Last night we went to the baseball game here in Mazatlan. The Mazatlan Venados (Deer) vs. the Guasave Algodons (Cottons).

It was our first baseball game in Mazatlan, and as lifelong baseball fans, a city with a team was an important criteria for us when we were selecting our new home. We went to the game with a couple we just met – taking a pulmonia both ways so we didn’t have to battle the stadium traffic.

The game was a lot of fun – although we made a couple of newbie mistakes. First was that we now know that row three is a terrible row – the railing is right in the way so that you have to duck to see anything. Second was that many people come late – even very late – to the games so seeing an empty seat doesn’t mean people aren’t going to come that evening.

The play was good – no AAA errors and dumb plays like we’ve seen at AAA games in the states. But the play was a bit slow, and we’d have liked to see a bit more spark in the players.

I love the craziness of Mexican outdoor events. The Venados mascot, Vinny the deer, was manic most of the time, and sometimes performing risque little skits. 2008 car models were driven out on the field between innings. T-shirts, balls, pens, and candy were thrown into the stands courtesy of local businesses. Kids wore baseball caps with antlers on top.

The food is always interesting. Fresh peanuts. Fresh potato chips drizzled with salsa. Fresh fruit. Cookies. Some sort of rice thing. Ceviche. Flan. Candied apples. And to go with the food, Pacific beer. And I like how they serve it. Instead of flat beer poured an hour ago like you get in the stands in the US the beer vendor has bottles in 5 gallon buckets of ice. When you order one he opens it and pours it into a paper cup for you.

Pacifico is based in Mazatlan and is a sponsor of the Venados. The Pacifico logo is even above the players’ names on their jerseys! And Guasave is sponsored by Tecate, so I guess in the beer war last night Pacifico won. The Venados beat the Algodons 4-1.

Next time I’ll remember my camera.