Innings & Outings

Major League Baseball could break your heart. The Montreal Expos (over and over and over). The potential sites for high-tech stadiums. (If we build it, will they come? And where will they park?) Meanwhile, major-league ticket prices keep rising. Athletes' salaries rival the GNP. Steroids threaten the State of the Union. And strikes these days are as likely to be job actions as swings of the bat.

So strike back. Shrug off the major annoyances and try the minor thrill. There are a half-dozen minor league stadiums within 100 miles of the Beltway, plus a seventh near the shore, and a couple of visits will convince you there is still something magical about a diamond in the night.

Following the minors is a lot cheaper, of course. The teams not only charge less for tickets – and there are plenty of dollar nights, two-for-ones and other special promotions – but the parking is nearly always free. All stadiums are wheelchair accessible and limit smoking to specific areas.

More important, the players are within reach, physically and emotionally. You'll never need binoculars at a minor league stadium – in most cases, the seats are so close to the field that there isn't even room for bullpens; the pitchers just warm up in foul territory – and the bond between the teams and their communities is obvious from the billboards and promotions for truck sales, chiropractors and local radio stations. Players are more apt to sign autographs, shirts and even gloves – which can be even more of a thrill if your favorite player makes it up to the majors: Bowie outfielder Val Majewski, considered a very hot prospect, has worked his way up through all four area O's farm teams in just three years. And every once in a while you'll see a major-leaguer up close and personal because he's recovering from an injury: Orioles second baseman Jerry Hairston recently spent several weeks at Bowie rehabbing a fractured finger.

Minor league stadiums have a much more playful atmosphere, and far less regimented seating. Children tend to run around in packs yelling at one another, blowing plastic trumpets and frantically chasing foul pops into the parking lot. Teenagers huddle over cell phones. Seniors, most of whom seem to be old friends, spread out and tell jokes. Kids get to play announcer and run the base paths; fans rather than recording artists sing the national anthem. Many of the minor league stadiums have carousels or moon bounces and speed-pitch tents to entertain younger fans when they get restless, as well as special kids' clubs activities, baseball camps and even sleepovers. Little Leaguers and T-ball teams get to go out on the field with the players while the anthem is being performed and often get in free when wearing uniforms. Costumed mascots and other characters such as Wilmington's mysterious Mr. Celery wander freely through the seats.

To fit family schedules, and also because it doesn't take nearly as long to park and seat 5,000 or 6,000 people as it does 40,000, night games generally start at 7:05 rather than 7:35. Pre-game activities include high-school drill team demonstrations and theatricals; post-game fireworks, at least a couple of times a month, are dependable draws. And the constant parade of silly contests between innings – dizzy races, sack races, softball throws, musical chairs, "YMCA" dances – will remind even cynical adults of summers gone by.

If you take the area tour, you'll see a lot of orange and black. The Aberdeen, Frederick, Bowie and Delmarva teams in Maryland are all affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles, an unusual geographic convenience; the Hagerstown Suns also wear those colors, because of their affiliation with the orange-and-black San Francisco Giants. There's a T-shirt in the Aberdeen souvenir shop showing the IronBirds, Keys, Baysox and Shorebirds logos, with the Oriole himself in the middle; you could almost use it as a wearable autograph book. And thanks to the joint ownership of Frederick, Bowie and Delmarva, season tickets for any of the three are good for general admission to the other two stadiums.

You'll also see a whole lot more foul balls in the minors, including some wicked line drives; it's a good idea to pay close attention to the game or to buy seats behind home plate, where the screen protects you. (The Cannons' motto is "Real Baseball. Real Close," and the phrase cuts both ways.) What you may not hear much of is the "O!" that Orioles fans used to shout out at the beginning of the last couplet of the national anthem; for whatever reason, that tradition seems to be fading away. And unless you listen to OutKast as frequently as you do John Fogerty, you may not recognize all the musical snippets played as sports commentary these days. Taking the minor league tour may also allow you to see the same teams both home and away; the Keys, the Cannons and the Wilmington Blue Rocks all play in the Class A Carolina League, Delmarva and Hagerstown in the one-half-step-lower Class A South Atlantic League.

A few tips: If you're planning to buy general admission tickets, you may want to equip yourself with seat cushions: Although reserved and box seats are usually fold-down chairs, GA seats are usually benches. Concessions are predictable – mostly hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken strips and pizza, plus some barbecue, nacho chips and kids'-menu items. (No food or beverages may be brought in from outside.) However, many venues have a buffet club level, and some have wait service for box seats. Most minor league stadiums offer premium or microbrew beers as well as the usual brands.

So now, ladies and gentlemen, here they are: Your . . . Washington area . . . minors!

THE HAGERSTOWN SUNS

The Suns play in the oldest stadium of the group, the third-oldest minor league stadium still operating in the country. It dates from 1931, and though it is showing its age around the restrooms and such (and is constantly rumored to be in danger of replacement), it has some period touches that are uniquely minor-league, particularly the manually operated scoreboard out in left field; fans 18 or older can sign up to take a turn hanging the runs/hits/errors numbers. The stadium resembles a college facility with a broadcast booth that doubles as a partial covering for the bleachers. Except for a few rows of VIP seats along the base lines, it's all bleacher seating, although they have some cushioning, and short-legged beach chairs are much in evidence as stadium seats.

The Suns are one of two National League affiliates in the area, the Giants' entry into the South Atlantic League. Even so, you won't see a pitcher bat, here or anywhere else on the minor league circuit; every team uses the designated hitter. The mascot is an orange-and-black woolly worm called Woolly B (theme song, "Wooly Bully"). Although the team's colors don't come from the Orioles, the Suns were an Orioles farm team for about a decade in the '80s and early '90s; Jim Palmer spent one week in rehab here. And at other times, the franchises that are now in Bowie and Frederick were in Hagerstown. (One Hagerstown team was even affiliated with the late, lamented Senators.) Municipal Stadium also used to host Negro League games and was the site of Willie Mays's first pro-ball appearance in 1950; there are historical plaques around the concourse.

Municipal Stadium – 274 E. Memorial Blvd., Hagerstown; 301-791-6266 or www.hagerstownsuns.com. From the Capital Beltway, take Interstate 270 north to I-70 west to Exit 32B/Route 40 west; take Route 40 to a left onto Eastern Boulevard to the light at Memorial Boulevard; turn right to the parking lot. General admission $6 adults; ages 12 and younger, 60 and older, and active military $5.

THE FREDERICK KEYS

Harry Grove Stadium is many fans' first foray into the minors, and it's a classic, short on pretension and very long on audience activities. The Frederick Keys are named for native son Francis Scott Key, author of "The Star-Spangled Banner," who is buried, along with Barbara Fritchie of "old gray head" fame, in Mount Olivet Cemetery, which faces the stadium across the parking lot. In summer, the cemetery's main gate remains open until at least 7, so if you want, you can park the car, walk along the side of the cemetery to Market Street and see Key's massive monument just inside the entrance.