Schaumberg Flyers 1, Saint Paul Saints 10

Wednesday, July 25, 7:05 PM, Midway Stadium

Saints Coverage    Scorecard

Time to find some outdoor baseball here in my own neighborhood. Kevin and I bought these tickets long ago (which is a requirement for Saints' games) but he was unable to attend. So Victoria came with for our first baseball outing together. And it was completely marvelous.

The evening was perfect, not a cloud in the sky. And though it did cool off, it was the late innings before a jacket would have been welcome (alas, neither of us brought one).

The promos and gimmicks were out in force as always, but it didn't detract from the experience, and probably added to it. This year's pig is named Kevin Bacon, and he was everywhere.

A couple of times I saw the plate umpire gesture toward the booth to end the current promo, and the staff obliged. Only once did the goofiness intrude in the game.

During the second inning, Schaumberg's Matt Nokes was announced as some sort of promo player. If he struck out, the entire crowd would get a coupon of some sort. Of course, the crowd cheered, and Nokes turned with disdain toward the booth before stepping into the batter's box. In the end, he struck out swinging, and as we left we all got coupons! Had the Flyers ever been in the game, it might have been harder to take. As it was, the Saints would go on to win easily, so the play probably didn't have any impact on the outcome.

There was one home run, perilously close to the neon circle in left field. Any player hitting a home run through the opening would win a house!

Of course, there were trains, and planes, and hair cutting, and peanuts being tossed. Both Victoria and I caught bags of peanuts during the 7th inning stretch. She kindly gave hers to a kid behind us, the same kid whose father was teaching her how to score the game.

And that's one of the great things about these games. Everybody loves the game, and we shared information, filling in each other's scorecards as necessary. There was one play that we all seemed to miss, though no one could figure out why.

I had initially purchased 2 general admission tickets for $4 apiece. That is, in fact, all you can ever get for these games because the reserved seats are all sold out for the whole season. But when I picked up the tickets earlier in the day, I asked about upgrading. I was told to get there about an hour before the game and there might be something available.

So we got there about 6:00 PM, and the place was already crawling with people. I was pretty sure we would not get an upgrade, but decided to check anyway. Sure enough, better seats were available. In fact, they were the best seats in the house (Section F, directly behind home plate, row II, 9 rows from the field). Better still, the box office was willing to do an exchange, so all I had to pay was the difference in price. Our total ticket expense was $16!

Add to that the $4 for parking at a nearby industrial building, and the outing was only $20. Of course, we did have a snack, a program, and I had to buy a souvenir baseball. But this is some seriously affordable stuff. Everything is cheap compared to the major league parks, and the baseball is still very fun.

It was clear from the pitch speed scoreboard that minor league pitching was a good 10 MPH behind the majors most of the time. But there were lots of exciting plays, including a 1-2-3 double play with the bases loaded (a failed bunt attempt). Though there were sloppy moments for both teams, it still had the distinct feel of professional baseball. Of course, all it takes with the Saints is a glance down at Twig in the first base coaching box to realize that this is very real baseball!

In short, we had a wonderful time, watching a great game, outside on a beautiful summer evening.