One of the things I have always wanted to do in Mazatlan is to see the local baseball team, the Venados (the deer) play a game. When I heard there was a group going to a game on Saturday night I joined in. We flagged down a truck out on the front street and after Marion negotiated a price for the ride we were on our way to the baseball stadium.
Looking out the back of the truck on the way to the park.
90 peso’s for a good seat (about $7.80.) The game was between the Hermosillo Naranjeros (the oranges!) and the Mazatlan Venados. The Vendados are out of the running for the playoffs so this set of three games is likely the last they will play for the season.
The group heading up to the ticket office.
These cards were on the counter when we bought our tickets. This is the Venado’s pitcher J. Jackson who someone said used pitch in the States and is from South Carolina.
That’s J. Jackson getting ready to pitch. He pitched a really good game and the fans just love him.
The park. We had really good seats and could see the whole game without any problem. The zoom on my camera had to work really hard to get shots!
The roof above our seats was corrugated metal and it’s purpose is probably for sun but it did a great job of keeping the balls off our heads as well! It had a whole lot of dents in it.
Marion, me, Marilyn, Fred, Don and Dennis.
The pitchers for the Naranjeros and the Venados.
P.S.- Dennys Reyes was not very good! J. Jackson was great.
When we arrived at 5:20pm (the game started at 6pm) there was hardly anyone there but by six pm there was a really good sized crowd. Mazatlan loves their ball team and they cheered enthusiastically all through the game. Great fun.
Batter up.
At the end of the sixth inning Marilyn and I went down to find the official booth for the Venado’s t-shirts.
The mascots for the Naranjeros.
Between innings there were vehicles driven on to the field by local car dealerships. I guess they were sponsors.
This is the Mazatlan Venado mascot. It would seem he writes his own script because some of what he did was definitely not rated “G or family” rated.
This beautiful little baby girl was sitting just in front of us and she was just fascinated by Marion who was sitting next to me. I couldn’t believe how well behaved the very small children were. No crying or whining and they just sat and watched the whole game. Very impressive!
We won! 3 to 1 for the Venados.
Everyone on the field for the team handshakes.
Leaving the park to head home.
It was a really good game. No sloppy play, good pitching (for the Venado’s ) great catches and a lot of fun to watch. Better than a lot of the World Series games we watched last summer on TV. We ate nuts and drank beer and watched the crowd as well as the game. You could buy cotton candy, chips, hot food out of coolers, pizza, doughnuts and who knows what else from the vendors. We did the wave and just generally enjoyed ourselves. I feel very comfortable here in Mexico and not so much like a gringo all the time.
I had a really good time and I’m glad I finally got to see a ball game.
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