Hi Musicmic,

You are correct, baseball is cheaper than the other sports, but not by much. The "cheap seats" are usually in the outfield bleachers or upper deck.   I have a season ticket plan for all the Saturday games for the NY Mets. Last year each ticket cost $31. I've had the same seats since 1983 when the cost was under $10. Granted prices increase over the years, but today it is a very expensive outing if you take a family to a ballgame. Between parking, hot dogs, tolls, and a scorecard, it costs me over $100 a game to take my son to a game.   When I was a kid it was easy for my father, who did not make that much, to take me to a half dozen games each year. Today, baseball is a once a year proposition for most families, if at all.   Luckily minor league baseball has become very popular with more reasonable prices, and in many cases better play.

You make a great point about the stats for Hall of Famers, but as far as I know there is no distinction for "pre-1900" stats in the record books. The Hall of Fame also has recognized and continues to recognize and publicize the accomplishments. Josh Gibson was elected to the Hall of Fame and his stats, including over 800 home runs, are mentioned on his plaque.   As for the record books, that is another issue. The Hall of Fame does not keep the records, they only honor the accomplishments, and they have made many steps to remember the stars of the Negro Leagues as well as educate the public to the game they played.

The one problem with the stats from the Negro Leagues were that they weren't always accurate. Their scores were kept in similar fashion to the minor leagues at the time, not everything was reported. They did not always play in major league ballparks either. I'm not saying that as a knock by any means. It was a sin that they were not allowed in the "majors" right from day 1. It would have been amazing to watch Josh Gibson and Babe Ruth battle for the HR title.