After a few days of nothing but laying on the beach and it was time for a quick road trip about 30 minutes south for more Low A ball action with the Braves farm club, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. I had never been to MB before, but “Myrtle Beach” is, I’m guessing French for “Tourist Trap”, but it was a Tourist Trap delighfully stuck in circa 1977 or so. The Pelican’s home was nice , shiny and new though, with a brick exterior and a great layout. Like Charelston the concourse had no view of the field, but it was so open and airy I didn’t mind. The concessions weren’t as varied as the Riverdogs, but we didn’t care and I will tell you why, the whole place and the people in it gave off one of the biggest positive vibes I’ve ever seen at a ballpark of any level.

You could tell that the Pelicans ownership had preached a feeling and philosophy from ticket seller to player. It was one of fun, enjoyment of the game and fan friendly attitude. We attended two games in total, Tuesday and Thursday. Before each there were two players available on the field for auotographs and a meet n greet, and kids run the bases after EVERY GAME.  All of the  players were open, friendly and easily accessable. We even spotted one in full uniform sitting behind home plate chatting it up with some fans pre-game. The Pelicans ushers spend their pre- game time gethering BP and foul balls to hand out to kids not lucky enough to obtain one during a game. Both our  11 month old and 4 year old managed to get balls this way.

My only problem was the Thursday game. You see it was Dollar Beer night, a fan favorite all over Minor Leauge Baseball, but you see, I gave up drinking a little over seven years ago, and not being drunk anymore myself, I had forgotten how annoying cheap drunks can be.  We moved rows in our outfield seats after hearing the drunken folks behind us repeat the same story about how many beers they ordered at once for at least the 50th time. The friendly staff seemed a bit less relaxed than they had been a couple of nights before, but still they were great. During the last inning, we headed down to the concourse. At one end a baseball diamond had been laid out in brick and stone. This little stylelistic touch ahad been adopted by a group of  about twenty kids for a pick up baseball game involving a beanbag like ball and hands for bats. At one point they lost the ball, and a couple of kids gathered together a collection of change from the group so one could run tothe team store to buy another ball, just like in the Sandlot!

Free parking, free program, free autographs, great park and great employees? If I am anywhere near Myrtle Beach during baseball season ever again, I will gladly go out of my way if need be to attend a Pelicans game. Kudos to all the good folks at BB&T Coastal Park.

(I realize I’ve been Sox-less my last two posts, vacationing I missed writing about Manny at 500, Papi being hurt, and the Red Sox attempting to recreate Fight Club, ah, good times!)