Minor League Baseball

North American readers will understand this, except perhaps for our colleague Virginia in Birmingham, whose attitude toward baseball is the same as Rhett Butler's toward Scarlett O'Hara. International readers can contact me for details.

The Memphis Redbirds are the St. Louis Cardinals' AAA level minor league team. They have a beautiful, new little stadium that holds 10,000 fans. (The Cards can pack in something in the mid 40s.) There are no bad seats. (Um, not so here.) It is an intimate setting for baseball lovers.

I completely blew it out and bought the most expensive seat in the place for $21. The high end here is about six time that. The Redbirds got trampled 12 - 0 by the Cubs affiliate in Des Moines. Still, it had a baseball charm you can never get in the big leagues.