Minor Variations

I love baseball. It is by far my favorite sport, even more so than football: which I know is sacrosanct in this country. To me, there's no sport more enjoyable to watch when the teams are evenly matched and the game is close... or at least competitive. I was lucky enough to take in two competitive games this weekend, both of which featured relatively even matched competitors (according to records) and I have come to a conclusion.

The minor leagues are just better. Hands down. Unless you're lucky enough to be fan of one of the 4 or 5 teams that can actually compete in MLB then all baseball is these days it overpriced torture. It would be like getting a lady in steel toe high-heals to kick you in the nuts and then paying her $500 for the favor. Face it folks... Bud Selig is our Dom, and we are his subs.

On Friday night I went to the 74.3% complete Sovereign Bank Stadium in York PA. It was York vs Lancaster which is kind of a Hatfield vs McCoy thing around these parts. York got behind early on a moon-shot HR and a run in the second, but they batted around in the third inning and got great pitching down the stretch to win 5-2.

On Saturday night I went to the now 16 year old Oriole Park at Camden Yards (I know I can't believe it's been that long either) to see the O's take on the White Sox. Both teams sport almost identical records even though the Sox won the World Series a few years back with almost the same team. Chicago jumped on the O's early, and XL texted me to see if I gotten fed up and left. But the O's chipped away and tied it in the 9th off All Star Closer Bobby Jenks. The Birds then won the game in the 10th, 7-6, with a sharp single through the right side by Nick Markakis.

Here's the tale of the tape:

YORK: Win, time of game 3:03, Attendance: 4,389

Miles Driven: 12

Ticket: $8.00

Parking: $3.00

Dinner (Hamburger, Jumbo Hot dog, Bottle of soda): $9.25

Total: $20.25

.

Baltimore: Win, time: 3:45, Attendance 29,208

Miles Driven: 82

Ticket: $33.33 (I scalped 3 tickets at $100 total)

Parking: $10

Dinner: (Hamburger, Fries, Large Soda) $14.50

Total: $57.33

The minors are just plain better. If the O's had a chance of ever contending I might think differently. Hell, if I had been there to see Erik Bedard the night before I might have been happy to pay the extra $37.08 to see the big boys play, but he only goes once every five days.

The numbers don't lie folks.