Now that spring is here, the boys of summer have come home from the



desert to start the 2006 baseball season. This year I want to go to more

games. Even though I live in Seattle, I always look forward to seeing who

comes to town to play against the Mariners. You see, I love baseball and I

like to see the top performers and watch a team work like clockwork as

well.

Looking at the American League standings in the West last year, the Los

Angeles Angels were at the top. This powerhouse led by the hitting of

Figgins, Erstad, Guerrero and Anderson, has always done well and will be

a contender this season. The Oakland Athletics will no doubt have a few

surprises up their sleeve with Chavez, Kendall, and Kotsay to bat. When

Charlie Finley was at the helm about 40 years ago, a big surprise was a

matter of 3 colors: yellow, green, and white. Then came the unforgettable

performance of Reggie Jackson, Vida Blue, Bert Campaneris and

company that won them a string of World Series victories. Soriano put in a

solid performance with the Texas Rangers last year, and after a highly

publicized drama, will be with the Washington Nationals under Frank

Robinson this season. Rangers?? stars Young and Blalock, hope to pick up

the slack and hit their way into contention in 2006. Seattle wants to get an

edge this year with a few new faces and Ichiro, Beltre, Ibanez, and Sexon.

I always love it when the Boston Red Sox come to town. What a thrill it was

when they won the World Series and broke the power of a curse that has

been kept alive for way too long. The Chicago White Sox will amp things

up with a strong pitching staff and a solid-hitting team under the leadership

of Ozzie Guillen. Yes, the boys from the Bronx are back with a vengeance.

Alex Rodriguez hit his first grand slam home run on opening night to put

them in a strong lead over the Oakland A??s. With Johnny Damon on the

lineup, the New York Yankees are going to be even tougher to beat.

Well, the American League isn??t the only league around! The St. Louis

Cardinals have a favorite player of mine who is one of the most persistent

hitters in the major leagues; just ask those who have pitched against him.

Nine pitches later, David Eckstein still gets a piece of the ball and

eventually smacks one out into the outfield. Then there are the Houston

Astros, whose pitching follows the lead of the "rocket," Rodger Clemens,

who sends many a torpedo across the plate. I am from the Bay Area,

amongst a few other places and states, and the San Francisco Giants are a

special team (as well as the guys in green and yellow). Willie Mays and

Willie McCovey were big names and I can hear Russ Hodges doing the

play-by-play on the radio. The rivalry between them and the Los Angeles

Dodgers began when they played against each other when they were back

in New York at the Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field. There is no other

rivalry in baseball that has been as long as that one.

Those are just some of the teams that may or may not be coming to

Seattle. Yes, I have a good chance of catching all the games on the

television in the comfort of my own home in a soft, cushy chair or stretched

out on the couch, but the real deal is to be there at the baseball game,

eating a hot dog, having mustard on a warm pretzel, watching the action

and hoping for a foul ball to come my way. In my mind, I??m in heaven

when I??m at a baseball game, especially at a beautiful ballpark like Safeco

Field. But it??s that way anywhere across the country. Rain or shine, there??s

no better place to be.

My dilemma is how to get tickets with good seats and for a good price. I

don??t want season tickets because a purchase like that isn??t in my budget. I

could choose an expensive way out and go to a broker and pay more.

There??s still no budget for that. Teams offer specials for groups of games.

That doesn??t appeal to me at all. I want to go to some specific games and

maybe, take a vacation and go to a game at the city I??ll be visiting, maybe

Boston, New York, or even San Francisco. One site I??ve found that sells

sporting events tickets is StubHub.com. I like to check things out before I

make a decision, so I got on the web and found the site. I chose Seattle as

my city, of course, and clicked on the sports tab and a list appeared.

Baseball tickets were at the top, with NBA and NCAA football and

basketball next, NFL tickets, and other sports tickets below that. I could, if I

wanted, make another city my "home," and voila, there would be a whole

new set of choices. It??s just too easy! I??m looking forward to possibly

getting tickets for a game in San Francisco for that vacation I mentioned

about earlier. Anyway, I want to go to a Mariners-Angels game. I found

one and decided to find out how to buy the tickets. The directions were

simple and straightforward. I just choose what I want and place an order.

StubHub will deal with the seller and confirmed the order. FedEx will

deliver the tickets or they will be able to be picked up at one of the StubHub

offices nearby. I took note of the phone number. I always end up having a

question or two. All I need to do first, is register in order to buy or sell. If I

want to get more tickets for games, all I will need to do is log in and then

make my choices. Sounds good to me! So maybe if you??re in Seattle and

you want to go to a Mariners game or maybe in San Francisco in July at a

game, I might just be there, thanks to StubHub.

This article was written by FR Penn sponsored by http://www.stubhub.com.

If you??re looking for tickets for your favorite MLB team, look no further than

Stubhub.com where fans buy and sell the hottest sports tickets.

Reproductions of this article are encouraged but must include a link back to

http://www.stubhub.com.