Maybe it's the warm weather, maybe it's the history the two share, or maybe it's the fact that it's hard to sit through nine innings without a drink or two, but baseball and beer, like peanut butter and jelly or cheeseburgers and french fries, make quite simply a perfect pair.
Up until about a decade ago, all you could really find at most ballparks was the simpler suds to choose from, which usually consisted of any combination of four golden beers: Bud, Bud Light, Miller Lite and Coors Light.
But nowadays, beer geeks and microbrew lovers never need thirst for a nice array of options at the ballpark. At Citizens Bank Park, you can sip on Yards, Flying Fish and Sierra Nevada, while down at Camden Yards, Leinenkugel, Fordham and Clipper City are all on tap.
Even the minors offer up a major league selection of good beer on tap, which we found out last season when we visited Frawley Stadium for a Blue Rocks game. We stopped in again last week to see what's on tap this season.
The history that baseball and beer share is a storied one. The best tale is the rumor that Babe Ruth used to visit an old Chicago pub for a pint between innings, when the Yankees visited the White Sox.
The worst, a documented event, was the Ten Cent Beer Night in Cleveland during the 1974 season, when fans erupted in a riot during the ninth inning of the Indians-Rangers game.
While you probably won't see any hitters with the same pop that the Babe wielded, and there are no Ten Cent Beer nights on the long list of promotional nights at Frawley Stadium, you will have more than light beer to choose from when you head to a Blue Rocks game.
Stop by any of the beer stands and you can certainly get your 20-ounce draft of Bud or Bud Light for $5.75. But go a little further down the list and you'll see a healthy selection of better beers at $5.75 for a 16-ounce draft.
Smithwick's * This Irish Red Ale is quickly gaining ground in popularity on Guinness (in this humble beer drinker's opinion).
Shiner Bock * Deep amber, rich flavor and straight outta Texas, this bock beer goes down smooth with no bitter aftertaste.
Sam Adams Boston Lager * It's not often you can peek in my fridge and not find a cold six-pack of Sam sitting there. This is quite possibly the best American beer ever made.
Landshark Lager * A light lager like the simpler suds we mentioned before, this Margaritaville Brewing Co. product is sure to satisfy all the Parrotheads out there.
Spaten Lager * A light lager like the Landshark, but the one that broke the mold, straight out of Munich, circa 1894.
Spaten Oktoberfest * Fans of the malty autumn beer will recognize this label, primarily because Spaten is the world's first Oktoberfest on record, created in 1872.
Blue Moon * Available on the third base side only, the refreshing Belgian wheat will quench the thirst quickly in July and August.
The Bone * That's the tall, thin, bone-shaped plastic bottle to the right. Request any of the beers on tap in a 20-ounce bone for just $8.
What beers do you like to quaff while you watch a ball game? Share below.
