The View From The Cheap Seats.

I've spent the last two evenings in the open air, watching balls fly.

...

Okay, maybe I should clarify. I've been watching big sweaty men swinging their wood aroun- DAMNIT!!

Fuck it- I've been going to baseball games.

See, The OKC has a minor league ball club and for the last three years, I've been wanting to go to a game but haven't taken the time. Last year I almost went, but kinda got screwed out of going when my group backed out.

This weekend, I decided to get out of my apartment every night. The first night of my weekend, I went to see three movies downtown at a nice theater. That theater happens to be right across the street from the ballpark, and that night I decided to check and see what the cost of a ticket would be.

It turns out that the cheapest seats are about 7-10 bucks. The most expensive tickets were 22 bucks, in...

Wait for it...

The All-you-can-eat seats.

...

Let that sink in. For less than the cost of what it would be to get the food separately, you can get all you can eat hot dogs, peanuts, nachos, cotton candy and drinks (soft drinks only, natch).

It's sports and all-you-can-eat food. Of COURSE I was going to get a ticket in that section!

The first game was awesome, and I ended up staying until the end of the 8th inning when the team was up 8-0 against the visiting Memphis Redbirds. As I walked out, I decided I would need to see another game this season.

I also made a mental count of the amount of food I'd eaten. On Night One, I'd eaten 3 orders of nachos, 4 hot dogs and had 5 drinks (not including water I'd gotten from the fountains. By the math, I'd not only broken even on the extra cost of the ticket but had pretty much broken even on the ENTIRE cost of the ticket.

Before you ask, no heartburn.

This morning, I woke up trying to figure out what I'd do tonight. My thoughts quickly returned to the ballpark. Sure enough, I went back tonight and got another seat in the AYCE section.

The tally tonight was aided by two things. First off, it turned out to be pretty damned cold tonight and as such, I had to get cash and get some hot chocolate. (Admittedly, that throws off the cheap seat factor but the chocolate was needed- FRAK it was cold.) Second, the OKC Redhawks had a really good third inning and I left with the team up 12-2 after the 6th inning. The tally- 4 hot dogs (I admit it- I LOVE real ballpark hot dogs), 1 nachos, 1 bag of peanuts, 1 slice of pizza, 5 drinks and a hot chocolate.

All's I'm gonna say is, it's worth it. I will go back to the ballpark and enjoy the games, and heck- I may stay through the entire game next time.

Out.