Baseball park etiquette
 

Was able to attend a Mariners-Yankees game in Seattle last weekend. Safeco Field is the 6th major league park I have visited, and it is beautiful, with great sight lines and yummy Seattle food--everything from hot dogs to sushi, saki and grilled salmon. They have what struck me as a really wierd practice in a ballpark, though: the ushers block the top of each aisle during at-bats, with little signs admonishing you to wait for the end of the current at-bat out of courtesy to the other fans, before you are allowed to go back to your seat. I have to know: is there any other ballpark in America that enforces this kind of thing? I felt like I was at the opera, not a ballgame!

That's bizarre - it sounds like a tennis match (and I think they only do this at tennis matches to people walking around doesn't distract the players). They certainly don't prohibit your movement here at Cincinnati Reds games (how else would I go get my snacks when the other team is batting?!?).

They do this at Giants games.

At SJ Sharks hockey games, you have to wait for a stopage in play to return to your seat.

Well, maybe it's a California/West Coast thing, it sure hasn't been seen at Cubs and White Sox games as yet!

Thats some good info to know Marilynl, I'll remember to bring my air horn if I ever head to Safeco Field. ;-) What such bologna. Id like to see them do that at Lincoln Financial Field 8-)

It is NOT a California thing. The Angels or Dodgers have not adapted this practice.

The only thing remotely close to this is during a Mighty Ducks Hockey game.

Since an at bat can take several minutes, this is ridiculous. Also must play hell on the concession stands and bathrooms in between innings.

J_Correa: I though they only did it at PacBell with the seats behind home such as those in the clubhouse level.

that is really weird. certainly never heard of it elsewhere.

At hockey games, they don't want you out of your seat during play because you could get hit with a flying puck.

I've never heard of such an oddity at a baseball game...?

Most hockey games do this, even way up in the noseblead seats.

marylynl: were the seats down low like SAB said? I think I've seen the same done at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Then again I'm way up high so I could be seeing things wrong.

I haven't seen those signs at Safeco Field (then again my only game so far this year was as a guest in the owner's suite - ooh la la $) ). Sometimes I wish Seattle would get a (partial) DNA transplant from Chicago or Rome. Courtesy can be sooo confining...

I saw this two weekends ago at an Arizona Diamondbacks ballgame at Bank One Ballpark. This was in a section that had "seatside service". You ordered your food & drink from a waitress and then a guy came and delivered the food.

It makes a lot of sense, really.

It's posted at Fenway, but no one adhered to it yesterday! One requirement of attendance seemed to be proliferance of profanity. Yikes!

At Fenway Park (Boston) there is an announcement at beginning of game asked that after the 3rd inning, fans only leave seats btween batters or between innings. Everyone ignores the announcement.

This was in the lower level seats but out in right field, and they really ENFORCED it. You couldn't overlook the signs, though, because there were very adament ushers holding them--they were on little sticks, like a campaign sign, for ease in waving in patrons faces.

Yes, I always appreciate it when people wait for a lull in the game before leaping out of their seats to get snacks or whatever, but the concept of forcing people--sometimes LOTS of people if it's a long at-bat-- to wait at the head of the aisle for a lull in the game was a new one on me.

Yes, the signs do exist!

Just a courtesy thing. Safeco Field seating is row 1 thru 41 with no walkway or break, as in some other ball parks, and even the old Kingdom.

When you pay $50 to see a game, you really don't want to have people walking in front of you all the time.

I think it works well. But perhaps not for all.

I'd like to see them try this at Yankee stadium. There'd be a riot.

Plus - ssince most people are often standing for a large part of the game anyway - why would it make any difference.

That sounds like a lot of bunk. Are you allowed to BOO at the park?

nytraveler....interesting point! and I think you are correct. Love those Yankee fans.


However, as stated in most of the ticketing vendors info....
"Seats to Avoid"
Rows A-B in all main boxes. the concourse is located in front of these rows so people walking to and from may obstruct your view."
Therefore only in the first 10 rows A-J
of the Field Boxes are there no obstructions. The Main, and Main reserved sections first two rows (A-B)
are obstructed.
Trust me...the old Kingdom was built like this also, and it was aggravating to have people walking in front of you the whole game. Safeco Field is built as to not have these obstructions.

It's just a different twist on seating.
Not that is better or worse.

Come to Safco Field....we are nice to
ALL our fans....it's baseball..it's supposed to be fun!
((by the way, I am also a NYY fan))
Glad we at least got one game last weekend!!

Yankee Stadium has character. WOW

Ok, then if most people are standing for most of a game at Yankee stadium, then that would be different from my experiences at a dozen other ballparks across the country. We are talking about baseball, right?, not a rock concert.

circa2, do you know if I can get a replacement for a lost ticket? I got a ticket for the game on September 6 through Ticketmaster and can't find it.

It is not done at Dodger Stadium, but in the field boxes, they do have attendants at the bottom of each row standing there to make sure there's no mad rush to sit in the close-up seats from those who don't have tickets there. Nonetheless, if you have season tickets for this area and come late, there's always some joker sitting in your seat stuffing his face, which means you have to pick off the peanuts on your seat and food trays under it.

It is fun to read this and compare behavior seen at a Hockey game in NY/NJ :)
There, etiquette might be better described as not throwing a beer on the family in front of you. Or trying not to scream obsceneties into the ears of the 10 year old next to you.
Oh, and try not to trample everyone in the row when you try to catch a puck that flies into the seats.
Baseball sounds so , so , Civilized :D

I just attended three Red Sox games at Fenway last week and this rule was enforced at two of the games I went to. Never seen it done at any other ballpark that I have been to. And I agree, I can't imagine trying this at Yankee Stadium!!!

They had guys with signs at Pac Bell in SF just a few weeks ago. We were sitting waaaay up behind 3rd. Seemed like people were getting up and leaving their seats for food, drink, bathrooms, but on the way back they would wait. But I didn't get the sense of strict enforcement, more like a request.

They don't this at Tropicana (Tampa) or Turner (Atlanta). We went to a game at Safeco soon after it opened and they didn't have those signs at that time. We wait for the end of an at-bat anyway and don't need to sign to tell us ball park etiquette! It's usually the vendors who block your view.

No, I've never seen it done at Busch Stadium. Never even gave it a bit of thought. There's 50,000 yelling, screaming, sun stroked fans drinking beer and waving banners and such. But my walking back to my seat in the upper deck is what cost them the game? Hehe... Oh, sure, blame me...

Yup, they do this at the clubhouse level at the Giant's games. Doesn't bother me...you just wait until the hit then you can sit. We did not have to wait for the entire time at bat. Once the ball was either hit or sent back to the pitcher, you could sit down. I personally like it.

Message: We took in a Giants game at SBC Park (how great is that stadium?!) whilst vactioning from the UK this July and noticed that they have this system. However it didn't seem at all strange to us. At Wimbledon if you leave your seats you cannot return to them until the end changes after 2 games. Can be a LONG time if it's a close match with long rallies. However, people don't tend to eat their way through the match as they did at the baseball either, so there isn't such an imperative to leave your seat for more of those great garlic fries!

Annethered: Your garlic fries are now available at Costco. (A bit off topic but nonetheless important!)Enjoy!

At Fenway last Tuesday there was an announcement that if you had a problem with other fans (i.e. profanity or they were interfering in your enjoymet of the game a phone # was provided)...As for the ushers stopping you..they wouldn't dare do it at Fenway..always sold out crowds...We frankly didn't see it. (We were near the Pesky Pole)

I do not believe they do this in Atlanta but I know they strictly enforce it at the Atlanta Thrashers hockey games.

mrwnrfl -

No - its a Yankees game - not a rock concert. And people don;t stand the whole time. Just when something nifty happens - like a hit or home run a stolen base or a great catch or another strikeout - but with the Yankees that's a good part of the game.

I noticed this system at the Skydome in July 2001. I think its a great thing. I hate hate hate having to get up out of my seat to let someone by and then miss a great play. Or having someone walk by in the aisle and miss something. I didn't notice it at Safeco in 2002 or this summer at Camden Yards.

Last Friday at the Red Sox game, I heard the announcement mentioned Gail. My husband and I chose to abide by it but also recognized that we were alone in that decision. I find that most people won't get up during play but they can't get back to their seats fast enough and end up blocking your view as they return.

At Fenway sight lines are such that you can't wait at the top of the aisle and still see the action. At both Safeco and Skydome the action is still very visable from the concourses.

What you find at Fenway are fans looking for better seats and moving around into empty seats until the ticket holder shows up. BTW I hadn't been to a game in years and let me tell you although Fenway is fan friendly and I l loved the "Fenway Experience"... I got sticker shock at the food booths.. A friend told me there are seats in Dodger Stadium for $6.00...that certainly doesn't buy you two containers of water at Fenway.lol

A more important ballpark etiquette question was raised in the deviously clever book "Letters from a Nut."

As posed to the CEO of a company that makes stadium seating - "When going to or from your seat, is it proper to place your butt or your crotch at the person sitting?" Followed by a detailed analysis of the plusses and minuses of each method and a recommendation to build all stadiums with long rows that run from top to bottom and aisles on both sides of every seat. The response from the company CEO has that air of "you're insane aren't you."

The book is a collection of bizarre letters to companies (asking Nordstrom's if they can buy a mannequin that resembled a deceased neighbor, a casino if they can provide him with bodyguards because he resembles Abe Lincoln"

Rumor has it that the writer, Ted Nancy, is actually Jerry Seinfeld and that he wrote these intensely funny and bizarre letter's to assume himself.

I think ballpark etiquette is a local thing. We never thought much of it until we started going to venues around the country for baseball, football & hockey. We never realized how polite our hometown fans were until we saw others. No matter what sport I've been to in my hometown, it's simply common courtesy (not ushers) to wait until a stop in play before exiting or entering your seats. I was shocked when I saw otherwise at other venues.

I can't wait to tell my sons about this news. We have been to more than half of the ball parks over the years. I can't believe it has come to this kind of regimentation. This truly reflects the change in the "average" baseball patron-maybe due to the pricing of tickets and ridiculous salaries paid to players.

Baseball was a game invented to fill in entertainment for those at "picnic" to watch. The earliest years had kids running around and people eating on the grass- even at professional levels. Now this sounds more like "golf" rules. I can remember in the 1950's and '60's when kids would run up and down the empty seat areas of Comiskey just to make the seat "drum" role for our cheers.

No wonder so many less sophisticated of us proletariet are turning to NASCAR. This will never happen at White Sox, Cubs, Yankees, or St. Louis- of that I am sure. It's OUTSIDE and we can watch the action from nearly anywhere. We do not need any more regimentation or aisle police. It's almost like having a wedding or big party and then telling people when they could go to the bathroom. I think it will be nearly unenforceable and I am shocked that Fenway is trying to pull off this silliness.

Hey, Parrot Mom, what did you pay for your tickets?

We paid an outrageous amount for 4 decent (not box or special) seats through stubhub.com. What is with this legalized scalping? Are there tickets available for the printed price at the box office?

Fortunately, four tickets were given to our son as a present, Section 8, Box 94...Row BB.. The seats were not good (39.00 each)...if people stood up you couldn't see the action at the plate, never mind right field.. We would have been better off up higher up, I think . I went to the Hilltop booth and paid.......$9.50 for a steak sandwich x 2 plus $3.75 for two Cokes.. The men behind the counter kept pointing out the prices..lol Yes, the meat was good...When we got to Fenway there was a line outside the ticket booth...in back of the bleachers..so I guess tickets are available. The best part was the free parking..normally $25.00 per night.. Loved the Fenway Experience, the families, kids, everybody in their favorite Red Sox players shirts (we wore #9 for Ted Williams) and the cleaned up Fenway...but for seeing a game I'll watch and listen to Jerry Remy..with my Wally on the TV set(let's see what non-Red Sox think Wally is). Still working on my digital pictures...

I've been to many ballparks (including Fenway) and I have to say that I think the "no seating during an at-bat" is a good idea.

The last game I went to in Phila., I swear the guy next to us must have gotten up 12 times to get a beer -- seemingly always during a key at-bat in the game. The no-seating rule would have been a godsend.

BTW, does anyone else remember the days at Fenway when it was agains the rules to bring beer to your seat?