Not Only Do We Allow It...

I spent the past two nights at LeLacheur watching the Spinners go toe-to-toe with the Vermont Lake Monsters. Last night went to extra winnings (though the Spinners lost) but tonight ended in the bottom of the ninth with a come-from-behind rally that ended with a sac fly out to center which brought home the winning run.

If any single experience sums up my experience at the park so far, it's this:

I asked one of the ushers if it would be alright if my friend Dave and I went down to the reserved seating even though we only bought standing room seats. I know this practice is either frowned upon or outright discouraged at most places, because of the possibly perverse incentive it gives to would-be ticket buyers, and the chance for confrontation it could create when rightful seat owners arrive late to a game.

But when I asked the usher about this he said, "Not only do we allow it, we encourage it." The ushers then went out of their way to point out available open seats (there were many, as it was a Sunday night and it was threatening to rain) and even pointed out that buying standing-room tickets at every opportunity is a cheaper (and possibly better) alternative to buying season tickets.

Combine that with the constant inter-inning entertainment (tonight featured autographed footballs being kicked into the crowd by the New England Patriots' kicker, Stephen Gostkowski), the way the stadium involves the crowd (note all the trivia contests, karaoke, kids' dancing/baserunning/movie nights), and you can see why the Spinners are held up as a model successful minor league baseball franchise.