Yay! Baseball season has started again! And I mean minor league baseball. Although going to Fenway Park to watch the Red Sox play is a dream of mine, I was disenchanted by major league baseball years ago. I love minor league baseball and am so lucky to have two teams that play within ten minutes of my house.

There are the Clearwater Threshers (a Phillies farm team)-

Hey, I hit it! by Greyhound Dad

and we have the Dunedin Bluejays (a Toronto Bluejays minor league team)-

#11 Doug Mientkiewicz and #3 Reed Johnson by SaCaSeA

There's a earnestness about minor league ball that I appreciate. The
players are real guys, trying their hardest, while carrying dreams of
going "to the show" someday. Their dream has to be what fuels them, not the
salary, because minor league players make diddly squat.  When you go to
a game, you're not just rooting for the collective team, you're rooting
for the individual players, hoping to see them succeed and move up in
the ranks.
I also love minor league baseball because there is no such thing as a bad seat- they're all close to the field! And cheap! I gave up on major league baseball years ago and a quick peek at current ticket prices reinforced that for me.  Here are the ticket prices for the local minor league teams-

Dunedin Bluejays:
Single Game Ticket- All seats- $6.00
20 Pack of Tickets (good anytime)- $50
Season Ticket (all 70 Home games)- $149 for adults; $35 for kids 12 and under (For real!!)

Clearwater Threshers:
Single Game Ticket: Berm (lawn) seating- $4; Field Box- $6.50; Premium Seating (behind Home Plate)- $9 (Kids 4 and under are free)
Season Ticket- $225 for any seat

Now here is the INDIVIDUAL TICKET pricing chart for the Tampa Bay Rays (the local major league team)

Oh, and according to their website, ticket prices go up beginning five hours prior to game time. And the popularity of the game determines price. Seriously?

Rather than sit in the crowded, overpriced, nosebleed section of some huge indoor dome, I'll be at the quirky stadiums that have great seats for everyone, a Tiki Bar behind the left
field fence and drawings to watch the game from behind home plate in a
La-Z Boy recliner. I'll take the small town feel of minor league games. Games families can actually afford and where the kids are made to feel a part of the action.  Games that still have a sense of purity and nostalgia and community.

To find a minor league team in your area, visit the Minor League Baseball ticket site.

Take care,
Nic