HAVE YOU EVER WATCHED A BALLGAME IN MEXICO?

HAVE YOU EVER WATCHED A BALLGAME IN MEXICO?

I’m not sure whether my favourite part of the evening was trying to choose between having beef tacos or sushi for dinner. Of course, there was also a wonderful assortment of other food choices. There was BBQ’d sausage, meat or fruit filled tarts, potato chips covered in hot sauce or regular burritos. For dessert there was a choice of mini donuts, popcorn, cotton candy, fresh fruit cups or carmel corn. I wasn’t at the carnival: I was at a baseball game in Mazatlan.

Twenty years ago I also enjoyed a baseball game here, but today’s experience was a whole lot different. My first visit was in an old ball park that might have been the cousin of old Buffalo Stadium that used to stand where EauClaire Market in Calgary sits today. We sat on wooden benches with no backrests and the stands were crowded with families sharing a meal from a box or bag and cheering on the home team. Smoke billowed up through the seats as a variety of meats were being grilled below the stands as we watched the game. It was very informal, smokey and rustic, and the old green scoreboard was operated by two guys changing all of the numbers by hand.

Today’s ballpark could have been found in any major city in the US or Canada. It seats over 16,000 in modern comfort. A monster electronic score board displays all of the stats and replays that modern baseball fans have come to expect. The executive suites appeared to be full and a modern press box was state of the art. And of course, advertisements never stopped streaming along the electronic message board that circled the outfield fences.

All that was missing was the smokey atmosphere and family feel that I loved during my first visit. Instead we were surrounded by endless food vendors and between innings entertainment. We were serenaded by fire twirling baton artists, juggling acts, a dance troupe, a can-can demonstration and a dozen cheerleaders bumping and grinding their way seductively through the night. We were “delighted” by the gopher and deer mascots throwing fake baseballs into the stands and a couple of parades of modern cars around the infield between innings.

The evening did, however, end on a high note. In the eighth inning the home team loaded the bases and threatened to score. Led by the PA announcers, the crowd really got into chanting, whistling and cheering encouragement to the home town boys. The fans then began to light and hold up their cell phones so that hundreds of white lights danced in the stands similar to a Lionel Ritchie concert we had attended years ago when the fans all lit their lighters and waved them rhythmically in the air. The dancing cell phone lights were even more interesting as “the wave” raced around throughout the stands. Children blowing on plastic horns or twirling racket sticks, just added to the noise and exuberance of the evening.

Our enjoyable evening in a modern baseball park was just another example of how the world continues to evolve and move towards the same standards that we enjoy at home. If Mexico keeps adding state of the art ball parks, multi theatre cinemas, mega malls, Starbucks on a lot of corners and new high rise condos and hotels, we might just have to stay home in the future. It is losing a lot of its old unique flavour, just as we have experienced in Turkey over the years. If they took away the sunny climate, the sandy beaches and the rolling waves, we could just as easily holiday at Chestermere Lake!

PS Casey struck out with the winning runs on base, again!

PPS  Last night the playoffs continued at another city, but the local ball park showed the game on the Jumbotron screen for free to any avid fans that were interested. 

PPPS  All the culinary delights from our night at the ballpark were on sale along with a river of beer and the stadium rocked even without a real game on the field! Mexico loves its beisbol!