Expectations, round two

We're not talking about those silly micks this time around.  We'll deal with them in due course, but tonight we discuss minor league baseball.

My brother and I were sitting around a few weeks ago without much to do.  Our mother then called and informed us that there was a family gathering scheduled for September 5th at Comerica Park.  Okay then.  That's good.  Who doesn't enjoy a Tigers game, right?

We wound up chatting about baseball.  I know a lot about baseball.  My brother knows very little about baseball.  He asked about the team in Lansing.  I told him that they're a single-A affiliate of the Blue Jays.  He said that he would like to go see them play.  I checked the schedule and found that they would be playing a home game on September 6th.  Ten bucks for box seats.  So we bought a couple of tickets and that was that.

I expected a rather ho-hum experience.  I was wrong again.

We arrived at the ballpark last night and found that they had something called "Thirsty Thursday" going on.  $2 beers, $2 sodas, and a free concert after the game.  Pretty cool.  Our $10 box seats had us in the third row, behind the visitors' dugout.  Awesome view.  I remarked to my brother that I should have known about this sooner.  I like beer and I like baseball.  If there was a place within an hour's drive of home that combined both for a really cheap price, I should have been informed.

The stadium atmosphere for a Class A baseball game is, in a word, awesome.  There was a point in the game where Brett Lawrie came to the plate.  Lawrie plays third base for the Toronto Blue Jays but has been working to rehab an injury, so he played for the Lansing Lugnuts last night.  The opposing manager chose to walk Lawrie and face some unknown kid instead.  The jumbotron in center field cut immediately to Hamilton Porter from The Sandlot.


Awesome.  Just awesome.  I wish the big leagues were more like this.  Any time the opposing team made an error, there was a smartass reaction on the video board.  Jim Carrey laughing hysterically, Adam Sandler yelling, "You blew it!" and so on.  Can you imagine the whole stadium watching as the jumbotron makes fun of Alex Rodriguez?  Pure genius.

The concert after the game was put on by The Verve Pipe.  They drew a fairly decent crowd, allowing for the fact that it was an outdoor concert at 10pm on a weeknight.  The $2 beer sales continued after the game and during the concert, so I imagine this played some role in the number of people who chose to stick around.  We didn't stay long though.  My brother had to work early this morning and I really only wanted to hear that one song from back in the day.  It was unlikely that they were going to play that one any time soon, so there wasn't much reason to stay.

Unfortunately the Lugnuts blew a big lead and lost to Fort Wayne though.  The loss was enough to eliminate Lansing from the playoffs and end their season.  So, if I want to return for another round of cheap sodas, entertaining baseball, and free music, I'll have to do it next summer.