Keeping The Reins Tight….

The first pitch of the 2008-2009 Major League Baseball Season will be tossed out at 6:05am by Dice K in Tokoyo, Japan.

For those of us that can’t afford the airfare, hotel, food and ticket price to watch the game in Japan, waiting until the regular season kicks start will be rough.

Unfortunately, I’ll be stuck watching the games on TV as attending a MLB Game on American soil is a costly affair. If you’re enough to live in one of the thirty cities home to a team, the average cost of a ticket is $22.21. This is still a fraction of other average costs for other sports (NFL - $62.38, NBA - $51.02) and taking a family of four to a major league game can be a very expensive affair.

Fortunately for those of us who don’t live in Kansas City (average ticket price - $13.71), there are plenty of low cost ways to enjoy a ball game.

1. Go to a major league game and sit in the rafters - Decent Atlanta Braves tickets sell for $22 but, you can sit in the first base rafters for $6.00. Unfortunately, unless it’s Bark in the Park Day , you’ll have the section to yourself and need binoculars to watch the game.
2. Attend a minor league game - $12 for the best seats at a AAA game (Charlotte Knights), $9 gets you behind home plate for a West Tenn Diamond Jaxx’s (AA) or Myrtle Beach Pelicans (A) ball game, and $6.50 lets you sit underneath the roof at a rookie league game (Danville Braves). At at AAA game, you’ll see the parent clubs reserves team. The hottest prospects and best ball is usually played at AA.
3. Attend a college baseball game - 90 mph fastballs and metal bats, what’s not to love? College games are offensive explosions and wickedly entertaining. You can watch the #1 ranked Arizona State Sun Devils for $7.00, the #10 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks for $6.00, or for $4.00 you can watch the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs.
4. Go to summer league game - During the summer break, most college baseball players play in various summer leagues. These leagues use wooden bats and have a good mix of players from different college teams. While I don’t enjoy these games nearly as much as the metal bat college game, they’re still exciting and an excellent value. $5 is the price of admission to a Columbia Blowfish game.
5. Watch the local kids play - Most high school games have cheap ($1.00) or free admission. If that’s too much, you could always stop at the local park and watch the recreation leagues play.

Baseball teams also run all sorts of money saving promotions, the Kannapolis Intimidators have a weekly BOGO ticket night, the Birmingham Barons will let you pay the current price of gas for entry, the Nashua Pride will make you a Turkish millionaire, and on June 13th, those of you named Elliot, Kristen, Spitzer or are from New York can get a dollar off admission to a Macon Music game.

Now that the season is upon us, take a kid (for next to nothing) to a Saturday afternoon ball game.

The diehards will thank you, the game needs more young fans!

Technorati Tags: Budget, Baseball, Frugal

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