Dan wrote: > I'm going to pipe in with a personal comment on going to games in person, > which may require me to duck virtual things thrown at me, but here goes. I > do not care much for watching baseball in person. Most of the time, in the > past, it has something to do with watching in the Astrodome, a very fan > unfriendly place to watch. We had seats that were as good as we could get > two months ahead of time for a game last week, and the problem I have was > still there. > > It was much better, mind you, because the seats are closer to the park and > Enron field is beautiful. But, I could not enjoy what I consider the essence > of the game, because I couldn't see it very well. > > IMHO, the essence of baseball is the duel between the pitcher and the > batter. Pitch location, type, etc. are critical. Even from the decent > seats (30 rows off the field, about 50 feet up the line from 1st base), I > could not see pitch location well enough to understand what was going on. I > could see the pitch height, but I could not tell the horizontal location > very well. Maybe I just don't have great depth perception, but I cannot > tell the location of a pitch to within 6 inches via depth perception from > 150 feet away. > > In contrast, my view of the first Houston championship run was wonderful. I > was in the upper deck, and could still see much much more than they show on > TV. With baseball, I never see as much as I can on TV.
I grew up going to Braves games in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, but when I started high school, my family moved to rural Georgia. During the summers, my father would occasionally take me and my brother to Columbus Astros games at the minor league field about 30 miles away from our home. That's when I learned to love baseball live. In a minor league field, you're *right there* - there's less separating you from the action, and it's more laid back. Don't get me wrong - I still root for the Braves every year, but for an Authentic Baseball Experience, I jump in the car and go catch the Round Rock Express. Adam C. Lipscomb [EMAIL PROTECTED] "The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots." - Thomas Jefferson, 1787
