Baseball Tailgating: On the Upswing?

05/08

Tailgating is a phenomenon most closely associated with football, or NASCAR. Traditionally, baseball fans have relied upon the stadium snack bars for their game day sustenance. But in recent years, perhaps in protest of the $8 hot dog, tailgating at ballparks seems to be catching on. We went out to one of the top baseball tailgates, at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, to see for ourselves the seeds of great 'gates beginning to take root.

You can see the gathering of fans from the early rush-hour traffic on the 55 freeway, almost taunting commuters as they crawl past. They're busting out grills and popping open ice chests in the immense shadow of the famous Big A. As more and more people get off work and head out for the game, the cluster begins to grow. This illustrates one of the possible reasons tailgating is not as popular before baseball games. Most ballgames are during the week, and that makes it a little tough to get there four hours early. Baseball Guru Joe Mock, author of The Joe Mock Ballpark Guide, explains "football games are almost always on weekends - and, as a consequence, are more of an 'event' than baseball games, which occur 81 times a year, not eight."

He also points to the urban location and limited parking at many baseball stadiums. "Historically, tailgating hasn't been all that common surrounding ballparks. Perhaps it was due to the fact that baseball stadiums didn't have sprawling parking lots that lent themselves to tailgating."

But tailgating is addictive, and sports fans are finding that baseball is a great excuse to keep the party going. In San Francisco, Alex Rodriquez and some of his crew from Club 49 are adding Giants games to their tailgate calendar. And they're not alone.

Mock, who has visited 256 professional ballparks, has noticed that "It seems to me that cities that have a robust football-tailgating presence tend to have active tailgating at their baseball games. Cities like Chicago and Kansas City fit this, and Milwaukee (which used to have some Packer games) is a great example of superb tailgating at baseball games."

Of course, it doesn't hurt that Anaheim has great weather and massive parking lots that have hosted pre-game parties for the Angels as well as the NFL's Rams, and Raiders.

Many of the fans we met in the lot are season ticket holders who tailgate before every home game. Others pick a couple games each year to really do it up. Fans of the visiting Padres were glad to have a place to party before the game. "We can't tailgate at Petco. There's just no place to do it."

In the parking lot at Angel Stadium, Matt Swanson from the Angels' front office was tailgating with some friends. He explained that they saw tailgating at the Big A really start pick up during the 2002 World Series. And it's been going strong ever since. "We're thrilled."

Joe Mock is, too. "I've definitely seen an upswing in tailgating at baseball games in recent years, especially on the weekends. I think this is a welcome development indeed, because baseball fans have great personalities and the fellowship and camaraderie that happens as they gather prior to games is a great thing."