Play Ball!
Yogi Berra, baseball’s most quoted, said it best with his paradoxical contradiction, “It ain’t over, till it’s over.” According to sources, the 2015 World Serious may not be over until the first week of November and then it’ll be over. But there’s more to baseball than the 30 major league teams.
In recent years, the husband and I have begun an annual tradition by attending a minor league baseball game. To paraphrase Yogi, you ain’t seen baseball until you sit on the front row at the Kanapolis Intimidators game.
This past week Kanapolis player, John Ziznewski, hit a game winning RBI single to bring in team mate, Louis Lechich. Talk about your pythagorean theorem, there’s one for the record book. Author, Pat Conroy, said, “Baseball fans love numbers. They love to swirl them around in their mouth like wine.”
We’ve been to South Carolina to watch the Charlotte Knights who finally made it across the North Carolina border this year to play in their new stadium. The trip to see the Greenville Drive was great fun and we loved singing “Sweet Caroline” again and again. The drive got its name because there are so many local automobile related industries.
And finally this week we made it to see the Gwinnett Braves. One down and six to go as the Braves have six other farm teams including one in the Dominican Republic.
There’s always promotions at the minor league games. This week at the Mississippi Braves game in Pearl, Mississippi, ladies get free tee shirts and two 16 oz. adult beverages. Road trip. Savannah Sandgnats promotions include bring your dog to the park, thirsty Thursday and fireworks Friday. Every kind of promotion to get fans in the stands.
You might even see actor, Bill Murray, at a Charleston Riverdogs game, because he is a part owner.
Minor league games are a great way to introduce a child to one of our national past times as admission is cheap and you don’t have to walk a mile to get to the stadium. What memories you will make and maybe inspire a youngster, too.
To find out all the information you need about minor league baseball games go to www.milb.com. Yogi would approve this message as he once said, “Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too.”