So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[LizzieMaine]

One of my manufacturing jobs was in a place that made liverwurst (or braunschweiger, depending on your point of view) among other sausage products. When they dumped the sacks of onions into the chopper I had to go out in the alley because the fumes caused my throat to swell closed to the point where I couldn't breathe. I can't tolerate the fumes even from one onion, but I had no idea what the fumes from a sack of onions could do to me.

 

[Fading Fast]

I've only ever sat in the cheap seats, so I wouldn't know what goes on down where the elite meet to do whatever it is they do at a ball game. But most of the hard-core soaks at Fenway, who sit in the bleachers and the right-field grandstand, are college boys from BU and BC. I saw one of these louts pass out cold in about the third inning and his buddies used him as an end table to rest their drinks on for the rest of the game.

A friend of mine gave me tickets last week to the "200" level seats (second tier) that were just above third base and the face price (I think) was $150. I simply would not pay $300 to go to a ballgame, but they were wonderful seats and an incredibly thoughtful gift. While there, I did look around thinking - who does pay this price - and the answer is I have no idea as it seemed like a normal bunch baseball fans - dads and mom with kids, guys who seem to be regulars and a few tourists and Colorado Rockies fans. I know dress doesn't mean much today, but shorts, jeans, t-shirts, Yankee tops, baseball caps, sandals and sneakers was the attire of choice.

People were nice - passing food and money back and forth to the vendors for people in the middle seats, some "jumping" a row to get in or out so as not to disturb too many people, and most were into the game (the guys next to me practically hugged me when the Yankees hit a walk-off home run). While plenty had beer - I did - nobody seemed stupid drunk even at the end and, as always, hotdogs, beer, soda, ice-cream were the most consumed items.

There was one guy who yelled at the players enough to add character not enough to be overwhelming. Another was keeping a scorecard and one dad was explaining to his 6ish year old daughter how baseball works ("Dad, why does't he just run to second now when no one is looking?").

If this is our elite, they seemed pretty much like everyone else to me. To be fair, I wasn't down in the "legend" seats which go for silly stupid money and are probably all corporate tickets, but what amazed me is that on a early summer afternoon, this section of $150 tickets (which, IMHO, is a lot - a real lot - of money to spend for a ballgame) was 75% full with what seemed to me to be regular people.

 

[LizzieMaine]

From what I hear, most of the expensive seats at Fenway belong to season-ticket holders, either individuals or mid-sized companies, who either resell the ones they don't want to Stub Hub or some such operation, or hand them out to their in-laws, cousins, clients, etc. I've known some people who've had "seats in the family" for fifty or sixty years and seldom actually use them for themselves.

I actually like sitting in the right field grandstand, which seems to be where the hard-core fans sit and not the "family night out" crowd. This was not always the case -- forty years ago, right field was where all the group-rate kids sat, but you don't see too many kids out there now. I've sat in "premium" seats at Montreal Expos games, where it was $5 for any seat in the place, and I didn't really feel there was anything I could see in that spot that I was missing out on in Section 6 at Fenway.

 

[Fading Fast]

I've sat everywhere in old Yankee stadium and in five or six different sections in the new one. My favorite is behind the plate in the second tier as I feel I have the best view of everything. I do like being close enough to "feel" the action, but there is something sort of "eye in the sky" to the higher or farther away seats that I enjoy as well.

The "right on the baselines ground level" seats (which are where the "legend" seats are) are neat in a "you are close to the players" way and close to the action right in front of you, but the outfield and other side of the infield feel "lost" to me as you have no height to allow you to really see over there. So, despite being the "it" seats, I prefer the one-level up from those seats for the better full-field view.

As to crowds, the only time I could tell I was in corporate land was in the legend seats (I was there on business) and the sky box (business also) and then it's a whole different thing as (1) I'm really still at work, just in a hateful "social" work way and (2) so are the majority of others so it's kinda awkward and, yes, less game focused as people are there to "enhance" a business relationship not just watch a game. But other than those very specific corporate seats, every place else I've sat from pretty expensive to the least expensive has mainly been populated with baseball fans of varying degrees. To be honest, the least expensive tend to be the rowdiest, but not always and not in a bad way - just more out-loud passion.

 

[HudsonHawk]

People were nice - passing food and money back and forth to the vendors for people in the middle seats, some "jumping" a row to get in or out so as not to disturb too many people...

This is one of my biggest peeves at games. I have season tickets for the Texans, and sit at the end of the row. There is always some yahoo climbing over seats because he's too lazy to walk down the aisle. One, it's dangerous. I've seen more than one person injured and send beer and nachos splattering all over some unsuspecting fan. Two, people have to sit on those seats. No one wants to sit where you've been walking with your dirty feet. Do you regularly walk on the furniture in other peoples' homes? Then why would you think it acceptable to do do in public?

 

[Fading Fast]

This is one of my biggest peeves at games. I have season tickets for the Texans, and sit at the end of the row. There is always some yahoo climbing over seats because he's too lazy to walk down the aisle. One, it's dangerous. I've seen more than one person injured and send beer and nachos splattering all over some unsuspecting fan. Two, people have to sit on those seats. No one wants to sit where you've been walking with your dirty feet. Do you regularly walk on the furniture in other peoples' homes? Then why would you think it acceptable to do do in public?

Maybe we are not talking about the same thing or maybe I'm missing the bigger point. The row I was in was packed. For someone in the middle to get out, twenty-plus people would have had to stand, but the row in front had very few people. The guy next to me, "jumped" to the row in front to get out so, IMHO, he didn't have to ask everyone in our row to stand up.

I don't see that he saved himself any distance as he still walked out to the aisle once he got to the row in front. I didn't pay close attention, but the seats in front were all "up" and I'm pretty sure he didn't put it down and step on it to get to that row. I thought he and a few others did this to be thoughtful, but maybe I'm wrong or maybe we're talking about different things.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Maybe we are not talking about the same thing or maybe I'm missing the bigger point. The row I was in was packed. For someone in the middle to get out, twenty-plus people would have had to stand, but the row in front had very few people. The guy next to me, "jumped" to the row in front to get out so, IMHO, he didn't have to ask everyone in our row to stand up.

I don't see that he saved himself any distance as he still walked out to the aisle once he got to the row in front. I didn't pay close attention, but the seats in front were all "up" and I'm pretty sure he didn't put it down and step on it to get to that row. I thought he and a few others did this to be thoughtful, but maybe I'm wrong or maybe we're talking about different things.

I think we're talking about the same thing, just seeing it differently. I just think you should walk down the aisle of your seat. If people have to stand up, that's the way it works. "Jumping" seats ticks me off to no end, especially when people aren't expecting it.

 

[LizzieMaine]

This is one of my biggest peeves at games. I have season tickets for the Texans, and sit at the end of the row. There is always some yahoo climbing over seats because he's too lazy to walk down the aisle. One, it's dangerous. I've seen more than one person injured and send beer and nachos splattering all over some unsuspecting fan. Two, people have to sit on those seats. No one wants to sit where you've been walking with your dirty feet. Do you regularly walk on the furniture in other peoples' homes? Then why would you think it acceptable to do do in public?

I've seen people do this at the theatre when they're the only people in the row. I have no idea what motivates them to do so except to irritate me.

I wonder if they ever tried that in the upper deck at Shibe Park?

Note the steepness of the rake. One slip and you're over the rail and on the field. And probably getting booed by the crowd.

 

[Fading Fast]

^^^ If you are not doing it to get to a row with less people so that you can get to an aisle easier, then the logic of doing it is completely lost on me. Also, I'm with HH that if you are stepping on the seat areas that people sit on, then it's rude.

I have now given this more thought this morning than in the prior 52 years of my life combined, but my quick impression at the game last week was that the guys doing it were trying to disturb less people (jumped only one row, to a less crowded one and, I think, didn't step on the seats at all). Why you would do it otherwise makes no sense to me - and to step on upholstered seats in a theater is even more disgusting.

 

[HudsonHawk]

^^^ If you are not doing it to get to a row with less people so that you can get to an aisle easier, then the logic of doing it is completely lost on me. Also, I'm with HH that if you are stepping on the seat areas that people sit on, then it's rude.

I have now given this more thought this morning than in the prior 52 years of my life combined, but my quick impression at the game last week was that the guys doing it were trying to disturb less people (jumped only one row, to a less crowded one and, I think, didn't step on the seats at all). Why you would do it otherwise makes no sense to me - and to step on upholstered seats in a theater is even more disgusting.

I guess it bothers me because I go to games all the time and see it regularly, and it's often nothing more than laziness and showing off. And it's usually this guy:

 

[ChiTownScion]

Pains me to admit that I'm this old, but at my first time at Wrigley (1962: at a time I believe that our own Miss Lizzie was little more than a twinkle in the eye of Providence), bleacher seats sold for a buck, grandstand seats (where we sat) went for $2., and box seats went for a whopping $3.

No idea what hot dogs went for: I was with my grand aunt, and she treated. Since it was Ladies Day and she had gotten in for free, I'm guessing that she was in a Last of the Big Time Spenders mood. She was notoriously cheap: had a six figure bank account long before it became common, but she'd argue with her sister (my grandmother) over a penny's tax on a shared lunch bill.

 

[LizzieMaine]

My first game at Fenway, August 16, 1970, I think we paid $2.50 apiece for grandstand seats. I was given a $20 bill by my grandparents to mark the occasion -- that's like handing a kid a hundred today -- and I came back with about $10 in change, which kept me in soda and funny books for the rest of the summer. I bought a scorecard, a hot dog, a Coke -- which came in a paper cup with cellophane over the top you had to peel off -- a t-shirt, and one of those little souvenir bats that I used to whack my brother when I could get a lick in.

Sox lost 9 to 6, but I saw homers by Tony Conigliaro, Reggie Smith, Brant Alyea, Harmon Killebrew, the immortal George Mitterwald, and the highlight of the day, a pinch-hit homer by Jerry Moses, who accomplished this deed seconds after I screamed at the top of my lungs that he should do so. I figured I had special powers.

Starting pitcher for the Twins was Luis Tiant. He had no moustache, was not pot-bellied, and was of no significance to us whatsoever. What a difference a couple of years would make.

I also saw an enormous rat under the stands and a hippie getting roughed up in the subway by those ever-conscientious Boston cops.

I went with my best friend and her father, who drove us down in a green and white 1953 DeSoto, which broke down on the way back leaving us to spend about two and a half hours at a Lums restaurant in Saugus while it was getting fixed, where we had "hot dogs steamed in beer." I was afraid to tell my grandmother about this last.

 

[tonyb]

... She was notoriously cheap: had a six figure bank account long before it became common, but she'd argue with her sister (my grandmother) over a penny's tax on a shared lunch bill.

Which might go some way toward explaining how she amassed such a fortune.

 

[BlueTrain]

We don't have royalty with all the crowns and regal trappings, so I guess we have to have something. Washington (George, that is) thought we needed a flag and that's were it started. We've had music and marches and anthems for a long time, too, and they've taken on a sacred aspect, even if they aren't in a hymnal. I don't care much for our national anthem but there is a lot of music that brings me to tears. I guess I'm just more than a little sentimental. Personally, I like the various military marches of each of our service branches. I live in a fairly liberal area that still has a big military presence (the military is quite liberal or progressive in a lot of ways) and once when attending a concert at a local university, a medley of service marches was played. Most of the men in the audience stood up when their branch march (or hymn) was played.

There's a lot of other music that gets me all misty-eyed when I hear it and it's of a great variety, too. I think the "Stars and Stripes Forever" is better than the Star Spangled Banner. As far as the service marches go, it's a toss-up between the Navy song and the Army Air Corps song.

 

[Stearmen]

We don't have royalty with all the crowns and regal trappings, so I guess we have to have something. Washington (George, that is) thought we needed a flag and that's were it started. We've had music and marches and anthems for a long time, too, and they've taken on a sacred aspect, even if they aren't in a hymnal. I don't care much for our national anthem but there is a lot of music that brings me to tears. I guess I'm just more than a little sentimental. Personally, I like the various military marches of each of our service branches. I live in a fairly liberal area that still has a big military presence (the military is quite liberal or progressive in a lot of ways) and once when attending a concert at a local university, a medley of service marches was played. Most of the men in the audience stood up when their branch march (or hymn) was played.

There's a lot of other music that gets me all misty-eyed when I hear it and it's of a great variety, too. I think the "Stars and Stripes Forever" is better than the Star Spangled Banner. As far as the service marches go, it's a toss-up between the Navy song and the Army Air Corps song.

 

[Fading Fast]

My first game at Fenway, August 16, 1970, I think we paid $2.50 apiece for grandstand seats. I was given a $20 bill by my grandparents to mark the occasion -- that's like handing a kid a hundred today -- and I came back with about $10 in change, which kept me in soda and funny books for the rest of the summer. I bought a scorecard, a hot dog, a Coke -- which came in a paper cup with cellophane over the top you had to peel off -- a t-shirt, and one of those little souvenir bats that I used to whack my brother when I could get a lick in.

Sox lost 9 to 6, but I saw homers by Tony Conigliaro, Reggie Smith, Brant Alyea, Harmon Killebrew, the immortal George Mitterwald, and the highlight of the day, a pinch-hit homer by Jerry Moses, who accomplished this deed seconds after I screamed at the top of my lungs that he should do so. I figured I had special powers.

Starting pitcher for the Twins was Luis Tiant. He had no moustache, was not pot-bellied, and was of no significance to us whatsoever. What a difference a couple of years would make.

I also saw an enormous rat under the stands and a hippie getting roughed up in the subway by those ever-conscientious Boston cops.

I went with my best friend and her father, who drove us down in a green and white 1953 DeSoto, which broke down on the way back leaving us to spend about two and a half hours at a Lums restaurant in Saugus while it was getting fixed, where we had "hot dogs steamed in beer." I was afraid to tell my grandmother about this last.

Your memory is so good it is marvelous and a bit frightening.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Well, I did save my scorecard and the newspaper box score from the next day. The rat and the cops beating up the hippie, however, were unforgettable.

 

[HudsonHawk]

My first Big League game was at the Houston Astrodome, which was an awful place to watch baseball. I remember the Astros beat the Padres, but I don't recall many details. I was in high school. I took my wife there on one of our early dates, Opening Day 1993, and she whined about wanting to leave early. That was the end of taking her to baseball games until Game 4 of the 2005 World Series, and only then because she's the one who scored the tickets. Since then, we've gone to games together in Boston and Atlanta, but only because we were on vacation and she sort of insisted on tagging along. She still doesn't understand the infield fly rule or defensive coverages on a sacrifice bunt. *sigh*

 

[Fading Fast]

My first Big League game was at the Houston Astrodome, which was an awful place to watch baseball. I remember the Astros beat the Padres, but I don't recall many details. I was in high school. I took my wife there on one of our early dates, Opening Day 1993, and she whined about wanting to leave early. That was the end of taking her to baseball games until Game 4 of the 2005 World Series, and only then because she's the one who scored the tickets. Since then, we've gone to games together in Boston and Atlanta, but only because we were on vacation and she sort of insisted on tagging along. She still doesn't understand the infield fly rule or defensive coverages on a sacrifice bunt. *sigh*

I know I have something special in my girlfriend as - at the Yankee game we attended a few weeks back - she said this about the Yankee's reliever Chapman's 100+ mph pitches sometimes going awry: "well worth the hit to the count as that will get in the batter's head - no-one wants to take one of those off the noggin and he'll be thinking about that for the next few pitches." Now that is a woman.

When, early on in our dating days, she explained to me how place-kickers aren't "real" football players, I knew something different was happening here.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Ah...she understand the value of a little chin music. Hang on to that one.