Entertainment at minor league ballparks
In order to draw more crowds, most minor league ballparks have extra entertainment and stuff. Some of it, I think is okay, but some of it just flat out annoys me.
The problems come when they have something that has absolutely nothing to do with baseball, that attracts people who normally would never go to a ball game. For instance, the Brockton Rox once had some soap opera actor…Tyler Christopher, who is on General Hospital. He signed autographs and posed for pics with fans, and also threw out a first pitch.
I had already bought tickets to this game before I knew that this actor would be appearing. If I had known, I may have chosen to buy tickets for another game instead. I have nothing against Tyler Christopher or General Hospital or soap operas in general, in fact, I do watch some soaps (I watch CBS, though). But I do have something against people who come to ball games, who have absolutely NO interest in watching said ball game. It was easy to tell who was there just to see Tyler, as once he threw out the first pitch and the game began, these people were very annoying and distracting to those who were there to see the game. Most of these people were stay-at-home-moms who watch GH, who couldn’t be arsed to either get Dad to mind the kids (who are also not interested in baseball), or find a babysitter.
NOTHING is more annoying than people who bring little kids to games, when the kids aren’t interested. These kids get bored, they run around, shriek, and generally annoy everyone around them.
A more appropriate place for Tyler’s appearance might have been the nearby Westgate mall. ut the Rox wanted to draw more crowds, so that’s why they booked him. Don’t they realize that this can seriously piss off those who are there to see the game? Guess not!
It could have been much worse, though. I noticed that many people were there just to see Tyler. They bought the cheapest tickets just to get in, and once they got his autograph and a pic, they left.
Tomorrow, the PawSox are having Star Wars Day, something else that has nothing to do with baseball. I hope this doesn’t attract as big an anti-baseball crowd as Tyler Christopher did. I’m not sure how many people who don’t otherwise go to games would come out to see people dressed up as Star Wars characters, so maybe the annoying people factor won’t be as high. And, to be honest, I think it would be fun to see these characters.
Besides, I’ve found that most people who go to see the PawSox actually are interested in the game…at least the ones who buy the box seats, as we do. General admisssion sections at McCoy, though, are hell on earth. We learned that the hard way. From now on, if we can’t get box seat tickets, we don’t go to games there.
Fireworks are a popular draw, but I don’t know that I’d ever go to see them at McCoy again. We did so once, I think it was last year. The problem was that in order to see the fireworks, we were forced to sit through some long and grueling musical numbers, all performed by a troupe of inner city kids. It would have been okay if they weren’t so awful! But they had no talent whatsoever, and the act dragged on for nearly an hour.
We should have left, sat out in the car, and watched the fireworks from the parking lot. Then we would have had a head start in getting sout of said parking lot.
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats, however, do not make people sit and suffer while waiting for the fireworks. The Atlas Fireworks people set it all up ahead of time, outside of the ballpark, and the shows always start very shortly after the end of the game.
Anyhoo, let’s just hope that Star Wars goes okay!
