This weekend marked my official conversion into a Minor League baseball fan.

I’m quite glad I was open-minded enough to realize just what I’ve been missing.

Of course, if I’d simply paid more attention here to my very own website, it might not have taken this long. Our own Ari Kaufman has been extolling the virtues of Minor League baseball for well over a year now. His Down on the Farm series is must reading for any baseball fan.

Yet for some reason, even though I read through each of those articles, it never really sunk in that attending a Minor League game could be just as fun – if not moreso – as attending a Major League game…and for a fraction of the cost.

The realizations finally sunk in this weekend, and all it took was one of the best Minor League ballparks in the country plus meeting two of the most enthusiastic and committed evangelists for Minor League baseball that you could ever find.

A Minor League Season

The best part of what was a truly wonderful weekend was getting to meet and spend time with Matt and Carolyn LaWell, the baseball-loving married couple behind A Minor League Season. Matt and Carolyn are traversing the United States in their car, sometimes even sleeping in it, and going to as many Minor League ballparks as they can during this spring and summer.

Back in college, I used to fantasize about how much fun it would be to take a summer and crisscross the U.S. going to every MLB stadium. Maybe someday I’ll still do it. The vestiges of that dream led me to be instantly intrigued by what the LaWells were setting out to accomplish this baseball season.

All you have to do is spend a few minutes with the two of them to understand just how much they genuinely like baseball…and how much they adore each other.

Frankly, hanging out with them was inspiring not just from a baseball fan perspective, but from the perspective of a 30-year old single guy who someday hopes to have a relationship like that. Clearly these two have similar dreams, complementary skills, and a remarkable sense of teamwork between them.

One of the best moments of the trip came Sunday morning when we had breakfast together before they took off for Round Rock.

Carolyn was recounting a moment from a few nights prior when Matt was being interviewed and into it so much that he totally lost track of their schedule. (And if you spend any time talking baseball with Matt, this won’t surprise you – his knowledge is damn near encyclopedic, and he has a peerless passion for the subject.) Carolyn laughed as she described having to be “the mean one” who had to pull Matt from the interview. It was clear this wasn’t a one time thing.

And with good reason. To make it to every game on their schedule, the two really cannot have any wasted moments.

To give you an idea of how packed the schedule is, just look at May. They will be attending a game in a different city for 18 consecutive nights – from May 3rd through May 19th, with drives from Midland to Albuquerque and Las Vegas to San Bernadino sprinkled in.

When Matt came down and sat with me for a little over four innings during the Frisco-Corpus Christie game, he said it was the longest he’d been able to just sit and actually watch a game on the trip. Usually he and Carolyn are doing interviews, taking photos, writing their stories, etc. He seemed relieved and recharged as he headed back up to the press box.

As for me, I got a tasty craft beer, sat back down in my seat just left of home plate, and enjoyed a few more innings of an entertaining game in a great park on a gorgeous Metroplex night.

The Underrated Greatness of Minor League Baseball

I am really appreciative of Matt and Carolyn setting aside some time in their busy schedule this weekend to entertain my many questions, and I’m really glad they left a ticket for me at will call because it induced me to attend the game. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to go, and frankly I wasn’t even sure how excited I was about going since the White Sox were playing at the same time, but I went.

And I’m sure glad I did.

Because what I realized is that there is absolutely no good reason that I haven’t been attending more Minor League baseball games, especially at a park as pristine and charming as Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco.

This picture that I took is nice, but it really doesn’t do the park justice since it does not include the park’s defining features: the individual stable-like structures that line the concourse from wall to wall.

As Matt described it, the park looks inspired by places like Churchill Downs. This is true, yet there wasn’t even a hint of haughtiness in the air. The atmosphere was laid back and the people could not have been friendlier.

We struck up long conversations with a couple of season ticket holders sitting near us, as well as a sweet old lady who said she’d been going to baseball games with her dad since she was four years old. Her brother didn’t want to go back then, she said, so she went. She hasn’t stopped since.

(She also had very little patience for Frisco’s starting pitcher, and was vocal about it. The pitcher, Carlos Pimentel, was getting rocked by line drives left and right, though thanks in large part to some great defense he somehow battled his way to a decent outing through five innings before the roof finally caved in.)

Here is another view of the park:

Another defining feature that both Matt and I found very cool was the dirt trail that circles the entire park. It’s like walking on an infield. Just a neat feature that makes Dr Pepper Ballpark a unique baseball experience.

And you know what else makes attending a game there a unique and more than worthwhile experience? Money, the total cost, which is more than reasonable and merely a fraction of what it costs to see a Major League game.

Minor League Baseball: A Great Value For Sports Fans

For example, when I go to see the Rangers play in Arlington, I have a 35-40 minute drive both ways and pay at least $15 to park and still have a decent jaunt to the park. Going to Frisco is an easy 15 minute drive up the tollway, and I parked in the mall parking lot for free and had a shorter walk to the park than I do at Rangers ballpark.

Tickets, of course, are more than reasonable. Plus, there are a variety of mini-plans to choose from.

The beer and snacks cost less too.

And get this: there is a promotion coming up on May 20th where four people can get tickets, parking, four hats, and an all-you-can-eat-and-drink wrist band for $39.95. That’s $39.95 total…not per person. Pretty remarkable.

Oh, and the baseball was pretty good too.

Frisco features one of the best prospects in all of the Minor Leagues: Jurickson Profar. Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus are currently blocking the talented middle infielder’s ascent the Majors, but he’ll be there soon, somehow, some way. He didn’t do anything noteworthy on Saturday night, but as I watched his body language, size, athleticism, and even swing, and then paired those visions with scouting reports I’d read, I was reminded alternately of Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez. Not bad comparables.

Additionally, Frisco center fielder Engel Beltre made at least three spectacular run-saving plays in center field. He’s Major League-ready as a defensive player. If he can ever figure out how to swing the bat consistently, my finely-tuned baseball scout’s eye (LOL with me now) says he could be a solid big league contributor.

I tell you all of this to make a simple point: unless the White Sox are in town, or there is a particular pitching matchup I want to see, or I just get a hankering from some Josh Hamilton baseball genius, why would I go out to Rangers Ballpark when I can just hop up the tollway to Dr Pepper Ballpark and enjoy a game in a great ballpark for essentially half the price while also cutting about an hour off my drive time?

The answer, now, is that I wouldn’t.

This isn’t to say that going to a Minor League baseball game is necessarily better than going to an MLB game. The Major Leagues feature the best players in the world, and the atmosphere at Rangers Ballpark is very enjoyable in its own right.

But what I am saying is that limiting one’s baseball experience to just Major League games in Major League parks, when a convenient Minor League option is available, is simply, well, silly.

I didn’t think that before Saturday night. I do now.

Get Out To a Minor League Game

So if you haven’t really given Minor League baseball a chance, and you have an option close by, get out to a game.

No, you probably won’t know many of the players’ names, but that may literally be the only gaping hole you find in the experience. You’ll have just as much fun, you’ll pay less to do it, and if you have kids they will surely be entertained because Minor League parks go above and beyond to cater to the young’uns.

So to Ari, I’ll just apologize for not heeding your advice sooner.

To Matt and Carolyn, I say thank you for a fun weekend and for unknowingly giving me the gift of a new social and recreational experience to enjoy.

And to all of you reading this, I’ll reiterate: get out to a Minor League game. It’s the best value for your sports dollar.