baseball with me on TV (Ryan even gets upset at the end of the inning when the commercials come on) I definitely plan to take them to more games this summer.
Just not on Thursdays.
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