"where memories are made"

This is what baseball should be. Take the family out to the ballgame, without financial guilt. The Arizona Diamondbacks sell tickets for $5, hot dogs for $1.50, sodas for $1.50. That's $32 for a family of four. "They're not big hot dogs," Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall said. Hey, they're not great seats, either. But you're in the ballpark, where memories are made and lifelong allegiances are nurtured.

Baseball lost sight of the common fan amid the gold rush of the past decade, the rush to build palaces (like the new Yankee Stadium shown above) that spit out gold from luxury suites and dugout seats and baseline clubs. It is too bad baseball needed a recession to realize the pendulum had swung too far toward the rich, too far from the kids. But baseball woke up to its greed this spring, frightened into action by the prospect of plummeting attendance. Commissioner Bud Selig welcomed the new season by instituting a fan value program in which every team will offer discounts and promotions, with a special emphasis on families and children. "I'm really proud of the clubs," Selig said.

However, in view of the average price of a ticket, it appears that we could focus on families and children a good bit more. Listed below we have the average price per ticket at major league stadiums for 2008 and 2009. Teams listed from highest to lowest for 2009:

Team ---- 2009 ---- 2008

New York Yankees $72.97 $41.40
Boston Red Sox 50.24 48.40
Chicago Cubs 47.75 42.49
New York Mets 36.99 34.08
Chicago White Sox 32.28 30.28
Philadelphia Phillies 31.10 28.14
Washington Nationals 30.63 25.00
DODGERS 29.66 29.66
St. Louis Cardinals 29.43 29.32
Houston Astros 28.73 28.73
Detroit Tigers 27.38 25.28
Seattle Mariners 25.53 25.29
Oakland Athletics 24.31 29.20
Baltimore Orioles 23.42 23.85
San Francisco Giants 23.28 22.06
Cleveland Indians 22.12 25.72
Minnesota Twins 21.70 20.68
Milwaukee Brewers 20.98 19.88
ANGELS 20.05 20.78
San Diego Padres 20.01 27.43
Colorado Rockies 19.50 19.50
Texas Rangers 19.41 18.01
Kansas City Royals 19.38 17.54
Cincinnati Reds 19.19 19.41
Toronto Blue Jays 19.10 28.73
Florida Marlins 19.06 18.69
Tampa Bay Rays 18.35 17.23
Atlanta Braves 17.05 17.05
Pittsburgh Pirates 15.39 17.07
Arizona Diamondbacks 14.31 15.96
MLB average 26.64 25.43

Source: Team Marketing Report