Take Yourself Out to the Ball Game (and maybe bring the family)

Absolutely… spending a day at Fenway Park is one of the best ways to enjoy a day here in the Boston area, but, let’s be honest, it is not always that easy to score tickets that are affordable.  And…if you have young children, you can’t guarantee they’ll care much about the game.  I’ve seen more grumpy moms and dads grudgingly leave the ballpark because their young child was “done.”  OR….you spend a gazillion dollars on ice cream, popcorn, peanuts, cotton candy, big foam fingers, Wallys, inflatable bats, and other souvenirs as tokens of hush money….all to no avail.  3rd inning…out the door.

I’ll never recover from a day a few years ago when I brought Thatcher onto the field with me pre game to take photos of the players warming up.  He was a super cute 4 year old at the time and was wearing a “Pedroia” shirt. We walked past the dugout and Kevin Youkilis started to raz Thatch for not wearing his # instead. Within a minute Thatcher had the attention of Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, and Josh Beckett.  They were all chatting him up and joking with him and I couldn’t have been happier.  Thatch?….you may ask.  Over the moon?…you may assume. Well, not exactly. After a minute of tolerating the attention, he turned to me and said, “Can we go back to our seats before Finn eats all the popcorn?”  Alrightly then.  Bye guys.

So, while my boys are now old enough to love Red Sox games, and they get through a whole 9 innings or more with only a little bit of bribing, it is still something that we can really only pull off a couple of times each summer.

The solution??   Three words.  Minor League Games!   My boys are almost just as happy to head to the Lowell Spinners, the Pawtucket Red Sox (PawSox), and, hopefully soon, the Portland Sea Dogs.  The venues are incredibly family friendly, affordable, and FUN.  The children get much closer access to the players and can often times score themselves a run around the bases, an autograph opportunity, or a chance to catch something chucked into the stands in between innings.

I, just a moment ago, received an email from the Spinners reminding me of the Family Sleepover.  Come on….talk about fun for kids!   You go to the game, head back to the car for a minute, grab your tent and gear, set up shop, watch a movie on the scoreboard, and spend the night sleeping on the field.

If you have a budding baseball fan in the family and haven’t taken advantage of the minor league teams in our area, you’re missing out.  I highly recommend looking into tickets….and, might I add, there really isn’t bad seat in any of those houses!

Play Ball my friends!

Family Sleep Over at the Lowell Spinners

The Lowell Spinners

The Pawtucket Red Sox

The Portland Sea Dogs