I attended a baseball game last night in the hills of Tijuana at Estadio Calimax.
The local club, Potros (Tijuana) played Pericos (Peubla) and it was a wild affair unlike I've ever witnessed
at any facility.
I went with a softball playing buddy who is Puerto Rican and works in Baja Mexico temporarily. He goes to
these games all the time.
I drove down to the border in the afternoon and met him at the 7-11 near the Otay Mesa border crossing. From
there, I parked nearby and he drove down to the stadium, located in the foothills of an area I'd be hard-pressed
to find again (he swears the route is easy!). We drove through dusty, run-down neighborhoods and past lots of
funky looking businesses before climbing the hill to the stadium and parking in the near empty lot (we got there early
to catch batting practice, etc.) Parking ran us $2.
We walked up to the ticket window and bought front row seats behind home plate for $6 each (the most expensive
seats available!) and walked around the place so I could take a few photos and just look around.
They were still setting up the food booths between the outside gate and the entryways to the seating and I watched
as they prepared carne asada and chicken on the grills and hauled in cases of Tecate beer. I had little idea of what
was in store.
We entered the stadium and took in the visitors batting practice which was pretty similar to what occurs at games
in the states. Five or so swings per player at pitches thrown by a BP pitcher and kids scrambling for the balls hit into
the seats and fans lazily arriving and settling in or just mingling around.

As the time approached for the game to begin, things took on an almost carnival atmosphere. The noise level rose
and it turned into a feast for the the senses. They sell plastic "trumpets" so fans can blare out during the game and also
these huge wooden noise makers that take two hands to swing.
It only gets wilder...
There were lots of kids there and some were in costumes including chickens, Superman, grocery clerks (?), etc.
I counted at least 4 mascots on the field. There was also a guy wearing an outfit with cowboy hat, that was written on
from head to toe by various people. I have no idea what it said. Beer vendors raced around with 5 gallon buckets of
Tecate beer bottles on ice which they hawked up and down the aisles. They pour it into plastic cups of course but the
beer caps were everywhere! I've never seen so much beer being consumed!
We had a few chicken tacos at a stand and then settled in for the game.

Let me paint you a picture (though I did take about 100 photos)...
The stadium looks to hold about 10,000 fans and is shaped in a half moon with huge billboards in the outfield but no seating.
There are four seat prices ranging from $6 down to $1 (we sat in plastic bucket seats but there was a small section of VIP seats in
front of us that were probably "corporate seating" - they were padded). The other seats ranged from uncomfortable looking
plastic to concrete benches.
There's a big electronic scoreboard in centerfield and an ear-piercing sound system. Between every pitch there is loud music
soundbites played and camera shots of the crowd (they tended to linger with the cameras in people's faces till they react in some way
and they even poked fun at them with certain music).
As the pitcher gets ready to deliver a pitch they revert to the batter's photo and stats but as soon as the pitch is made it's back to
the music, noises and crowd video! As you can imagine, this is NOT a fast paced game. One inning seemed to take an hour.

Now for the fun!
After EVERY half inning, on top of home and visitor's dugouts, out come 8 high-heeled boot and hotpants wearing
pin-up girls to strut their stuff and dance for the crowd (four on each dugout roof). The crowd goes wild! These are
the "Tecate Girls" (Tecate Beer) and they perform at every game. My friend loves this. Me too! Okay, back to the action...
When the opposing team is at bat at a crucial time, what appears on the scoreboard but one of the dancing girls, shaking her
butt for the batter to see while the music is blaring. What a hoot! Imagine this at your local game. Vendors meanwhile were
making the rounds with giant trays of fresh mango slices and exotic meats along with giant pork rinds, cotton candy, nuts,
candy (big cases filled with a variety of items) and apples on sticks.
Out in the booths area during the game, I came upon a Tequila stand where you could choose your poison from a variety on hand
while a mariachi band played for dancing couples who evidently were bored with the action on the field and/or in the stands.

The game was won by the hometown Potros after a terrific display of power hitting and after one of the pitchers on the visitors
side pulled a groin muscle after throwing a curveball. I winced at that. Oy! He hobbled off with teammates' help.