Perspective

Yesterday we were given passes to the Solon Club at Raley Field. (Top shot is from there.) At our baseball park there are a couple of places where you can be separated from the common fan.   As you can see in the upper left of the picture there are a series of sky boxes that corporate seat holders get to entertain clients. Each can accommodate up to about fifty people (in the larger ones.) But then there is the Solon Club.  For an extra fee you can gain admittance to the area.  In the row right ahead of where our seats are located and forward, in addition to the price of a ticket, you pay an annual fee.  That gets you into the Solon Club.

Both photos are from an iPhone

                                                                           What is the attraction?   First, (and this is true) you avoid lines.   So even on the most crowded nights you can get a beer or a nosh quickly.   Second, there is a shaded area, which for day games is helpful.   My wife and I avoid day games because down where we sit it can be toasty.  But third, and this is my point, you get a very different baseball game - one that is detached.  I have always believed that baseball is a participatory sport.   Hearing and seeing what is going on is part of the attraction of the game.  Being able to yell at a lousy call is integral.  And from my perspective that simply is not possible in the Solon Club.   (Second shot is from our seats.)  Often when I get invited to major league parks to the sky boxes I politely decline.  What's the point?   Why not watch it at home? - at least there you don't have to fight the traffic.

The Rivercats played like they were in the sky boxes yesterday.  Although Manny Ramirez finally got his bat to work - he got two hits and an RBI - which brought him back to .250.   Yoenis Cespedes also is the lineup in a rehab situation and went one for three.   The rest of the team went back to its no energy mode.   The Reno Aces popped off for 17 hits and 10 runs to our 7 hits and 2 runs.   We ended up splitting the series with Reno which is leading its division - although we have a better record.  After the first losing series of the 2012 season against the hapless 23-29 Round Rock Express that is not a good trend.   Tonight we begin the first series of the season against the red hot Fresno Grizzlies (who are three and a half games up on us - although we have the second best record in the league).   Let's hope the Cat's get out of the sky boxes for this series.