Posted 7/21/2008

FAMILIES LOVE BLUEFISH BASEBALL

Families used to feel strongly about baseball. Especially about their favorite teams.

But then ticket prices went sky-high, players got greedy, and money became the name of the game. Players, spoiled by multimillion-dollar contracts, switched teams almost at will. Ticket prices are a disaster. ($70 to see the NY Yankees?)

The fun has gone out of baseball and it's too expensive for the average family.

Or is it?

In Connecticut, families love going out to see the Bridgeport Bluefish play baseball in a modern, beautifully lit stadium. And the entertainment between innings is helping to win kids back to baseball.

Who are the Bluefish?

Bridgeport, Connecticut started a new baseball team in 1998 to help promote a rebirth of a once flourishing city. The city built a great stadium at Harbor Yard, where every seat is close to the field. Over 4,000 fans showed up to see the Bluefish play the Newark (New Jersey) Bears the other night.

The game started at 6:00 pm so as to attract families – early enough for kids, and in time for mommy and daddy to be home from work. From bright sunlight in the first inning to lights on at the seventh inning stretch, the game was fun to watch.

The fans were so close to the players, they could see beads of sweat on the pitcher. Between innings there were contests on the field for the kids. Hula Hooping, foot races, water balloon throwing, tennis ball tossing – all kinds of fun livened up by the hyper electronic scoreboard and the public address system. No kids were misbehaving because behaving was much more fun.

The Bluefish started out strong, leading 6-2 in the early going, but the Bears finally came out of hibernation to make an exciting game of it. In the top of the ninth, the Bears, trailing 9-6, loaded the bases with the winning run at the plate. Bluefish fans clapped and yelled encouragement to their third pitcher. As the final Bear batter made an out, the celebration began.

The game is exciting because the play is so exciting. The players, aged 24 to 40, have great ability but poor consistency. You will see a fabulous diving catch on an outfield line drive one minute and see two infielders bobble the same slow grounder the next.

When the batter swings, you never know what you are going to get. Homers, ground rule doubles, line singles, grounders, bunts or the inevitable strikeouts. The kids and their parents watched it all with rapt attention.

Families come from all the neighboring cities and towns to see the Bluefish.

As one fan said to me, "It's fun. The way baseball used to be."

The Bluefish have been very good for Bridgeport. The team has enrolled over 27,000 kids in reading programs. All kinds of civic fundraising drives and other events feature the Bluefish. A charity can buy a block of 100 $6 reserved tickets for $300. The Bluefish get $300 and the charity gets $300.

But most of all, the Bluefish are "the family glue," holding parents and kids together in a world which seems plagued by dysfunctional families.

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