While Oaxaca lacks a professional futbol team worth following, what Oaxaca does have is a professional baseball team -- the Guerreros ("Warriors") de Oaxaca. Alfredo Harp Helú, one of the richest dudes in Mexico, is a big lover of béisbol and a big patron of Oaxaca. In addition to having funded a bunch of art and social projects in the state, he's also the owner of the Guerreros. The team is well funded and they're off to a great start this season with a 7-1 record.
We've been anticipating the start of baseball season since our arrival in Oaxaca in October. We finally caught our first game last night. Joining us at the game were Ralph and Tanya (friends from language school), their friend John, and our new roommate Claire (a journalist from Chicago). As far as we could tell, the tickets were all one price: 50 pesos (about $4US), with a 50% discount for women. There are no assigned seats and, since Oaxacans apparently don't show up until the third inning, we scored some sweet front row seats behind home plate.
In some ways, it felt like we were watching a farm league game in the states. At least generally speaking, there were a lot of familiar things -- people selling concessions in the stands, dancing mascots, cheering fans. But in other ways, it was completely different.
For starters, the Guerreros have their own cheerleaders -- the Guerreritas, a scantily clad bunch of booty shakin', pelvis thrusting, thigh high boot wearing dancers, whose apparent job it is to distract the opposing team by grinding on the astroturf in front of their dugout. We had a pretty good view into that dugout and it seemed to be working.
Sadly, they did not have pretzels (or peanuts, or crackerjack). Instead, they sold traditional Oaxacan fare like tlayudas, tortas, and tacos, all of which are yummy in their own right, though not what I crave at a baseball game. On the bright side, the beer was cold and only cost $1.50.
Apart from ex-Minnesota Twin Lew Ford's awesome home run in the seventh inning, the most exciting moment of the night was when Alex caught a foul ball. Not only was it the first foul ball that he'd ever caught, but it was extra special because it was the only foul ball that actually fell in the seats all night (the stands were so shallow in the infield that all of the other balls went flying out into the street).
Although the game got off to a shaky start, the Guerreros looked great in the later innings, winning 7-4.
Toward the end of the game, Claire and I went up to take pictures with the Guerreros' mascot, a large bird named Tato, who had spent previous innings make lewd gestures at fans and burying an old guy's face into his crotch. Not surprisingly, getting a picture taken with Tato involved getting groped by the birdman while they played kissing noises over the loudspeaker. Probably worth the photo, but definitely not something I will repeat. We will, however, definitely be catching another game.
The full set of photos is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/documama/sets/72157623709625460/
