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Quebec Capitales make baseball fun again

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QUEBEC — For longtime Expos fans still nostalgic about the fun days at Jarry Park, a drive to Quebec City to watch Les Capitales play baseball is definitely worth the trip.

Stade Municipal offers baseball at its purest: outdoors on real grass in a beautiful setting without a bad seat in the house — and it’s very affordable.

For starters, parking in the large lot outside the stadium is free. The most expensive ticket costs $18 ($15 for children 12 and under). General admission tickets at the box office are $11 for adults, $10 for students and seniors 60 and over, and $8 for kids under 12. The tickets are even cheaper ($9, $8 and $6) when purchased in advance. There is also a family section with ticket prices ranging from $12 to $15 and an inflatable bouncy house to occupy youngsters if they’re not so interested in watching the game. And then there’s Capi, who is Quebec City’s version of Montreal’s orange fuzzball Youpp! And yes, the kids in Quebec love Capi even if baseball purists might not. After the game, fans are allowed on the field to get autographs and pose for photos with the Capitales players.

Capi the Quebec Capitales mascot plays with the crowd at the Stade Municipale in Quebec City on Sunday May 22, 2016.

Capi the Quebec Capitales mascot plays with the crowd at the Stade Municipal in Quebec City on Sunday May 22, 2016.

If you’re a fan of summer terraces (and who isn’t?) you will love the Molson Export zone down the left-field foul line with its plastic patio chairs and wooden tables (with baseball bats for legs) located right beside the visiting team’s bullpen. Admission there is $19 — $17 if you purchase in advance — and a small beer costs $5.75, a big one is $7.75 and you can get hard liquor for $6 or a glass of wine for $7.75. A bag of peanuts — almost a necessity at any ball game — is $4.50.

If peanuts aren’t enough, the “Coup de circuit” — consisting of two hotdogs, french fries and a soft drink — costs $10.25. A regular Capitales T-shirt at the souvenir shop costs $19.99 and a T-shirt with a player’s name and number on the back is $24.99, including No. 92 and Gretzky for Trevor Gretzky — the son of hockey’s Great One — who is in his first season as an outfielder with the Capitales. (Unfortunately, Wayne Gretzky’s son will be sidelined for at least six weeks after suffering a shoulder injury while diving for a ball during a game Saturday night in Trois-Rivières.) A Capitales game program with a scoresheet costs $2 and brings back memories of pencilling in a 6-3 groundout at Jarry Park.

 

These are definitely not Bell Centre prices at a Canadiens game — or the prices that were being charged at Olympic Stadium for the two major-league pre-season games this spring between the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox, with tickets ranging from $24 to $99.50. And the atmosphere at Stade Municipal is much, much better than the Big O.

Stade Municipal first opened in 1939 and has a capacity of 4,800 for the Capitales, who play in the independent Can-Am League. The six full-time teams in the professional minor league include the New Jersey Jackals, Rockland Boulders, Sussex County Miners, Trois-Rivières Aigles and Ottawa Champions. The Cuban National Team and Shikoku Island also play a limited schedule in the league.

The top part of the stands at Stade Municipal are covered by a roof, so if you want to sit in the sun it’s best to be down low. The sun shines on the Molson Export zone throughout day games — so bring a hat and sunscreen.

While the stadium is old, it has lots of charm and character, including a manually operated scoreboard like the one at Boston’s Fenway Park. The stadium is actually like a scene out of the movie Bull Durham. If the Capitales had “The Dancer”, “The Peanut Man”, “Jonesville”, left-field bleachers and a swimming pool over the right-field fence, you might think you were back at Jarry Park — but with better sight lines. 

The Quebec Capitales play against the Trois-Rivieres Aigles at the Stade Municipale in Quebec City on Sunday May 22, 2016.

The Quebec Capitales play against the Trois-Rivieres Aigles at the Stade Municipal in Quebec City on Sunday May 22, 2016.

The walls in the corridors at Stade Municipal are like a Quebec baseball hall of fame. There are photos and stories about Quebec City teams and players from the past, including Les Athletiques — who beat Trois-Rivières 6-5 in the first game at the stadium on May 14, 1939 — Les Alouettes (1946-48), Les Braves (1949-55), Les Indiens (1957-70) and Les Carnavals (1971-77), a team that included future Expos Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter. There is also a list of the 30 Quebec players who made it to the majors, including current Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin, who played Little League ball for the N.D.G. Lynx.

When the Capitales players took to the field for the pregame introductions Sunday afternoon before facing Trois-Rivières, they were each joined by a youth baseball player in his or her uniform who stood beside them for the playing of the national anthem.

While the quality of baseball isn’t at the major-league level, on a beautiful, sun-filled Sunday afternoon in Quebec City that didn’t seem to matter to the 3,422 fans at Stade Municipal. They sang Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the seventh-inning stretch, Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline before the start of the ninth inning, and then cheered loudly after the Capitales beat the Aigles 7-5 to improve their league-leading record to 3-1.

It was baseball — and it was fun.

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The Quebec Capitales play against the Trois-Rivieres Aigles at the Stade Municipale in Quebec City on Sunday May 22, 2016.

The Quebec Capitales play against the Trois-Rivieres Aigles at the Stade Municipal in Quebec City on Sunday May 22, 2016.


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