Long Beach Armada

I’m hovering between three and four on Long Beach’s fave local baseball team. Two years ago, I would have said five stars. Hands down. They used to have all sorts of wacky promo nights (bald guys night? Awful night — where they played the worst songs ever and had the worst fireworks show in LB. It rocked!)
Now…well. Someone lost their creativity. They do have Jose Lima, I’ll give them that, but some of the fun seems to have disappeared. As have a lot of the 2-​for-​1 ticket promos. Plus, $ 2 beers on Thursdays are only available before the game begins now. Hmph.
Perhaps I’ll check out another game this year, but I dunno, just doesn’t seem worth the $ 8 these days.

Can’t find a better place close by to watch a baseball game than Blair Field. Baseball is good quality and they provide quality entertainment. We find it great fun to watch these young men working hard to pursue their dreams to play ball.
Great time, come support our local team!

Ever since the Long Beach Ice Dogs folded, my husband and I knew we’d have to drag ourselves to Blair Field to get our fill of «semi-​professional» sports. Neither of us really likes baseball all that much, but I’ve been in hokey hijinks withdrawal since our last and final Ice Dogs game.
We were drawn by the schedule we got in the mail, which listed a bunch of neat little events like Bark in the Park (bring your dog to game for free) and Fireworks Night. The schedule in the mail also had a 2 for 1 coupon, so our evening of baseball and hokey hijinks only cost $ 8.
And sure enough, between each inning there was some kind of ridiculous entertainment. There was an endless supply of children to cheer for in these little competitions, one of which included throwing toilet seats. A young couple who won a balloon popping contest got their choice of a restaurant gift card or a gift certificate for an adult store; they chose the adult store money. Somehow, 8-​year-​olds throwing toilet seats and upper-​teens rejoicing in kinky store prizes seemed sort of irreconcilable.
The guy in the press box was a little overzealous with the sound effects. And the blind guy sitting right below the press box was a little overzealous with the heckling. But all in all, it was an enjoyable spectacle of equal parts baseball and people-​watching.
Oh yeah, and the Armada won so that was cool.

My niece is here visiting from Iowa to escape the flooding, and I thought it would be fun to go to the home opener (Armada vs. Yuma City). We met friends there, and it was a great night — the Armada killed Yuma City 11 – 1, and there were fun little events happening inbetween each inning for the kids, like sumo wrestling, races with the mascot, and something that looked like hamburger dogpile, I think (the kids dressed up like parts of a hamburger and fell on each other, and whoever made a hamburger first won, near as I could tell).
Blair Field is a beautiful little ballpark, if you have never been. Check out the website for the promotional events that will be happening at the games, including an «Un-​Olympics» (a belching contest — I can’t wait to see that!), a hermit crab race, and a toilet plunger giveaway. It was an easy, inexpensive and relaxing night at the ballpark, and a great way to support a Long Beach institution.

As a baseball fan and a resident of Ventura County I am extremely jealous of and a little bit frustrated by you Long Beach. You have in your backyard something that I would kill to have in Ventura, a minor league baseball team, and yet, you don’t support it. Here I’m willing to drive the 90+ miles to Blair Field (the closest minor league ballpark to the VC) to see the Armada occasionally but you can’t go ten minutes down the road? Quit taking this luxury for granted and go support your community team.
The Armada put a solid product on the field and they’re something that Long Beach should be proud of. There is a lot of fun to be had for all ages at one of their games. They have created a carnival atmosphere at Blair Field complete with a tiki bar, a silly mascot, The Armada Girls, on-​field contests, giveaways, dollar beer nights and so much more. For only $ 7, the price of a general admission seat (which are pretty good seats) you get quite a bit of entertainment along with a baseball game.
The baseball on the field is pretty good. Obviously they’re no Dodgers or Angels, but they have a good mix of young players who were solid in college but have very little professional baseball experience and older players who have seen the big leagues and are trying to work their way back. A lot of the players are local kids so it’s easy to root for them.
And Blair Field is a jewel of a ballpark. It’s a no frills kind of place set on the edge of a park that takes you back to a time when baseball was much simpler. There are no luxury boxes or club levels or VIP lounges, just a simple grandstand in which every seat is close to the action and you can sit back, relax, and enjoy yourself a ballgame.
You really don’t have an excuse not to go at least once just to check it out. Tickets cost less than going to a movie, parking is free and plentiful, concessions prices are reasonable, the baseball is good, and the promotions are a lot of fun. So go, get out of the house and root on your Long Beach Armada.