So me and a friend of mine went to see the Tampa Bay Rays play the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field last Sunday. The tickets were cheap, cheap enough. The parking usually cost 20 bucks a pop but I managed to find a free parking space a little a ways from the stadium. It being the weekend, the parking was free at the meters, Score! So I did mention our tickets were cheap, they were actually 80 bucks a ticket, but that is the cheapest in the league! Mainly because the Rays suck, oops did I say that out loud?
So far we have spent a 160 bucks total, completely worth it to see Derek Jeter play in his last season. Crossing fingers it isn’t true. And to check out all the new talent the Yankees acquired in the off-season like Ellsbury, and Tanaka. Three innings go by and It’s time for a taditional hotdog and a beer. I get up to go get food for the both of us and I decide to get a sausage dog instead because I remember last year how good they were. I get in line, and as I’m waiting I take a gander at the size of the sausage. I couldnt believe my eyes, the sausage shrunk in half! It was like a baby sausage that was taken away from mamma sausage and sent to death at all places, a Rays game! Poor sausage. The price for this sausage dog was marked at 9 bucks, 9 BUCKS! For that? Are you kidding me? So I made the executive decision to get us both footlong franks, and I make my way over to the other line. As I’m walking over I’m hoping that the hotdog is actually a foot long or at least close to it. I look at the price and its 8 bucks, I say “what a deal!” Just having saw what I saw, I guess it seemed like a deal at the moment.
So after I purchased two footlong franks for 16 bucks and some fries for 5 bucks (I needed variety) I make my way toward the beer station. I took one look that appeared to only last a tenth of a second, because my cheap instincts kicked in and said “Heck No!” 11 bucks for a draft, are you kidding? Ugh! So to make myself feel better I go dress my hotdog with a shit load of toppings to try and get my moneys worth, even though deep down inside I know it is futile. I top it with sauerkraut, onions (even though I hate raw onions) mustard, relish, the kitchen sink, okay that last part I put on the side. I make my way back to our seats.
As I’m sitting there eating my footlong hotdog that is dripping all over the place with crap, I look down at the seats below me and I begin to laugh out loud. This guy orders two Coors Lites without thinking twice. The beer man hands him the two beers and say “that will be 18 bucks.” The guy says “how much?” The beer man replies “18 dollars.” The guy gives the beer man a 20 dollar bill and gets his change and then looks at his wife and says “18 dollars, jeesh!” I’m sure his wife cared. I turned to my friend and said “what a sucker.” Then I thought for a second and said, “well, I guess I’m a sucker too I just paid 8 bucks for a hotdog.” Cue the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” theme music!
I couldn’t believe how much everything costs. I mean its nothing different from year to year, but when I think back 3 years ago a draft beer was only 8 bucks. While that’s still expensive as it is, that’s a 3 dollar increase in three years! Why? I cant believe you don’t make a profit if you sold that beer for 3 bucks, why so much greed? So to go to a baseball game to see the Yankees you pay prime pricing for a prime team like the Yankees. If it was the Toronto Blue Jays, those tickets would have been half the price. Unfortunately the price of the food and beer will stay the same. But if you want to go to a baseball game, my suggestion, drink and eat before hand.