What's New?
Current Totals
Free Newsletter

Report An Error
Fixed Bugs

Browser Button
Jump from anywhere!
Link Your Site

Get Published!
Reader Submissions

Team Pages
All Teams
Greatest Teams

The Ballplayers
Historical Matchups
Negro Leaguers
Hall of Famers
MVPs

Bookshelf
New Excerpts
Photo Collections

The Chronology
Flashbacks
Baseball Eras
Today in BB History
Anyday in BB History
Rules: 1845-1899
Rules: 1900-present

How To Snag A Major League Baseball by Zachary Hample Aladdin, 1999 | Buy the book 1|2|3|4|5|6 »

Chapter 1 | BEFORE YOU ENTER THE STADIUM BUYING A TICKET

If you order your tickets through the mail or by phone close to the date of the game you plan to attend, you'll have to pick them up at the reservations window. At some stadiums this window opens at the same time the gates do. Get the picture? You can't be in two places at once, which means you have to pick up your tickets and then walk (or sprint) to the gates to enter. You will have lost at least a few minutes -- and perhaps the opportunity to snag a ball. If possible, purchase your tickets far in advance or buy them in person at the stadium. Unless the game is sold out, you can buy tickets on the day of the game, before the gates open.

What ticket should you buy? It depends. Successful ball-snagging requires that you have access to field-level seats. Be sure to check out the rules at any stadium you plan to visit, because they vary from one ballpark to the next:

1) Some stadiums won't let you into the field level unless you have the appropriate ticket.
2) Other stadiums always let you into the field level regardless of your ticket.
3) Certain ballparks let you into the field level only if you get there early enough. This could mean getting there at least forty-five minutes prior to game time or before batting practice ends.

» NEXT: When to arrive