Bangor people too busy for baseball?

Ever notice how nothing takes the mind off baseball quite as well as attending a lop-sided baseball game?

It happened to me Tuesday afternoon. There I was, juiced for some hardball dramatics between Old Town-Orono and Lewiston in an elimination game during the State American Legion Baseball Tournament at the Mansfield Complex in Bangor.

Bottom of the second, Old Town-Orono’s metal bats chimed for 11 runs, putting the Twins up 13-0. Ball game. Except there were six and a half meaningless innings left to play.

I looked around. Empty bleachers to the left. Empty bleachers to the right. Here I was, stuck in the middle with a notebook.

So I counted the fans. At that point, there were 77, not including University of Maine baseball coach John Winkin and a few others leaning on the chain link fence at field level.

Looking back at the immaculate diamond and the determined young men in uniform, the scene made me recall philosophy 101. What if they put on a baseball tournament and no one came? Does an aluminum bat meeting a horsehide ball make a sound if there’s no one there to hear it?

Those questions led to two more in a serious vein:

Why aren’t more fans here?

Isn’t this bad for the tournament’s future in Bangor?

First thing was to determine if such a low turnout is unusual for what is billed as the best brand of baseball in Maine short of college ball.

“No, it isn’t,” answered Tim Donovan, groundskeeper for many of the 43 years the tourney was held at the field of the Togus Veterans Administration Hospital. Watching for the first time at this different site, Donovan shrugged. “It never drew an awful lot of people.”

Small crowds might have been accepted at Togus, a below-standard baseball facility located on a site outside of Augusta that isn’t easy to get to. But here? At the House that Stephen King Built? Wasn’t this August, a prime vacation month? Wasn’t the price of admission refreshingly affordable, $3 for adults, $2 for senior citizens, a buck for kids? Hadn’t the tournament been all over local TV and the paper? And wasn’t the weather gorgeous?

Looking at the small conclaves of fans in the bleachers, the breakdown appeared to be mostly parents and girlfriends of the players. One age group was glaringly absent. Where were the smaller kids, the ones who play Little League? Didn’t they know they might see the next Mike Bordick or Billy Swift playing right here, in their own backyard, all for about the price of a pack of baseball cards?

Joey Caristi, age 13, was one of a few boys his age who could be found on the premises. Caristi was hawking popcorn and soda for the concessions stand.

“I worked a game yesterday and I made $13 in tips,” said Caristi, displaying a stash of bills tucked inside his Oakland A’s cap.

What about the baseball game?

“I love baseball,” answered Caristi, who played third base for a Bangor senior league team earlier this summer. “I hope I can play legion ball when I’m older, if I’m good enough.”

What about your friends? How come they aren’t here?

“Most of the guys are either working (concessions) or they have basketball and football camps,” came the answer.

There it was, a ’90s-type answer if there ever was one. Our kids are too busy to watch baseball.

What does this bode for the future of the Legion tournament?

The handful of silver-haired men wearing American Legion hats and badges at the scorer’s table didn’t seem panicked by the attendance.

“We hope for something more, but I don’t think it’s all about fans,” said Lionel Koss of Post 31 in Auburn, the American Legion’s state commissioner of baseball. “The tournament is for the players.”

As for returning to Bangor, where it appears the event will struggle mightily to break even, Koss said the Legion baseball committee will meet in October to begin planning for next year’s tournament.

“I’m hoping we can rotate between three sites in three different areas of the state — south, central, and up here,” said Koss. “You’ve got an ideal field up here, but I’m sure they’ve got some down south as well.”

Who knows, maybe Koss and the American Legion will find a field in an area where fans aren’t yet too busy to watch baseball.