Professional Baseball question

I took an opportunity to purchase 3 tickets to a Cleveland Indians game at a discounted rate. I did this as a family activity, as I don't care about sports in the least. It does seem fun to be at a baseball park, doing baseball park stuff.

My questions are thus, having never done this before:
1. How long does the game actually last?
2. How much money can I expect to spend in the park on food and drinks?
3. Do they let you bring in bottled water? I assume I'm going to get some sort of security shakedown coming in.

If you have other wisdom to provide, lay it on me.

1. Way too long
2. Way too much
3. No idea

1. Game length is, of course, variable because the game is inning- rather than time-based, but typical is around 3 hours, based on some articles I looked at from 2018. Game length and pace-of-play have been "issues" for MLB leadership for a while. and they were trumpeting early last year that average game length was down from 3:05 to 3:00. (I put "issues" above in scare quotes because it's not clear there really is a problem, and if there is one, it's more about pace than about length per se. Pace can be affected by time between pitches, breaks between innings for commercials, pitching changes, ruling challenges, and so on.)

2. It kind of depends on the park and on what you want. It's gonna be more than you might want, as it would in most any "closed" (or mostly closed) environment. Be aware, too, that parks have vastly expanded and diversified their food offerings, so with some variation you can get more or less anything and at varying price points. Venues also vary from walk-up stands to full sit-down restaurants. So it's hard to generalize.

But let's take the stereotypical baseball fare. I was just at Coors Field this week. I think they have places where they have $5 hot dogs, but they also have $12 ones with more stuff on them. The drinks are probably more overpriced than the food. I think my bottle of water was $4.50, for example, and beer/alcohol usually are sold at a premium. And don't forget parking (if you're not walking or using public transportation). Here's a discussion from 2016 of one study: fortune.com/2016/04/03/mlb-ballparks-tickets/ .

3. I'd look at the park policies ( www.mlb.com/indians/ballpark/information/security ), because they often change and have become increasingly restrictive over time, ostensibly on security grounds but the line between "enhanced security" and "hey, we can make people buy everything here" is a blurry one. I saw Coors was letting people bring in small bags/backpacks, but even that is starting to disappear. Looks like Jacobs Field allows one 20oz SEALED water bottle per ticket holder.

I honestly do enjoy the experience, though, and if you go only once, just consider it an experience, expect to overpay some, and leave it at that.

Sorry -- didn't see the point about the shakedown. At Coors, which I think is fairly standard, you do have to pass through a metal detector, which means taking (at Coors, anyway) keys, cellphones, and such out but not wallets. It's not as invasive as TSA, and I've never had a problem. Again, I'd just suggest reading the policies about what's permissible to bring in to minimize at-the-gate problems.

I am en route to my annual Red Sox game at this very instant.

1. 9 innings is long enough, Crom forbid it goes extra innings. You can leave early and I doubt you’ll feel like you’re missing out.

2. Food/drink is ridiculous, but that’s how it is at any event these days. I prefer minor league games for many reasons, this being one of them. The minor league park we have tends to be a bit more affordable from front to back, and there’s more leg room.

3. This probably varies park to park. Check ahead of time.

That said, being at a ballgame is pretty great, doesn’t matter how Into the sport you are. To say I’m a casual baseball fan is even a stretch, but I’d catch a minor league home games once a week if I could. I love it.

If you and your crowd aren't averse to gambling, you need to play moundball.

- Everyone puts $ in the pot every half-inning.
- Each player gets their own half-inning. For example, for three players:

Player 1 - middle 1st, end of 2nd, middle of 4th.
Player 2 - end of 1st, middle of 3rd, end of 4th.
Player 3 - middle of 2nd, end of 3rd, middle of 5th.

- When the pitcher leaves the mound, he may or may not have a ball to drop. If he does, the ball may or may not end up in the mound's dirt. If it does, the player whose turn it is gets all the money. Then you can start again.

If the game is boring, there's always moundball.

3 hours is about average. If the Ace pitchers are in, game will likely be a bit shorter until the 6th-7th inning. More hits leads to a longer (but more exciting!) game.

A beer runs about $7 here in Toronto, but that’s Canadian. Food is also marked up about 1.5x what you would pay elsewhere. I know you can bring your own water in this park, others may vary but it’s standard to allow outside water.

If you’re going with kids, you may be able to pop into the park a an hour and a half early and have them scramble for some batting practice balls. Best spot for this is the foul line corners. Some stars know know kids hang out here, so it can be a good time to get an autograph. Again, depends on ballpark and team, but Encarnacion is a gem with the kids.

SaMoKo wrote: 3 hours is about average. If the Ace pitchers are in, game will likely be a bit shorter until the 6th-7th inning. More hits leads to a longer (but more exciting!) game.

I am/was* a Reds fan. I saw Greg Maddux abuse the Reds live, and that game lasted about 2 hours. Unhittable. I saw Tom Browning pitch a lot, and he pitched like he was double-parked outside the stadium.

*If the team and management is trying, but sucks, that's one thing. Using the team as a cash cow, that's different. If they can't be bothered to put a decent team out there, I'm not going to watch.