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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

6 easy ways to create the ballpark experience at home

Group of male friends watching a baseball and celebrating a home run from their favorite team (Antonio_diaz Antonio_diaz / Thinkstock)

As much as pretty much all of us secretly want to be superfans, it’s pretty hard to make it to every home game. Jobs, school, finances, family, and other commitments all seem to conspire to keep us from our favorite seats in the ballpark, and require us to sometimes tune in on the couch or at a favorite watering hole.

And both of these are certainly acceptable alternatives – baseball is baseball. You just can’t, or probably shouldn’t, yell too loudly or throw your popcorn too much. Or maybe it’s cool. You do get some advantages – better close-ups and a shorter walk to the bathroom.

For those trying to create ballpark ambience at home for a more realistic game day experience, try these suggestions.

Background noise. Tape the game next time you’re there, so you’ll have an audio track of you can replay of general booing, cheering, and general stadium game chatter. YouTube offers also videos of these types of noises as well, as does a site called “StockMusic.com” that has high-quality tracks of stadium/large crowd ambience for $1-$5.

Noisy seatmates. Have your buddy or a family member play the role of the guy/gal sitting near you who rustles their food, talks on their phone, yells “Wooo!” randomly and occasionally belches.

Fresh snacks. Once an inning, have an entrepreneurial kid or server walk through offering snacks for sale. Tips are gladly accepted.

Crowd fun. During the seventh inning stretch, get up and sing – you know the rules. Same with the Wave or the YMCA.

Snack bar. Prior to the game, cook all the food you’re going to have, but keep it in the kitchen. This will force you to get up to find food when you’re hungry. Because it’s easy to get one hot dog at a time rather than nine.

Spin to win. Have in-house competitions between innings – throw a ring or a newspaper to win a prize. If your dog catches a Funyun in his mouth, everyone wins.