Giger: Fed up with MLB? Minor league baseball is better anyway ... and WILL start on time

ALTOONA, Pa. -- I'm fed up. I'm done with Major League Baseball as a fan and (probably) will never go back.

Who's with me?

I'm 48, and I've got better things to do than waste my time on a sport that doesn't care about me. Or you. Or anybody.

All the people care about in Major League Baseball is money. And I'm sick of it.

So ... I'm out.

Luckily, I live in a town where outstanding professional baseball will still be played this year. And wouldn't you know it, their season WILL start on time -- April 8 -- despite the MLB lockout and all the BS bickering between billionaire owners and multi-millionaire players.

I'm talking about minor league baseball, which is, in all honesty from my perspective, better than the major leagues anyway.

I live two miles from Peoples Natural Gas Field, the gorgeous home of the Pirates' Class AA affiliate, the Altoona Curve. I'm guessing most people here already know this, but for those who don't, I've been the Curve's beat writer for the Altoona Mirror since the team came to town in 1999. I am, very proudly, the longest-tenured minor league beat writer for one team in the entire country, with this season marking my 24th year covering the franchise.

I've written somewhere in the neighborhood of 8,000 stories about the Curve. And also three books -- a history of the team's inception and first season published in 1999, a recap of the 2010 Eastern League championship published that same year, and a 20-year review of the franchise's best behind-the-scenes stories published in 2018.

And of course, since this is Altoona, Adam Hyzdu is on the cover of two of the books. (That's also Andrew McCutchen and "Big Country" Brad Eldred on the cover of the 20th anniversary book below.)

Minor league baseball has been a huge part of my entire adult life. I got my start covering the Class AA Arkansas Travelers in 1997, then the Class A Danville (Va.) 97s in 1998 and the Curve beginning in 1999. I had actually never even heard of Altoona when I saw the Mirror job opening in late 1998, and when I moved here, NO WAY did I ever plan on staying for very long.

But, life happened, and I met an awesome woman -- through baseball here, no less -- in August of 1999. We will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary in two weeks, and she is the reason I decided long ago to give up my dreams of covering the major leagues and settle for a life in the minors.

By the way, we have 9-year-old twins, and they have a blast going to Curve games. They run around the ballpark for three hours, play with other kids on the hill beyond left field and barely watch any of the games.

They LOVE IT!

You know what they really didn't enjoy AT ALL? When we took them to their first Pirates game last year at PNC Park. We had free tickets -- saving us roughly $100 -- but still paid $15 for parking, $16 for two freaking ice cream cones (after waiting in line for 45 minutes despite there being only 10,000 in attendance that night) and left after the seventh inning because they weren't into just sitting still for the game.

BREAKING NEWS: Baseball is boring.

My kids would much rather have just gone to their 200th Curve game instead, where the smaller, more quaint atmosphere is so much more comfortable for families, especially those with younger children.

I grew up with cable in the 1980s, first watching Dale Murphy and the Atlanta Braves on WTBS and then falling in love with the Cubs when we got WGN in 1984. From 1984 through 1998, I watched about 150 Cubs games on TV every season. I never missed a game if at all possible, and watched a couple thousand games with my father -- because baseball was OUR thing, OUR bond and what helped connect our very close relationship.

I still cry watching "Field of Dreams." I bawled when I took my son, Chase, to watch it on a movie screen in Pittsburgh on Father's Day in 2019, a few hours after my boy had gotten his first game ball ever for going 3-for-3 with a three-run double in his 8U victory.

That baseball is my most prized possession. And that was the best sports day of my life.

My second-most prized possession is the game ball I got for hitting two home runs over the fence in a game when I was 10 years old, with my dad coaching third base. My father died in 2006, and the story I told at his funeral was how I will always remember the huge smile on his face when I rounded second base and saw him enjoying the moment.

My favorite thing to do in the world is go out to the ballfield with my son. And if I could wish for anything sports related, it would be to have my dad back so he could go out to a ballfield with me and my son and we'd all play baseball.

I get teary eyed just thinking about all that.

I tell you this not to bore you with my family history, but to explain how important the game of baseball has been and always will be to me. The game of baseball -- actually going out and playing it -- is still, for me, the most enjoyable activity I can think of. If I ever have an hour to kill, I'd prefer spending it throwing BP to my son or fielding grounders at shortstop more than anything else in the world.

So, you see, if baseball has lost ME as a fan, then the sport has real problems. Because I have such a special place in my heart for baseball, and yet, because of all the bickering over finances and with the way the game is played today, I simply just don't care anymore about Major League Baseball.

Give me the minor leagues instead.

And in closing, here are my four biggest reasons why.

4. Adam Hyzdu

Again, I'm in Altoona. What did you expect? His story is one of the greatest you'll ever see in the minor leagues. A 27-year-old former top prospect who came to a new Double-A town in 1999, started smashing home runs, immediately became the face of the new franchise, and became so much of a legend that his number was retired by the Curve in 2000. He finally got to the big leagues as a 28-year-old rookie with the Pirates in 2000, had some solid success and won a World Series with the Red Sox in 2004.

A lot of minor league towns have their own Adam Hyzdu kind of guy. The local legend. The dude fans not only remember, but they also actually felt a strong connection with because he was more accessible at the ballpark and around town. Hyzdu remains, to this day, by far the most popular baseball player in Altoona history. He is Mr. Curve.

3. Smaller ballparks allow for more socializing

People go to minor league games to hang out with friends and family. Sure, some watch the game, but MANY do not. I've always said that if there's a no-hitter being thrown in a minor league game, a large percentage of fans wouldn't even know it. I finally got to test that theory when Detroit Tigers prospect Casey Mize no-hit the Curve in 2019. I was walking around Peoples Natural Gas Field in the seventh inning and saw a bunch of people not paying much attention to the game, so I asked a few if they knew what was happening on the field. Several of them had no clue.

If you go to a major league game and spend all that money, you really feel compelled to hang on every pitch. And that's fine. I did that growing up with baseball. But when you go to a minor league game, you realize that just having a fun night out and socializing can be even more enjoyable than focusing on what's happening on the field for three hours.

We are so, so lucky in Altoona to have a spacious minor league ballpark that has a huge concourse so people can walk and talk and relax with their group even if they don't care much about the game. And if they do want to watch all the action, there's plenty of leg room in all the seating areas and a gorgeous view.

2.. Feeling of community

Don't get me wrong, going to big league games can be a blast. As a Cubs fan, I'll always remember my first trip to Wrigley Field in the 1990s. My favorite player has always been former Cubs shortstop Shawon Dunston, who was awesome for the Pirates in 1997, and he signed my authentic Dunston Cubs jersey at the AstroDome in 1991.

I'm not at all an autograph person, but that jersey will always mean a lot to me. By the way, Dunston wore No. 12, which is why I always wore No. 12, and now my son wears No. 12. So again, baseball history is a big part of my family.

For as much fun as it can be going to a major league ballpark, to me it's much more comfortable and enjoyable hanging out with hundreds and hundreds of people I know from my community at a minor league game. I spend most Curve games walking around the ballpark talking to fans, and they aren't just any fans. They are my neighbors, my peers, my friends.

That close-knit feeling with fans all around the ballpark is lacking at major league games. It's more like a high school football game atmosphere in the minors, where the entire small community is there to support the local team.

1. Money, money, money, money ... MONEY!

This is absolutely and BY FAR why minor league baseball is so, so, so much better than the big leagues. Because you won't go broke attending minor league games, even if you go to a bunch of them.

I can take my family of four to many Curve games for $20 or less per game. You can buy tickets for as low as $10 apiece, and there are many games with promotions offering free tickets, buy one get one free or kids get in free. If you know when to go and where to look for the promotions, you can attend 15-20 games each season for that $20 figure or less for a family of four.

Pirates tickets run at least $20 apiece for just about every game, although they and other MLB teams also offer promotions at times. Still, for most games, it will cost a family of four at least $100 to attend a Pirates game, when again, you can get into a lot of Curve games anywhere from free up to $20.

Why do people even pay to attend a lot of MLB games anyway? Pretty much all of them are on TV, so I just don't get shelling out all that money to attend more than one or two games per year.

Give me the comfort and affordability of a minor league game any time.