I get the feeling the local baseball team just don’t care. It used to be that you didn’t have to be a baseball fan to enjoy a game at SodaBeverage Field. They used to sell the place out. I went to a game last year with my Dad and we couldn’t help but wonder what happened. Limited open gates, desolate corridors, oh, where have you gone Mike Billoni? It just seemed fairly lifeless. You definitely had to be a fan as there was nothing happening, practically tumble weeds on the concourse. Concession area looked like that “Bad part of town.”
The Bisons changed major league affiliations over the winter and I thought that might inject a little more life. They are hooked up with the Mets and you’d thinking the prospect of sucking in HD on SNY might liven the place up a bit. Nope. As part of my reward for being a marketing judge at UB’s departmental presentation, I was given a ticket to tonight’s game by one of their teachers, a good guy who helps my employer out from time to time. Access to beer and burgers, I’m a happy guy, especially when the students are to scared to touch food that is still covered. Risking the wratch of the concessions workers and generally not giving a damn in the first place, I got things going at the grill, merrily escorting two burgers, potato salad and a fresh beer to a comfortable space. Chowing down in the center field picnic area amongst a collection of about to be drunken college kids, I was struck that I could hear the infield chatter and concessions guys in the infield. That ain’t right.
Properly satiated, I settled in to watch a little ball and there is nothing so desolate as a sparse ballpark. I’ve always been intrigued with baseball architecture a little bit (as I am quite the dork) and the game wasted my interest, so this is what happened. I set off looking for dessert and found the following along the way. Once the Bisons started losing, I took to wandering. Stopped to catch a bouncing foul ball and tossed to the first doe eyed soul who stopped. That I couldn’t photograph, as I am only so dexterous. What follows is what caught my eye before I was full and headed to the subway after the seventh inning. Enjoy
Mike's Pub 