I am a fan of the great old classic ballparks. Only a few remain. The 1923 Yankee Stadium was rebuilt in 2009. My team, the Braves, have had four stadiums since they left Boston in 1953. The Dodgers and Giants left New York in the 1950’s for the gold coast, but neither has an iconic stadium out west. About all that’s left of the venues where Babe Ruth or even Joe DiMaggio might have played are Boston’s Fenway Park, and Chicago’s Wrigley Field. Kat and I watched Nomar fall a triple short of hitting for the cycle while his Red Sox beat Detroit in September of maybe 1995? 31 years ago? Am I really that old? Ding dang! It’s time to see a Cubs game in Wrigley.

I’m not a Cubs fan, but I don’t hate them like a few other National League teams. The Cubs have been so bad for so many years, you just can’t hate on them for winning a World Series in 2016 with a team they spent many years assembling. Hey, their most recent World Series championship before 2016 was 1908. And this year the Cubs have a good third baseman who played college ball at LSU. Their shortstop has been on many of my fantasy teams over the years, and not to spoil anything, Dansby Swanson made not one, not two, but three superb defensive plays at shortstop in our game. We sat behind first base and witnessed a good baseball game, if not from the perspective of a Cubs fan. It was good major league baseball, except for loading the bases with nobody out in the 3rd and then not scoring a single run, and later, in the bottom of the ninth inning, loading the bases with two out, down 4-2 and seeing a hitter look at a third strike that ended the game. A batter’s got to try to at least foul it off; don’t just let the ump call you out. This was nothing short of nauseating.

But the stadium is beautiful and looks much better than Fenway in Boston. The concessions, however, are ridiculously over-priced. What’s a fair price for a can of beer? If you pay $18 for a twelve pack in a grocery ($1.50 per can) what’s fair in a ballpark? $9 is cost plus a 500% markup. Hey, we’re already paying over $100 a seat; cut us some slack on the brew, you still triple your investment per can at $6.

But enough is never enough for the mega rich. Beer in Wrigley is $18 a can. You are allowed to bring in Fill It Yourself bottles (bring them in Empty) and use Wrig’s water fountains. We did, and with our 4 oz. $13 package of Garrett Mix popcorn, had a good time watching the game. I look forward to MLB’s players union negotiations with the owners after this season. Both will complain that their returns are inadequate. The players are correct with respect to the fortunes owners are forced to scrape by on.

Everything is exorbitantly priced at MLB games. Parking, concessions, tickets, caps and shirts, even Uber rides. I love baseball but when a televised season of a eighty or so games is $75 a month plus your subscription to that carrier’s service, you gotta wonder if the sport is doomed. After all in 1927 Babe Ruth signed with the Yankees for $125,000. When asked by sportswriters why he should earn more than the President of the USA, the Babe smiled and told ‘em the truth: “I had a better year.” 30 years later another guy finally signed a MLB contract for $125,000; that was a kid named Mickey Mantle. In 1975 MLB’s all-time home run king not known to have used steroids, Hank Aaron signed for $240,000. In 2025 Juan Soto, signed the largest MLB contract to date: 15 years for $765,000,000 or about $51,000,000 a year. Salaries are through the roof. But the value of a MLB franchise is into outer space (we know what they sell for). Them rich dudes and gals could cut ticket prices in half, charge a third for concessions that they do now, and still clean up, big-time.

And with Covid now with us every season, you risk your life going to a sports bar and grill to see a game for $50. Maybe that’s one of the reasons I still love fantasy baseball! It keeps me in touch with this great game and I waste no more than $100 a season playing it.

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