As baseball draws near, a study in contrast on ballpark beer

The jaw-dropping price of a 20-ounce pour of Budweiser at Yankee Stadium last season

We’re less than three weeks away from opening day of the 2010 baseball season. While I won’t divulge my allegiances in the game of baseball (it involves a team that plays in an old ballpark about 200 miles from Manhattan), there’s a clear winner in New York in the craft beer race - and it’s the team who can’t seem to win much of anything else lately: the Mets.

This season, Citi Field will continue to serve up one of the more diverse selections of craft beer in the majors. Brooklyn Brewery announced it will serve four unique draft beers at the Mets’ home again this year, including their Pilsner, Sabroso Ale (a light APA that pairs well with tacos), Blue Smoke (an English Pale Ale that complements Blue Smoke’s barbeque), and Shackmeister (an APA that you’ll find at Shake Shack). On top of the Brooklyn brews, some good bottled beer selections can be found in a kiosk in center field. Among the options last season were Goose Island IPA, 312 Wheat, and Honkers Ale, Widmer Brothers Hefeweizen, Red Hook ESB, and Leffe Blonde. More importantly, the beer is reasonably-priced for a ballpark: $7.50 for the aforementioned bottles, and as little as $5 for a 12-ounce pour of the macrobrews.

Meanwhile, while trying to remain as objective as possible, fans of the Bronx Bombers will continue to suffer at the hands of vendors who charge an arm and a leg for a beer selection that is about as generic as a New Jersey strip mall. At one hard-to-find “Beers of the World” stand in the 300 level in left field, your options are mostly limited to a handful of Budweiser products, plus Yuengling Lager, Blue Moon, Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Amstel Light, Corona, Beck’s, Bass Pale Ale, and Peroni. After scouring Yankee Stadium on three visits, the only true microbrew I could find in the entire ballpark was Brooklyn Lager - and a 12-ounce bottle will run you $8.50. A 20-ounce pour of the more generic beers will run you $10. And those are last season’s prices… a team that’s willing to charge $2500 for a single seat probably wouldn’t flinch at raising those beer prices again. We can hope that the situation will improve at Yankee Stadium in 2010, but considering the two-month-long backlash and empty seats it took for the Yanks to drop ticket prices, we shouldn’t expect miracles here.

Of course, there’s always the option of just heading over to your favorite bar to watch the game on TV. It’s a lot less expensive, and the beer options are nearly endless.