SPENDING: A DAY AT THE BALL PARK COSTS NEARLY AS MUCH AS A NIGHT AT THE OPERA
By Editor: Pauline Tai Reporter associate: Elizabeth MacDonald

(MONEY Magazine) – With a record 52 million Americans expected to attend baseball games this season, Money surveyed the 26 teams in the National and American leagues to see how much a typical family of four can anticipate spending to watch nine innings at the park. The bottom line: it costs nearly as much to boo the Pirates as it does to shout bravo at Puccini. Tickets are only part of the drain. A 14-ounce beer costs $2.50 in Philadelphia, and a San Francisco Giants cap will set you back $10. For the best seats in the park, parking, four hot dogs, two sodas, two beers, popcorn, a pretzel, peanuts and the four souvenirs listed below, a ball game will run from a low of $65.75 at Dodger Stadium to $89.95 at Fenway Park. Ticket prices for children run about a dollar less than the adult prices shown here, but some teams, including the Pirates and the Giants, let children in free if they can walk under the turnstiles and sit on your lap. At these prices, seek out cut-rate family deals. For example, with the World Champion Minnesota Twins' 12 Family Day Packages, it costs a family of four only $12 to get upper-deck general-admission seats, plus four soft drinks and hot dogs. And on five Saturdays this season, the first 10,000 Oakland Athletics fans will get free hot dogs, soda, ice cream and chips. Also scheduled is one Roll Back the Prices Night: tickets will be at half price and selected souvenirs at 1968 prices.

CHART: TEXT NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: NO CREDIT CAPTION: NO CAPTION DESCRIPTION: Prices of various items in major league baseball stadiums.