Melbourne Aces 201516 Baseball Season

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Posted 2015-11-10 by Tamara Spargo ⇒ follow

Fri 16 Oct 2015 - Sun 07 Feb 2016

Melbourne Aces 2015/16 Baseball Season

Summer sport in Melbourne doesn't just mean cricket and tennis. The baseball season is now in full swing, and Melbourne's very own baseball team, the Melbourne Aces, have had a cracker start to the 2015/16 series.

The Aces play all their home games at the Melbourne Ballpark in Altona, just off the Princes Highway, and there is plenty of parking surrounding the park. (If you happen to be whizzing down the highway in the evening, take a look to your left—and if there's a night game on, you'll see the lights ablaze over the ballpark). Aces games are scheduled over Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays, and the season runs until January 2016 so there's plenty of opportunity to catch a game or two.

There are even some Thursday night games coming up, so if you're a western suburbs local, it's easy to load up the kids in the family wagon and head on out there for some fun and games. There's a mini baseball diamond out the front for your baseball legends in the making to practice their slides into base before the game starts, and if they want to ditch you later in the evening, plenty of room for them to try and catch some fly balls as they come hurtling over the fence (and you know if you catch one, you get to keep it—so make sure you bring your mitt).

Baseball is a pretty easy game to follow if you're a newcomer, but the stands will be full of Aces devotees decked out in their fan gear who'll be more than happy to give you a few pointers. The ballpark is big enough so that you get that full, real-deal baseball game atmosphere, but small enough to make it friendly and low-key, and the Aces ground staff will welcome you warmly. There are no mega-long queues, or too many rules and restrictions, and it's a fun and cheap way to hang out for a few hours with friends and family, whether you're a baseball fan or not.

But if you are a seasoned baseball aficionado, you'll be happy to know all the characteristic quirks of an American MLB game feature at the Aces games too. There's the 7th Innings Stretch (be sure to practice the words to Take me out to the Ballgame before you go), music playing after each crack of the ball against the bat, and the big screen flashing S-T-R-R-R-I-K-E OUT!!!!.

And baseball wouldn't be baseball without ballpark food. Seven Fires BBQ set themselves and their seen-to-be-believed smoker up in the outdoor seating area just near right field many hours before the first pitch is thrown, ensuring their meat is cooked to falling-off-the-bone perfection by the time you arrive. You'll no doubt smell it before you see it, and with a rotating menu of authentic American barbecue favourites including pulled pork sandwiches and beef brisket, you'll be wanting to go back for more.

But make sure to save some room for some of the best hot dogs this side of Yankee Stadium. Tip Top Butchers in Laverton supply the Melbourne Ballpark with their American-style hot dogs, which are grilled (not boiled), and loaded up with all the essential hot dog fixings—ketchup, mustard, onions, cheese and bacon (yep, you'll need to grab some napkins for these bad boys).

There's also wood-fired pizzas, hot jam donuts, and for those sultry summer days and nights at the ballpark, snow cones to cool you down. The outdoor seating area is a great space to meet before the game and chow down on your ballpark food, or to have a wander to in between innings when the hunger pangs strike you again (pun very much intended).

There's plenty to keep the kids occupied throughout the game, with trivia in the stands (brush up on your Aces knowledge, as you may well be picked out of the crowd), races across the field, and even a Kids' Club. With its dedicated section in the stands, the kids can make supporter signs, feast on popcorn and watch in awe as huge clouds of fairy floss are bundled and wound on to sticks in weird and wonderful shapes.

Tickets for Melbourne Aces games are incredibly cheap, with single game reserved seating tickets from just $14 for adults, and $9 for children. General admission tickets are even cheaper, or you can get a 3rd Base Dugout ticket for just $35 for an adult, and $25 for children. Tickets are easily purchased online , or by calling the Aces office on (03) 8360 9371. Becoming a member is cheap and easy too (and once you've been to a game or two, you may very well become hooked), with premium seating memberships at only $245 per adult, and general admission memberships from only $100. Members get a bundle of additional perks too, so check out all the details online to decide which membership is best for you.

There's all sorts of fun events happening at the ballpark this season, with a special Christmas-themed week just before the big fat man arrives, and to help bring in the new year, there'll be games on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day—with fireworks of course. And the Melbourne Aces can help you celebrate at any game, with birthday parties, functions and large groups catered for on their party deck or in the luxury Corporate Box. Contact the Melbourne Aces staff to get a quote and further details.

Melbourne comes alive in the summer months, and if you're looking for something a little different, that's cheap and cheerful, a whole lot of fun, and suitable for the whole family, book some tickets quick sticks to an upcoming Melbourne Aces match. And don't forget to learn the lyrics to Take me out to the Ballgame!!