{"id":13,"date":"2002-07-14T21:40:54","date_gmt":"2002-07-14T21:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/?p=13"},"modified":"2002-07-14T21:40:54","modified_gmt":"2002-07-14T21:40:54","slug":"minor-league-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/?p=13","title":{"rendered":"Minor League Fun"},"content":{"rendered":"

While settling down in the stands to watch a baseball game on Saturday night, the
\nwife leaned over to me and said “this just seems more family oriented.”
\nThe Bowie Baysox<\/a>, the
\nOrioles<\/a> double
\nA affiliate, were on the field and we were just beginning to take in the sights
\nand sounds of minor league baseball.<\/p>\n

You know what? She’s right. Families of all types and sizes surrounded us.
\nThere were kids enjoying a trip
\naround the merry-go-round just off of right field; other kids played catch
\nto both our left and right. The smell of hot dogs
\nwas in the air, a good crowd watched from the stands, and the guy in front of
\nus was just itching to talk baseball with anyone who would listen. As I took all
\nof this in, I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Why doesn’t major league baseball
\nfeel this way?”<\/p>\n

It almost got me down. When I think of major league baseball lately, I think
\nof handing over my wallet to get in and all the labor
\nproblems that are going on right now. It seems that all the success that
\nmajor league baseball has enjoyed has lead to one thing: a whole bunch of
\nrich, spoiled men fighting over how to split all the cash. A lot of the
\narguments<\/a>
\nbetween owners and players make it seem much more like a business
\nthan the average fan wants to admit. We know it’s a business, we really
\ndo. But when there are two strikes and two outs in the bottom of the ninth with the tying
\nrun on second, we want to think that the batter wants to win in his heart and that
\nmoney is far from his mind. Unfortunately, I’m not so sure.<\/p>\n

In any case, for $8 a piece, the wife and I saw one hell of a ballgame. Good to
\naverage play all the way around, ending with a four run comeback in the bottom
\nof the ninth to win the game. Top it off with a fireworks display,
\nand we have a winner. I can see me coming back this season. I can see the wife
\nand I bringing our children here in the future. We won’t have to break the
\nbank either. A family of four could get in for $16, provided the kids are
\nunder five (in which case, they would be free). Maybe we’ll even put them
\non the merry-go-round. Try doing that at
\nCamden Yards<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a blast watching the Orioles play this year.
\nBut while players and owners alike fight over the piles of scraps, it was nice
\nto ignore it all. For one night, at least, it seemed a bit more pure, a bit more
\nenjoyable, and, yes, a bit more family oriented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While settling down in the stands to watch a baseball game on Saturday night, the wife leaned over to me and said “this just seems more family oriented.” The Bowie Baysox, the Orioles double A affiliate, were on the field and we were just beginning to take in the sights and sounds of minor league […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plan.thewoottons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}